Time-Warner subscribers wishing to view this evening’s Green Bay/Dallas tilt are shit out of luck, but the same cannot be said of those being lobbied by AT&T, writes the Austin American-Statesman’s W. Gardner Selby.
State legislators, family and staff members are invited to the Alamo Drafthouse South on South Lamar Boulevard to watch the game, with food and drink tossed in ” courtesy of AT&T.
“We couldn’t invite the public to something like that,” AT&T spokeswoman Jodi Bart said Wednesday without elaborating.
Invitations sent to legislators promise a “high-definition demonstration of our incredible new video product U-verse,” which is competing with cable and satellite TV in the Austin area.
Tracy King, AT&T vice president for public affairs for the Western region, said U-verse became possible because of telecommunications deregulation approved by the 2005 Legislature.
Separately, the Texas House Committee on Regulated Industries will hear testimony Dec. 10 on the dispute between the NFL Network and cable providers.
There was no word Wednesday on whether the committee chairman, Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, will be at the Alamo tonight.