AT&T, Herring at Odds on Discovery in DirecTV Carriage Suit

It said Herring seeks -- and likely will go into further discovery regarding -- AT&T's plans for its U-verse platform; its plans, models, and due diligence on the takeover of DirecTV and shift of its TV platform from U-verse to DirecTV; AT&T's efforts to get the support of Herring and other independent programmers for regulatory approval of the DirecTV acquisition; the telco's ongoing transfer of U-verse subscribers to the satellite company; and communications between the two sides over their agreement Herring would get carriage on DirecTV. Herring said its deposition list includes AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. AT&T contends such discovery is broad and "should be tailored and narrowed" to the telco's representations made on the future of U-verse while negotiating its 2014 carriage agreement with Herring, the accuracy of those representations, whether the carrier tried to cut U-verse's subscriber base after buying DirecTV, and Herring's activities in support of the acquisition and whether there was any DirecTV carriage agreement in connection with those activities, according to the joint report. It said the sides disagree on the overall calendar for the suit, with Herring wanting discovery to have a cutoff of roughly mid February and a trial date within a year, and with AT&T characterizing Herring's discovery requests as "overwhelming" and proposing discovery cutoff of roughly mid-May and trial date sometime after its suggested dispositive motion deadline of mid-February 2018.