Another day, another carriage fees dispute. The latest is between the No. 1 broadcast network, CBS, and satellite provider, Dish.
“Dish has been deliberately dragging its feet for months,” CBS asserted in a statement about the broken-down negotiations. “Now, as the deadline nears, Dish appears willing to drop the most popular programming in its entire channel lineup because it won’t negotiate the same sort of deal that other cable, satellite and telco companies have struck with CBS.”
“Not reaching agreements is nothing new for Dish,” the broadcast network continued. “In fact, Dish has dropped more than 120 stations since 2013 alone, whereas CBS has only had one service disruption. We are committed to providing high-quality programming for our viewers and will continue to negotiate fair value for that content. As we negotiate with Dish, we are also taking the necessary steps to alert fans at KeepCBS.com.”
In addition to this dispute, which is based on how much Dish should pay CBS to carry the network for its subscribers, the satellite company is duking it out publicly with Time Warner’s Turner. Dish has dropped certain Turner networks — such as CNN and Cartoon Network — in the interim.
That fight has an extra wrinkle, as Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen is very vocally against the pending Time Warner Cable and Comcast merger.
During these disputes, Dish has been steadily losing subscribers and missing its marks from an investor standpoint.
When TheWrap asked Dish for comment on the CBS matter, the company said, “Our position remains unchanged” from its Friday statement.
Here is last week’s statement from Dish: “Only CBS can force a blackout of its channels. Dish is actively working to reach a deal before the contract expires and has successfully negotiated agreements representing hundreds of stations in recent months that benefit all parties, including our viewers.”
“We are unsure why CBS decided to involve customers in the contract negotiation process at a point when there is time for the two parties to reach a mutually beneficial deal,” the Dish statement concluded.