Dish Network Discontinues ROH/Sinclair Programming

[AssShooter]

As a result of an expired agreement between DISH Network and our parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Dish will no longer carry Sinclair stations or programming, including Ring of Honor. At this time, we do not know if or when Dish will resume carrying our content.

We regret the inconvenience this is causing to Dish Network subscribers who want to continue to watch Ring of Honor on Sinclair stations.

We wish to remind these subscribers that numerous other means exist for receiving Ring of Honor programming, including DirecTV and at least one cable television company, for free over-the air, and on rohwrestling.com. You can also catch Ring of Honor every Wednesday at 11 p.m. ET on the Destination America channel.

If you are affected by this situation, we suggest that you contact Dish Network by calling them at (855)-318-0572, or through their website at http://www.dish.com/contact, Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DISH, or on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dish, and let them know you want them to carry these local stations and receive their popular programming, including Ring of Honor.

For more information, including answers to FAQ, please visit http://dishnetworkretrans.com/

[Fawrules]

Damn, wonder what percentage of the viewers watched through Dish?

[Sandy Fork]

INB4 this is ROH's fault and not Sinclair's.

[supersonic]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/dish-networ ... 1439638773

Dish Network Corp. and Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. agreed to a short-term contract extension that would allow the satellite-TV provider to broadcast Sinclair’s stations as the two sides continued to negotiate a new retransmission agreement.

Specific details about the short-term extension were not immediately available, but Dish said the extension preserves access for its customers to 153 local Sinclair channels in 79 markets nationwide.

The retransmission contract was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. EDT Saturday, Dish said.

Meanwhile, Dish added that while the two parties continue to negotiate, it is asking the Federal Communications Commission to stay action on the complaint that the satellite-TV provider filed Saturday against Sinclair. In the complaint, Dish had accused Sinclair of failing to negotiate in good faith on the retransmission contract.

Dish had alleged that Sinclair, one of the nation’s largest broadcast station owners, was refusing to discuss retransmission consent for Sinclair’s stations unless Dish also agreed to allow Sinclair to negotiate for 32 stations that Sinclair doesn't control and are in the same markets as Sinclair stations.

A Sinclair representative was unavailable for immediate comment. In an earnings call earlier this month, Sinclair acknowledged that it was in talks with Dish.

Sinclair also noted then that the retransmission rights for 75% of its subscriber base was up for renewal over the next 12 months, giving the company an opportunity to reset the fees it receives under those deals.

According to Dish, no new contract with Sinclair could produce the “largest local channel blackout in retransmission consent history.”

[dhads7161]

The Fox and MyNetwork stations that are SBG owned in my area are still up on Dish. I watched ROH TV yesterday too.

[Northwoods_Nightmare]

Do most Dish customers get Destination America? If so, does this really matter?

[WHG]

Do most Dish customers get Destination America? If so, does this really matter?

It's on a higher Tier package than the local SBG stations are, but this is most likely not going to be a permanent thing regardless. This happens all the time with cable/satellite retransmission fee negotiations. It typical comes down to the wire with both sides threatening, and ends up with them coming to an agreement. In this instance, it's a lot of stations and a major carrier, so they extended the deal to negotiate & Dish has even tried fighting it in court.

Realistically, ROH shouldn't have released anything on this as it's going to confuse people more than anything. It looks like just an attempt by SBG to rile up every set of viewers they can to call DISH to complain about how important that station is to them.

[AssShooter]

From Variety.com :

Dish Network subscribers lost access to 129 local TV stations operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group across the U.S. late Tuesday, in what amounts to the largest single TV blackout in history.

Dish said the companies had reached an agreement on rates and all other terms for the carriage of the Sinclair local stations, but that Sinclair demanded the satcaster pull its signals anyway. Dish alleged Sinclair forced the blackout because it wants to gain leverage in carriage negotiations for a cable channel — which Dish didn’t identify — that Sinclair is aiming to buy.

“We have agreed to rates and all terms to carry Sinclair’s local stations,” Warren Schlichting, Dish’s senior VP of programming, said in a statement. “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.”

