Dish Network

Like Sinclair Broadcast Group, Dish Network is pushing some cash out to shareholders this month, anticipating that whatever agreement comes out of the current talks in Washington will mean higher tax rates in 2013.

The ABC television network is trying to shut down Dish Network Corp.’s ad-skipping TV recording feature two weeks after a federal judge denied a similar bid by a different broadcaster. ABC said it will seek a preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain, according to a filing in Manhattan federal court.

While networks worry about Dish’s service, commercials thrive on YouTube.

A possible merger between DirecTV and Dish Network has been on the table for a decade. Dish CEO Charlie Ergen tried to get the job done 10 years ago, only to have it rejected by the feds. Now the idea is back on the table for both groups, and Ergen says this time it could actually pass the federal regulatory test. Though I am typically not a fan of mergers, as they all too often have a way of erasing shareholder value, this could be a great move for both companies, consolidating the satellite industry and launching a new competitive service against its cable and telecom brethren.

A Dish-DirecTV merger may help limit increases in customers’ TV bills, which can top $100 a month, by giving the combined company more leverage in negotiations with TV networks.

Judge Dolly Gee of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Monday struck down the request by Fox, according to a statement from Dish. A Fox spokesman confirmed the ruling but said the network would appeal.

Dish Network Corp, the second-largest U.S. satellite TV company after DirecTV, reported a third-quarter loss due to high litigation costs and said it was prepared to raise prices next year after a one-year freeze. Dish shares rose 2.7% today.

Dish Network and Cablevision appear to be in talks to settle their long-running legal spat over the cable operator’s defunct Voom TV service. The court calendar entry yesterday was entitled, “Poss. Settlement,” suggesting the two warring parties could be close to a deal.

The path for CBS chief Leslie Moonves’ efforts to thwart Dish Network’s Auto Hop seemed easy enough. Moonves could simply threaten Dish in a carriage negotiation to abandon the commercial-skipper or else CBS would keep the stations it owns off the satellite operator. But, the chance for CBS to exert that leverage and control its destiny, as it were, appears to be off the table for a good while. Instead, Moonves and CBS look to be at the mercy of the federal courts.

Dish Network programming boss Carolyn Crawford yesterday stormed out of the courtroom sobbing after being insulted by the judge — only to return and launch into a finger-wagging verbal assault on a Cablevision lawyer.

The Genie has more storage, can be used in more rooms and offers an optional service to recommend shows — pitting it directly against rival Dish’s much-advertised Hopper.

At 10 am. ET today, Gannett put out the following statement: “Gannett and Dish Network have reached an agreement regarding Dish Network’s continued retransmission of Gannett stations.” 

The broadcaster says the ad-zapping feature of Dish’s Hopper DVR is not a factor in the negotiations for a new retrans contract replacing the one that expires on Sunday.

The broadcasting arm of Gannett Co. has told Dish Network that it will pull its stations from the satellite TV provider if Dish does not block the Auto Hop commercial-skipping feature on its DVRs or agree to pay penalties. The current retrans deal between the two companies expires on Oct. 7. Stations in 19 cities would be affected.

Dish Network Inc. gained the most in almost a month after Chairman Charlie Ergen said he won’t threaten the company’s future with his ambition to build a multibillion-dollar wireless network to become a provider of mobile data and voice provider. Dish rose 4% on Wednesday to $31.93 at the close, the biggest gain since Sept. 5.

DirecTV CEO Michael White kept the ember of this long-standing idea burning this morning at the Goldman Sachs Annual Communicopia Conference. “Consolidation could be pro-consumer, perhaps,” he told investors, citing, among other things, the soaring programming costs for DirecTV and other pay TV providers.

Dish Network CEO Joseph Clayton picked up the gauntlet that CBS chief Leslie Moonves threw down yesterday when he threatened to pull CBS from the satellite system if it continues to market its ad-zapping Hopper DVR. Dish CEO Joseph Clayton said: “Give the customer choice and control. Give the customer a better experience and we all win.”

CBS CEO Leslie Moonves says the company will ultimately drop its flagship network from Dish Network unless the satellite operator discontinues its Auto Hop ad-skipping device. CBS is in litigation, along with other broadcast networks, trying to thwart the device.

Dish Network will gather media in New York on Thursday for what it is billing as “The War of The Words.” To pump the event, the graphic features a couple of boxing gloves facing off. What type of battle may be coming?

Dish’s current contract with BTN expires on Friday, one day before the college football season starts. It does not look like the two sides are close to a deal. BTN is a joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and News Corp.’s Fox.

The network points to Dish’s own moves, which it says “concedes” that the original Auto Hop service was infringing.

The Federal Trade Commission is suing the satellite cable provider, accusing it of illegally calling millions of customers who asked telemarketers from the company and its affiliates to stop calling them.

In new legal papers, Dish no longer refers to its DVR ad-skipping technology as happening “automatically.”

The Dish Network blackout has cast a cloud over AMC Networks’ growth prospects, coming a year after the company was spun out of Cablevision as a stand-alone company.

Dish Network and Sinclair Broadcast Group reached a last-minute agreement Thursday to keep Sinclair stations from going dark for Dish subscribers.

Station  group owner Sinclair Broadcast Group is giving some fair warning about upcoming carriage negotiations with satellite TV provider Dish Network: Things are not going so well. Sinclair’s retrans deal with Dish is due to expire on Aug. 15.

The battle between AMC Networks and Dish Network continues to escalate as AMC announced that it will provide Dish customers with live streams of AMC’s Hell on Wheels and Braxton Family Values.

Dish Network has taken a 7% stake in Rentrak, while agreeing to supply the measurement company with exclusive access to its set-top box data until 2016. In addition to 700,000 shares, Dish will receive $5.8 million in cash.

Dish Network Corp Chairman Charlie Ergen says customers missing AMC Networks programs during a prolonged blackout should turn to Apple’s iTunes or Netflix to get their Mad Men and Breaking Bad fix. The billionaire’s pointed comments came as Dish reported weaker-than-expected second quarter revenue and earnings, and disclosed a potential furthering of its wireless ambitions with a new investment in a telecommunications company.

Some of the changes Dish has made to its Auto Hop seem designed to potentially defuse some of the legal ssues the broadcast networks are fighting, at least in the eyes of the court. Now when Dish asks subscribers to enable the Auto Hop feature on its DVR and allow it to skip commercials, the “no” box is checked by default instead of the “yes” box..

Dish Network is demanding a New York jury trial in its dispute with ABC over the satellite provider’s ad-skipping Auto Hop feature. In a filing Tuesday, Dish also denied several claims by ABC that it had violated its copyrights by creating, in essence, an “unauthorized, commercial-free, on-demand service.”

Satellite broadcaster Dish Network lost the preliminary legal bout with broadcast networks CBS, NBC and Fox over its commercial skipping feature known as the Auto Hop. A New York federal court Monday denied Dish’s request for a declaratory ruling that the Auto Hop does not violate copyright law.

The satellite provider and the Youngstown, Ohio, NBC affiliate failed to reach agreement on terms for a new carriage contract.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan said Monday that she will make a decision within a week on Dish network’s request to move the case brought by CBS, Fox and NBC against the satellite provider’s ad-skipping technology from New York to Los Angeles.