- Sinclair attempts to gain negotiating
leverage for carriage of unrelated cable channel that the
broadcaster hopes to acquire but does not own today
- DISH confirms that DISH and Sinclair
agree on rates and all other terms for carriage of Sinclair’s local
channels, but Sinclair blacks out customers to gain leverage for
carriage of unrelated cable channel it hopes to acquire but does
not own today
- Sinclair rejects DISH offer of an
additional extension of the existing local channel contract, with
retroactive “true-up” for new rates, which would keep local
channels up for benefit of consumers while negotiations
continue
- DISH Reignites Call for FCC Action
Despite reaching an agreement on rates and all other terms for
the carriage of the Sinclair local stations, DISH said that this
afternoon Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. chose to begin the largest
local channel blackout in the history of television, blocking DISH
customers’ access to 129 local channels in 79 markets across 36
states and the District of Columbia, and intentionally harming and
exploiting millions of innocent consumers to gain negotiating
leverage for carriage of an unrelated cable channel that it hopes
to acquire but does not own today.
“We have agreed to rates and all terms to carry Sinclair’s local
stations,” said Warren Schlichting, DISH senior vice president of
programming. “But Sinclair is blacking out 129 local stations in an
effort to negotiate a carriage agreement for an unrelated cable
channel that it hopes to acquire, but does not own today.”
Schlichting continued: “Sinclair rejected our extension offer
and has chosen to use innocent consumers as pawns to gain leverage
for the economic benefit of Sinclair, while causing substantial
harm and disruption to the lives of consumers.”
DISH and Sinclair had been making steady progress in their
recent negotiations, and DISH was hopeful that they would come to a
mutual agreement to renew carriage of the Sinclair local stations.
In that spirit, DISH offered another short-term contract extension
to Sinclair that would include a retroactive “true-up” when new
rates were agreed upon, and would preserve the ability of DISH
customers to access the Sinclair local stations while our
negotiations continued. The “true-up” would ensure that Sinclair
was made whole at the new rates for the period of any contract
extension.
Rather than accept DISH’s good faith offer, Sinclair Broadcast
Group chose to begin the largest local channel blackout in the
history of television, blocking DISH customers’ access to 129 local
channels in 79 markets, and intentionally harming and exploiting
millions of innocent consumers to gain negotiating leverage for
carriage of an unrelated cable channel that it hopes to acquire but
does not own today.
“Since we offered to retroactively true them up when new rates
were agreed upon, Sinclair had nothing to lose and consumers had
everything to gain from an extension of our existing contract that
would allow negotiations to continue,” said R. Stanton Dodge, DISH
executive vice president and general counsel. “Instead, Sinclair
rejected our offer and has chosen to use innocent consumers as
pawns to gain leverage for the economic benefit of Sinclair, while
causing substantial harm and disruption to the lives of those very
same consumers who ultimately will bear the brunt of the
unreasonable terms sought by Sinclair.”
DISH Network L.L.C. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network
Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH).
DISH Re-ignites Call for FCC action
DISH filed a complaint with the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) on Aug. 15 urging the FCC to intervene to protect
consumers from the actions of Sinclair.
The formal complaint can be read here: http://about.dish.com/document-library/verified-retransmission-complaint-dish-network-llc-against-sinclair
DISH intends to amend the complaint to include allegations
stemming from Sinclair’s decision to blackout local channels to
millions of innocent consumers to gain negotiating leverage for
carriage of an unrelated cable channel that it hopes to acquire but
does not own today.
“Sinclair is holding consumers hostage in order to force our
hand in unrelated negotiations regarding a cable channel that
Sinclair hopes to acquire but does not own today,” added Dodge.
“We’ve asked for swift action from the FCC to stop Sinclair’s
anti-competitive behavior.”
DISH extended its contract with 23 local non-Sinclair controlled
stations for which Sinclair had been attempting to negotiate.
“We appreciate that we have mutually created time to try to find
the right path to serve consumers for these 23 stations, but we
hoped Sinclair would have chosen that same path,” added
Schlichting.
Broadcaster Blackouts Punish Consumers
“Sinclair’s decision to cut ties with DISH customers is a prime
example of why Washington needs to stand up for consumers and end
local channel blackouts,” said Dodge. “Broadcasters like Sinclair
use their in-market monopoly power to put profits ahead of the
public interests they are supposed to serve.”
DISH has appeared on behalf of pay-TV consumers before the FCC,
as well as U.S. Senate and House hearings, to encourage regulators
and lawmakers to update existing video laws and reform the current
system that allows these blackouts to occur.
“Broadcasters like Sinclair are blacking out content,
effectively forcing consumers to switch to other pay-TV providers –
providers that may soon face a blackout due to their own set of
unreasonable broadcaster demands,” added Dodge. “The system treats
viewers as negotiating chips instead of consumers.”
Rising Retransmission Rates
Each year, the cost to carry local broadcast stations rises far
beyond the rate of inflation, leading to blackouts across the
country that affect millions of subscribers of various pay-TV
companies. According to SNL Kagan, a media industry source,
broadcast fees burdening pay-TV consumers were as low as $215
million in 2006, soared to $4.9 billion in 2014 and are expected to
more than double to reach $10.3 billion in 2021.
Along with other pay-TV companies and public interest groups
that form the American Television Alliance, DISH has called for the
FCC and U.S. Congress to revamp the out-of-date laws and to reform
the system that favor these high fees and unnecessary
blackouts.
DISH customers can visit DISHPromise.com for more information
and to ask Congress to end TV blackouts.
Sinclair’s action affects viewers of various ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC,
CW, MyNetwork, Univision, Telemundo, Azteca and Estrella stations
in 79 markets. For a list of affected stations, visit https://dishnetwork.newshq.businesswire.com/document-library/sinclair-stations.
About DISH
DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH), through its subsidiaries,
provides approximately 13.932 million pay-TV subscribers, as of
June 30, 2015, with the highest-quality programming and technology
with the most choices at the best value. Subscribers enjoy a high
definition line-up with more than 200 national HD channels, the
most international channels, and award-winning HD and DVR
technology. DISH Network Corporation is a Fortune 250 company.
Visit www.dish.com.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150825006382/en/
DISHMedia ContactJohn
Hall, 720-514-5351news@dish.com
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