contract and controversy On March 6, 2007, DirecTV signed a new seven-year carriage contract with the MLB. At first, it was to be an exclusive deal worth $700 million. However, as a result of viewer complaints and antitrust concerns –voiced by, among others, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry– MLB agreed to offer the package for renewal by cable systems and Dish Network. By March 9, negotiations had begun to try to settle the dispute, with a deadline of April 1, the first day of the MLB regular season. MLB demanded that the cable systems bundle the renewal of the Extra Innings package with the MLB Network, a 24-hour network in the vein of NFL Network, NBA TV, and NHL Network that MLB launched on January 1, 2009. Furthermore, these systems were asked to place the channel on an expanded digital tier. At least one major system, Time Warner Cable, balked at the terms. The offer from the cable consortium to MLB would have matched the financing portion, but cable was only willing to put the MLB Network on a premium tier. Cable systems did guarantee to reach at least as many viewers of MLB Network as DirecTV will reach. MLB was not satisfied with the offer, and publicly claimed that the cable companies failed to meet more of the criteria for the deal than they had actually met. However, while MLB wanted the cable systems to match the same offer as DirecTV, MLB would be providing more generous benefits to DirecTV for the very same offer: DirecTV would be receiving a stake in MLB Network, thereby barring cable systems from receiving the telecasts. Hence, MLB was accused of claiming that cable would not meet the same terms as DirecTV, while not offering the same deal to the cable consortium. As of the start of the season on April 2, only DirecTV had agreed to those terms and was able to retain Extra Innings. It would not be available on any cable system until after the deadline was extended and agreements were reached. On April 4, MLB and iN DEMAND finally reached an agreement similar to the one that MLB reached with DirecTV. Cable companies that carry iN DEMAND resumed carrying MLB Extra Innings and also agreed to add the MLB Network upon its launch. iN DEMAND only had the authority to negotiate directly for and agree to add the MLB Network