In response, Sinclair exec VP and general counsel Barry Faber said in a statement: “Dish, which is reported to have engaged in more recent station blackouts than any other MVPD, is simply trying to spin the facts in an apparent effort to make a political statement. While Sinclair, unlike Dish, is not interested in negotiating this transaction in the press, Sinclair remains willing to negotiate a fair deal with Dish.”

The blackout affects stations in 79 markets in 36 states and Washington, D.C. Most of the stations are affiliated with the Big Four networks or the CW. Separately, Dish has extended its retransmission contract for 23 local stations not controlled by Sinclair for which Sinclair handles carriage negotiations.

The two sides had reached a temporary truce Aug. 15, when their previous pact was set to expire at midnight ET, as they continued to negotiate.

In the wake of the blackout, Dish reiterated its appeal to the Federal Communications Commission to intervene in the situation. Earlier this month the company filed a complaint with the FCC accusing Sinclair of violating the good-faith covenants of the FCC’s retransmission consent rules. Dish said it intends to amend the complaint to include the allegations that Sinclair has tied the retrans talks to carriage of the unnamed cable channel.

For Dish, the retrans fight with Sinclair comes after it lost a net 81,000 pay-TV subs in the second quarter of 2015, with analysts estimating it shed 151,000 satellite TV customers. As of the end of June, Dish reported 13.93 million TV customers, including those with its over-the-top Sling TV service.

Dish has a legacy of pugnacious relations with broadcast and cable TV networks. Since January 2012, Dish has been involved in 32 of the 74 retrans disputes in the U.S. that have led to stations going dark for pay-TV subs, according to the National Assn. of Broadcasters.

The FCC has said it plans to review rules regarding retransmission consent, given the uptick in battles between station groups and pay-TV providers. Cable and satellite TV providers are required by law to carry broadcast TV stations, but that compulsory carriage requirement goes out the window if broadcasters are seeking retrans fees, which require negotiations between station owners and MVPDs.

[dhads7161]

I'm not worried so much that this is going to effect my ROH viewing as I have a Ringside Membership and Destination America as I am that for the time being this leaves me without a Fox station. Football season is coming up I dislike CBS's NFL broadcasts, I prefer the Fox Saturday night college game than the one on ABC as I like Fox's feel, and how the hell will I be able to watch the MLB Postseason if this isn't ironed out by October? If I don't get to watch my Cardinals win the World Series, I will be pissed at SBG and Dish.

[WHG]

This will likely get resolved relatively soon. It represents too much revenue to SBG and too many critical stations (many CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox affiliates) for Dish to be okay with leaving it's customers without.

[dark patriot]

Dish alleged Sinclair forced the blackout because it wants to gain leverage in carriage negotiations for a cable channel — which Dish didn’t identify — that Sinclair is aiming to buy.

any ideas what channel that might be?

[supersonic]

Hopefully Destination America to give Dixie the ultimate sendoff she deserves.

Observer:

For people who have the Dish Network, Sinclair Broadcasting and Dish hit a bargaining stalemate over a new deal and Dish has taken all Sinclair stations off, which includes major market network affiliates in Seattle, St. Louis and Portland.

[DXvsNWO1994]

Looks like they worked things out (per PWInsider)...

This press release was issued by Dish Network, detailing that the satellite company and Sinclair Broadcasting have come to a new retransmission agreement with the help of the FCC. You can read their statement below.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DISH Network L.L.C. and Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. have reached an agreement in principle that will form the basis of a long-term retransmission consent agreement for carriage of Sinclair’s local channels in 79 markets nationwide. Restoration of Sinclair signals to DISH’s system is underway.

“We are grateful for the FCC’s work on behalf of consumers to actively broker a productive path forward,” said Jeff Blum, DISH senior vice president and deputy general counsel.

Additionally, DISH is asking the Federal Communications Commission to stay action on DISH’s Verified Amended and Restated Retransmission Complaint and Request for Preliminary Injunctive Relief as the long-term agreement is being finalized.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

[dhads7161]

That certainly seems so as my Fox station is back.