Is MLB's Exclusive DirectTV Deal Falling Apart?

Remember that announcement in January that Major League Baseball was hoping to follow in the footsteps of the NFL by offering their Extra Innings package exclusively to DirectTV? Well, rest easy, fellow cable subscribers, because it looks like the proposal might be falling through, and not just because the Sen. John Kerry asked the FCC to look into the deal. From CNNMoney.com:

One source familiar with negotiations said he now believes that the Extra Innings package will remain available to all three services.

"I'd be surprised if the DirecTV deal goes through," he said.

The key isn't likely to revolve around more money, but an agreement by the cable operators to provide broader carriage for a Baseball Network which MLB intends to start operating in 2009.

DirecTV had been willing to let all 15 million of its subscribers have the new Baseball Network right from the start, as well as helping with some of the start-up costs, according to multiple sources. It isn't willing to be as helpful to MLB's upstart network if it doesn't gain the advantage of an exclusive deal on Extra Innings, though.

But after initially rebuffing the MLB demands for carriage of the Baseball Network, the cable operators are now coming around, according to the industry source.

The article also points out that there was never actually an official announcement of the DirectTV deal, so it's entirely believable to see this thing fall to pieces. Considering I'm among the millions of people for whom satellite television just isn't a viable option, I'm happy to hear the news.

I'm also curious about the new Baseball Network. It doesn't sound like it's anywhere close to launching, but it could end up being a intriguing outlet -- especially if they use it to televise the amateur draft in June, which unfortunately receives only a small fraction of the national coverage received by the NFL and NBA drafts.