The thing is, by Directv (threatening to) yank the channels first, it's a pre-emptive strike against Fox. It gives Directv the upper hand in the negotiations. Fox is getting ballsy because they were able to basically extort huge hikes out of Cablevision, Comcast, TWC, and Dish by pulling the channels off those providers and holding them hostage, and now they want to try it with Directv. Except it seems like Mike White has the balls to stand up against Fox and tell them no we're not paying a 40% hike, rather than bend over and take it up the keister like Charlie, Brian Roberts, Glenn Britt, and the Dolans did. If you let one company walk all over you, they're ALL going to do it (I know ABC and Scripps [HGTV/Food Network/et al] have both bent Cablevision over before Fox did).
It's the same reason we don't negotiate with terrorists.
Watch for what you are bragging about, it might bite you and Directv right in the arse; and you might end up like Dish and MSG or TWC and the NFL Network. Drawing lines in the sand might bring this into a real confrontation rather than a mutual satisfactory settlement. Once again the subscriber is the pawn in the battle of multi-billion dollar corporations.