Finally a slam dunk for LA’s SportsNet

Whether this is a good thing, based on the team’s dismal start, is certainly up for debate.

Nonetheless, DirecTV subscribers who are also Los Angeles Lakers fans will finally get to see their team play this season.

After a long standoff, the satellite broadcaster has reportedly agreed to carry the new Time Warner Cable networks SportsNet and Deportes, which launched earlier this fall and are now the regional home to the Lakers.

TWC had heated disputes with DirecTV as well as other cable carriers in the area, including Cox and Charter, as well as telecoms such as Verizon and AT&T.

They argued that TWC was asking too much per subscriber for an unproven network whose only premium content, the Lakers, is on just half the year.

Terms of the deal have not been released.

The agreement was important to TWC because DirecTV has huge distribution in the LA area, with some 1.7 million households, according to the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the deal.

Now the lone holdout for SportsNet is Dish Network.
 

Tags: cable, carriage disputes, directv, dish network, households, LA, lakers, los angeles lakers, los angeles times, sports tv, sportsnet, time warner cable, twc