Cox Media Group TV stations in six markets have gone dark to Suddenlink subscribers in a dispute over retransmission consent fees. The blackout affects viewers in Tulsa, Okla.; Memphis; Spokane, Wash.; Eureka, Calif.; Greenville-Greenwood, Miss.; and Alexandria, La.
Mission Broadcasting said its stations in 18 markets are no longer being carried by Dish Network because of a retransmission consent dispute. The stations were removed by Dish without warning Friday night, Mission said. The broadcaster said it had offered to extend its current agreement so viewers wouldn’t miss the beginning of the NFL playoff but Dish turned it down. Dish said the opposite happened, blaming Mission for the signals being pulled.
After a three-day blackout, CBS and Dish Network settled their carriage fee dispute by agreeing to a new distribution deal, restoring CBS and CW signals to millions of Dish customers across the country who went without CBS football on Thanksgiving.
The big TV broadcaster and the satellite distributor are at loggerheads over how much Dish should pay to carry CBS’s highly-rated programs,. As a result, CBS programming was removed from Dish early Tuesday morning. Dish subscribers who count on the service to serve up fare from a CBS-owned station can’t see it. The disagreement means 28 local channels in 18 markets across 26 states are off the air until the two sides can agree upon terms for a new contract.
CBS and Dish Network said Monday night that they have failed to reach an agreement on a new carriage deal. As a result, CBS’ broadcast network, several stations owned by CBS including in Los Angeles and New York, as well as CBS Sports Network, Pop and the Smithsonian Channel, are now dark on the nation’s No. 2 satellite service. The news comes as the companies’ contract expired at 10:59 PM PT.
