Dish Network customers in 27 markets across the U.S. have lost access to 37 local channels amid a carriage dispute with Hearst Television. The satellite television provider announced Friday that it failed to reach a carriage agreement with Hearst, resulting in channels including ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, MNT, and IND going dark.
In a release, the company explained that it had been in talks with Hearst for months to reach an agreement to keep channels on air, but Hearst “is demanding tens of millions of dollars in rate increases that would affect customers, while it devalues its product by making programming available elsewhere, even as viewership declines.” It added that Hearts’ “unreasonable demands,” as well as “declining viewership and sharing its content on other platforms, further demonstrates the disconnect between programming providers and distributors.”
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“Hearst continues to raise its prices despite its declining viewership and lower-quality content,” Gary Schanman, executive vice president and group president, video services, Dish Network, said. “Demanding higher rates for the same entertainment and news just doesn’t make sense, especially as Hearst’s content is widely available on other platforms. This hurts our customers in their pocketbooks and their ability to watch the programming and content they want. Unfortunately, Hearst, like many other programmers, expects Dish and our customers to foot the bill.”
Meanwhile, Hearst cast blame on Dish for the carriage dispute. In a message to Dish subscribers, per Reuters, Hearst Television said, “We have made significant investments to deliver top-tier programming to our viewers and Dish is seeking the right to carry our stations at below market rates, which is neither fair nor reasonable.”
Local affiliates include: KOAT in Albuquerque, New Mexico; WBAL in Baltimore, Maryland; WVTM in Birmingham, Alabama; WCVB and WMUR in Boston, Massachusetts; WNNE and WPTZ in Burlington, Vermont; WLWT in Cincinnati, Ohio; KCCI in Des Moines, Iowa; and WBBH in Fort Myers, Florida, among many others. The complete list of impacted channels can be viewed here. Hearst said that amid the dispute, users may continue to receive its station for free, over the air, or by other satellite distribution, and, where available, from cable operators.
The dispute comes amid a similar carriage dispute between Disney and Charter Communications. Disney-owned cable channels and ABC affiliates were pulled from Spectrum on Aug. 31 after failing to reach a carriage agreement with Charter Communications. The two companies resolved the 10-day-long dispute, which impacted 15 million Spectrum cable subscribers, Monday, agreeing to a multi-year agreement that will offer “more curated” package of Disney networks and stations, per TVLine.
