Comcast and DirecTV finally strike deal for sports channel Versus

Comcast's sports channel Versus is back on DirecTV.

The two companies struck a new deal for Versus, ending an ugly dispute that kept the network off of the satellite broadcaster for almost seven months, including much of the college football season, during which Versus shows some games from the Pac-10 and other conferences. Versus returns to DirecTV ahead of the network's coverage of NHL playoff games next month. Depending on whom you ask, the issue was either money or platform. DirecTV, the satellite broadcaster with over 18.5 million subscribers, called Comcast "piggish" in wanting a price increase from 21 cents to 26 cents per-month, per-subscriber. Comcast countered that the fight wasn't about money. It said it was upset that DirecTV wanted to move Versus from a package of channels that reached the bulk of its customers to a specialty tier that reaches 6.3 million subscribers.

Under the new deal, Versus will stay on its current tier, and other terms of the pact are similar to the one that had expired last summer.