The beauty of signing up subscribers to two-year contracts is you can threaten networks to yank their channels off the air without worrying about anyone canceling their service. Engaged in contact negotiations with DirecTV, Fox says the satellite provider has rejected its latest offer and threatened to pull its programming off the service Nov. 1 if Fox doesn’t accept its terms.

Deadline reports the contract between the two parties expired Sept. 30. At risk are the 19 regional Fox sports networks and an array of other channels including FX, National Geographic, Speed.

From Fox’s statement:

DirecTV sent us a proposal on Tuesday afternoon. They have given us no chance to respond before taking an unnecessarily aggressive posture and going public. It is disappointing that they have chosen bad faith tactics over meaningful negotiation.

DirecTV says to the Houston Chronicle:

“We hope to resolve this situation before any action is taken, but we will do what’s necessary to protect our customers from excessive and unwarranted fee increases.”

Fox Cable Networks May Go Dark On DirecTV On Nov. 1 Over Carriage Dispute [Deadline]

TV-radio notebook: Fox, DirecTV intensify carriage dispute [Houston Chronicle]

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