Tune In: HDNet is Suing DirecTV

There's been no mention of this in The Dallas Morning News, far as I can tell. And till it turned up during an unrelated Google search, I had no idea Mark Cuban's HDNet was suing DirecTV in U.S. District Court in Dallas -- and I used to have a show...

By Robert Wilonsky

November 13, 2007

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There's been no mention of this in The Dallas Morning News, far as I can tell. And till it turned up during an unrelated Google search, I had no idea Mark Cuban's HDNet was suing DirecTV in U.S. District Court in Dallas -- and I used to have a show on HDNet. But, yeah, turns out HDNet isn't thrilled with DirecTV's plans to move HDNet and HDNet Movies to a higher-priced premium HD-only tier next month.

Reports Broadcast Newsroom: "That premium HDTV tier, with just a handful of services, will cost subscribers $4.99 a month, a fee on top of the $9.99 HD Access Fee that DirecTV charges for its newly expanded lineup of more than 70 national HD networks." That package is scheduled to take effect December 15, and HDNet's filed a temporary restraining order to stop its implementation -- which isn't delighting DirecTV. Says its spokesperson: "We are acting in accord with our agreement with HDNet and we will defend the lawsuit vigorously."

The suit was filed on November 6 -- and ever since, folks obsessed with this stuff have been talking about the merits of the suit here. They've also kindly posted HDNet's original complaint here; notes one commenter, "It's a fascinating filing to read. There is a lot of inside baseball in there." So, play ball. --Robert Wilonsky

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