DirecTV to Expand RSN Surcharge in Spring

$3 charge "doesn't come close" to offsetting costs, chairman says

By Mike Farrell, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/14/2013 4:13:50 PM

DirecTV will expand its regional sports network surcharge in the spring to include existing customers, chairman and CEO Mike White told analysts Thursday.

DirecTV began implementing a $3 monthly surcharge in August for regional sports networks in markets that had multiple RSNs,  but only to new customers. That surcharge, mainly in markets like New York and Los Angeles, will expand to existing customers in those areas in the spring, White told analysts on a conference call to discuss fourth quarter results.

Other distributors have followed DirecTV's lead with the RSN charge -- Verizon's FiOS TV began implementing a $2.42 monthly charge for RSNs in California, Texas and Florida in February, with plans to expand to its remaining sates in March. In Maryland and Virginia, the surcharge will take effect in April.

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