AT&T, Rainbow ink deal

NEW YORK, USA: AT&T Inc said on Thursday it has reached a "fair deal" with Rainbow Media to keep the AMC, IFC and WE TV channels on the AT&T U-Verse service.

AT&T and Rainbow Media, owned by Cablevision Systems Corp, had fallen out publicly in recent weeks after failing to agree new financial terms for a contract to carry the channels on U-Verse, which supplies TV to more than 2.3 million households around the country.

The dispute had threatened to disrupt coverage of the latest season of the advertising drama "Mad Men," one of the network's main attractions. The show returns to AMC on July 25.

AT&T had said Rainbow's networks were "overpriced" but in a statement on Thursday the company said it was "very satisfied" with the deal it reached for its customers.

Rainbow said the agreement with AT&T U-Verse "truly recognizes the value of our networks."

Cable and satellite companies pay fees to network companies for the right to package and sell those networks to those customers. Networks typically negotiate an increase in the fees they charge over an agreed number of years.