Two years have passed since AT&T positioned itself as the new owner of Time Warner. This gave them all the access in the world to the likes of CNN, Cartoon Network, TNT, HBO, and more.
Despite the understandable concern from non-Time-Warner-owned networks worried they’ll be pushed to the sidelines or stiffed during negotiations, the judge allowed the sale.
Now, AMC is filing a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission over AT&T supposedly favoring its affiliate stations over its competitors, such as the independently owned AMC. They assert that the station, despite being a “must-have,” is earning less through deals and demand that AT&T give non-discriminatory rates as the company began spending more on the likes of HBO and their own networks, but not the third-parties.
Watch this sneek peak of AMC’s Better Call Saul:
They also appear not happy with the current streaming restrictions. Hulu and Amazon Prime have access to HBO and TNT content respectfully. AMC, on the other hand, is apparently locked behind restrictions as to where they can stream their content.
The bottom line is it seems like AMC wants its lineup of stellarly-praised shows to be treated better. The station’s claim, however, is supposedly “without merit,” according to an AT&T spokesperson.
“AMC Networks’ complaint is completely without merit. We treat all programmers fairly and will continue to work with AMC Networks to provide its content at a price that is reasonable to our customers.”
Meanwhile, AMC wants to keep up the partnership but simply cannot continue if the contract limits its programming or business interests in the manner alleged.
