MUMBAI: Leading US pay-TV platform DirecTV has entered into an agreement with the new Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Deportes to make the Lakers and other local teams available to Southern California customers.

With this deal, Time Warner now has carriage agreements in place with several distributors including Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T. It is believed that Time Warner Cable has paid about $2 billion over 20 years for local broadcasting rights to Lakers‘ games.

The two channels are the local TV homes for Los Angeles Lakers, LA Galaxy and Los Angeles Sparks games, as well as in-depth, dedicated, team-focused programming.

Time Warner Cable SportsNet will be available for DirecTV customers on channel 691 throughout Southern California (Los Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield and parts of Fresno) as well as Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, Las Vegas and Hawaii. Time Warner Cable Deportes will be available on channel 458.

"DirecTV is pleased that Los Angeles Lakers, LA Galaxy and Los Angeles Sparks games and programming will now be seen by so many people whose loyalty remains the life‘s blood to each team," said DirecTV chief content officer Dan York. "We appreciate our customers’ patience and are happy to have arrived at an outcome that benefits everyone involved. We know that our customers will enjoy the great programming of these three franchises for many years to come.”

“Our partners at DirecTV value Southern California sports as much as we do and we’re thrilled to work with them to bring Lakers, Galaxy and Sparks games and programming to our viewers,” said Time Warner Cable Sports SVP Dan Finnerty. “Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes will help bring DirecTV customers closer to these teams than they have ever been before.”