After a fairly long standoff, an agreement has finally been worked out between satellite broadcaster DirecTV and Time Warner Cable's SportsNet. Under the agreement, DirecTV will carry the SportsNet channel, as well as its Spanish-language sister channel Deportes.

Despite the fact that there has been no official disclosure about the financial terms of the agreement by either DirecTV or Time Warner Cable, it is being speculated that a monthly fee of $3.95 per subscriber - a rather high price tag even for a regional sports network - was being sought by Time Warner Cable for the two channels.

Nonetheless, with SportsNet being the new TV home for the Lakers, the deal between DirecTV and SportsNet is welcome news, especially for those Laker supporters who have DirecTV. In addition, the agreement is also noteworthy because, characteristically, programming agreements are worked out for a 5-7 year span; and Time Warner Cable has the rights to the Lakers for the next two decades.

Moreover, along with the Laker fans with DirecTV, some bars and restaurants with DirecTV will also stand to benefit form the programming deal between DirecTV and Time Warner Cable's SportsNet because their businesses have been suffering due to the fact that there currently are no Laker games on the big screen.

About the deal with Time Warner Cable's SportsNet, Dan York - DirecTV's chief content officer - said: "We appreciate our customers' patience and are happy to have arrived at an outcome that benefits everyone involved."