Circle City Broadcasting has inked a deal with Butler University to air two college basketball games on its CW Network affiliate in Indianapolis this season.
The games will air on two consecutive Sundays — October 11 and October 18 — at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on WISH-TV (Channel 8), Circle City said in a statement.
Both games will stream live on WISH-TV’s website without blackout restrictions. The broadcasts will also be carried by affiliated stations in the Louisville, Chicago, Nashville and Fort Wayne television markets.
“College basketball is woven into the fabric of our local communities, and these games are exactly the kind of hometown sports moments we’re committed to delivering on-air and online for fans across Indiana,” Circle City Broadcasting owner DuJuan McCoy said on Tuesday.
The agreement comes while McCoy and Circle City are locked in a dispute with DIRECTV over carriage of another station, local ABC affiliate WRTV (Channel 6), which the broadcaster acquired from the E. W. Scripps Company earlier this year.
DIRECTV pulled WRTV last month after a distribution agreement expired without a new contract in place. The channel was being carried on its satellite and streaming systems under a previously-arranged deal with Scripps that moved over when Circle City acquired the channel.
Circle City is holding out for a more-favorable arrangement that brings WISH and another station, WNDY (Channel 23), back to DIRECTV after a prolonged absence. DIRECTV says McCoy has demanded fees for the three channels that are higher than what it previously paid for just WRTV, while McCoy says the fee asked for WRTV alone is lower than what Scripps charged.
On Monday, Circle City launched a new loyalty program that rewards viewers who switch from DIRECTV for a local cable operator and provide proof to that effect. The program, called Insider, also asks for personal information like names, e-mail addresses and mailing addresses, and signs viewers up for Circle City’s marketing list.
