DISH, FOX Reach A New Retrans Deal

0

In a brief announcement distributed Sunday (10/6),  DISH Network confirmed that it has reached a multi-year carriage agreement with Fox Corporation for its owned-and-operated local stations, as well as FS1, FS2, BTN, Fox Soccer Plus and Fox Deportes.


We appreciate our customers’ patience as we worked to reach a long-term agreement that restores the Fox networks and local broadcast stations,” DISH said.

FOX did not immediately offer a comment on the new deal.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

It ends a “blackout” that began Sept. 26, one that blocked not only the aforementioned cable channels but also Fox O&Os across 17 markets.

As such, the “blackout” is significant and included not only FOX-affiliated stations but also Fox-owned stations airing MyNetworkTV, or The CW Network.

Impacted stations were in some of the nation’s biggest markets:

Atlanta, GA FOX WAGA
Austin, TX FOX KTBC
Charlotte, NC FOX WJZY
Charlotte, NC MNT WMYT
Chicago, IL CW WPWR
Chicago, IL FOX WFLD
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX FOX KDFW
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX MNT KDFI
Detroit, MI FOX WJBK
Gainesville, FL FOX WOGX
Houston, TX FOX KRIV
Houston, TX MNT KTXH
Los Angeles, CA FOX KTTV
Los Angeles, CA MNT KCOP
Minneapolis, MN FOX KMSP
Minneapolis, MN MNT WFTC
New York, NY FOX WNYW
New York, NY MNT WWOR
Orlando, FL FOX WOFL
Orlando, FL MNT WRBW
Philadelphia, PA FOX WTXF
Phoenix, AZ FOX KSAZ
Phoenix, AZ MNT KUTP
San Francisco, CA FOX KTVU
San Francisco, CA IND KICU
Tampa, FL FOX WTVT
Washington, DC FOX WTTG
Washington, DC MNT WDCA

 

While FOX was largely silent on the DISH retrans squabble, the DBS provider was very vocal — offering a one-sided take on what FOX demanded and why it wasn’t acceptable to them.

As DISH saw it, Fox demanded “a double-digit percentage rate increase for continued carriage of its local channels.”

It added that Fox was also attempting to “force bundle” its local channels and unrelated cable networks “to get more money and gain negotiating leverage.”

DISH also pointed to Fox’s May investor day, an event where company executives promoted a plan to increase retransmission revenue by 62%, to $2.6 billion, by 2022.

“Taken together, Fox’s actions are profoundly anti-consumer,” said DISH SVP/Programming Andy LeCuyer. “Fox is raising prices and turning its back on its public obligation to provide channels to consumers for free. It’s clear that Fox cares more about padding its bottom line than serving its viewers.”

The one-sided take on the retrans impasse also saw DISH play the role of good guy, noting that it and Fox had been making steady progress in their recent negotiations.