Updated at 12:25pm Eastern
On the evening of October 6, the latest fight over retransmission consent fees commenced. At 9pm Eastern, TEGNA-owned stations were no longer accessible to Dish customers, as the companies’ accord had expired without a new deal put into place.
TEGNA and Dish exchanged words, each blaming each other for the “blackout,” by law, of TEGNA stations to Dish’s paying clientele.
On Monday (10/18), Dish took things up a notch by reaching out to the FCC.
Dish filed a verified retransmission complaint with the Communications against TEGNA.
Dish’s version of the facts state that the DBS provider did so after TEGNA “removed its local stations from millions of DISH TV subscribers in 53 markets across the country.” It’s typical language from a MVPD involved in a retransmission fee impasse, although it takes the MVPD and the station owner to reach an agreement deemed fair by both parties.
Don’t tell that to Dish.
“TEGNA turned its back on its public interest obligation and failed to engage in good faith retransmission consent negotiations with Dish,” Dish SVP of Programming Andy LeCuyer claims. “TEGNA’s demands were both unreasonable and inconsistent. This behavior negatively impacts DISH subscribers, and we expect TEGNA’s bad behavior to only get worse as the programmer looks to sell its stations to the highest bidder. As a result, we have filed a formal complaint with the FCC to address TEGNA’s blatant disregard of the Commission’s rules.”
The 53-page complaint outlines TEGNA’s “bad faith actions during negotiations,” including what Dish claims is a “demand” from TEGNA that Dish pay for all subscribers in a local market whether they purchase local programming from Dish or not.
Further, Dish asserts that TEGNA is “appearing to demand that Dish pay for viewers who are no longer subscribers.”
As such, Dish claims, “TEGNA’s demands would have totaled nearly a billion dollars in fees.”
In the complaint, Dish EVP of External and Legislative Affairs Jeffrey Blum notes, “In fact, this is an unusual case because of the internal contradictions within TEGNA’s own proposals. These inconsistencies make it hard or impossible for DISH to ascertain what it is that TEGNA demands, taking this case even farther away from any concept of good faith than if the improper demands were clear as day.”
DISH’s complaint against TEGNA asks the FCC to act on an expedited basis.
‘UTTERLY BASIS AND WITHOUT MERIT’
In response to the Bad Faith complaint, TEGNA issued a statement blasting Dish for its FCC filing.
“DISH’s complaint is utterly baseless and without merit,” TEGNA said, welcoming a chance for the FCC to review DISH’s conduct over the course of this negotiation. “Perhaps a close examination of DISH’s conduct will cause them to come to the table to negotiate free from their consistently unproductive tactics and public misrepresentations.”
The real issue at hand, TEGNA says, “is the need for DISH to stop short-changing their customers by serially dropping valued stations and instead reach fair, market-based deals with programmers like TEGNA.”
The owner of such stations as WUSA-9 in Washington, D.C., and KGW-8 in Portland, Ore., also made it known that, “through it all, TEGNA has been steadfast in insisting that all we want is to reach a fair deal,” working constructively to achieve that goal “by offering Dish terms and conditions that reflect the marketplace and have served as the foundation for deals we have reached with other cable and satellite providers.”
TEGNA reiterated in its statement that it made “a comprehensive proposal” to DISH “months ago,” and that it updated its proposal multiple times, including a reduction in rates. “DISH has refused to counter; it has not proposed rates in more than three weeks,” TEGNA said. “Rather than engage in transparent PR stunts, DISH should return to the negotiating table in a serious fashion and get a deal done before their subscribers are forced to endure yet another week without their favorite shows, valued local news, as well as marquee college football and NFL matchups.”
