Latest in Verizon FiOS

The Weather Channel has returned to Verizon FiOS after a four-year absence, ending one of the most protracted carriage disputes of the decade. Beginning June 24, the network will be available to customers on channel 611 and this fall via the Fios streaming app. Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios bought the Weather…

UPDATED With a statement from Verizon Verizon Fios has decided to drop Fuse, the multicultural network partially owned by Jennifer Lopez. Fuse will disappear from Verizon’s Fios service at the end of the day, representing the second such loss of carriage in a week. Cable giant Comcast reached a similar decision…

UPDATED with details from Verizon email to FiOS customers. ‘Tis the season for cable carriage fights, with December 31 a common expiration date for major deals, and the latest tussle is between Disney and Verizon FiOS. Disney has started airing ads aimed at the 4.5 million subscribers to FiOS. The spots carry the…

As Tribune Media continues to plot a new course after the meltdown of its long-anticipated merger with Sinclair Broadcast Group, it has announced three new carriage deals. Verizon Fios TV, Atlantic Broadband and Google Fiber have all reached agreements for retransmission and carriage with Tribune’s stations as well as…

UPDATED with remarks about its interest in Fox and broader media strategy from today’s earnings call. Telecom giant Verizon said its first-quarter net income rose 32% to $4.55 billion, or $1.11 a share, in the first quarter thanks in part to benefits from federal tax reform. The results compared with $3.45 billion, or…

Top wireless carrier Verizon, which is seen as a likely acquirer of more media assets in 2018, reported earnings that barely missed Wall Street estimates for the fourth quarter. The company said a tax-overhaul bill signed into law by President Donald Trump in late December will result in a one-time reduction in net…

While Starz remains dark on Altice USA’s Optimum cable systems, the premium cable network has reached a new multi-year carriage deal with Verizon FiOS, Optimum’s rival in the New York metro area. The deal will continue the offering of Starz pay-TV, on-demand and online services in the 5 million households that get…

Verizon and A+E Networks have reached a new carriage deal which includes several content components that will see the two companies team on programming across digital and linear platforms. Like similar arrangements involving Viacom and AMC Networks with distributors such as Charter and Altice, the deal centers on…

Univision is ratcheting up its criticism of Verizon for deciding to “withhold Univision news, information and services from their Hispanic subscribers” by dropping the network’s signal from its FiOS service in a carriage dispute. On Wednesday, the U.S. Hispanic TV network said Verizon had dropped it “entirely without…

UPDATED with Verizon statement: In a surprise move, Univision was dropped from Verizon FiOS today at about 5 PM East Coast time, where most of the 5 million or so affected customers are. The Spanish-language broadcaster issued a statement about the channel-drop this afternoon: “At 5pm EST on October 16, 2017, entirely…

Verizon’s FiOS customers shouldn’t have to worry about keeping up with programs on CBS-owned stations, company owned CW affiliates, Showtime, Smithsonian Channel and CBS Sports Network. The companies just signed a multiyear retransmission agreement. Although they didn’t disclose financial terms, it will expand Verizon…

UPDATE: Verizon has “not reached any final conclusions yet” about its $4.8 billion agreement to buy Yahoo, the telco’s CFO Matt Ellis told analysts in a call to discuss Q4 earnings. But the exec says that the company’s efforts to offer “timely, short form versions of video clips” have “gained traction.” While he…