Meredith-Dish Retrans Deadline Looms

On Friday, Meredith Corp.-owned stations began notifying their viewers that Dish Network may drop the stations from its lineup on Monday, July 15.

By law, cable and satellite companies must negotiate in good faith with television stations before dropping the TV stations’ signals. If Dish and Meredith fail to reach an agreement, these Meredith-owned stations’ programming will not be available on Dish systems as of 7 p.m. ET on July 15.

Meredith-owned stations will still be available over-the-air and from all other cable, satellite and OTT providers serving their respective markets.

“Meredith has been trying for months to get Dish Network to negotiate seriously. Reaching a deal and preventing a blackout is our top priority,” said Patrick McCreery, president, Meredith Local Media Group. “We know the vital local news, emergency information, and top-rated sports and entertainment programming we provide are important to Dish’s customers, and we hope Dish will make it a priority to reach a deal too. Meredith stands ready, willing and able to reach a fair deal with Dish. Meredith has successfully completed hundreds of carriage agreements, and there is still time for Dish to reach a deal too.”

The following stations will be affected by Dish Network’s potential blackout:

• Atlanta — CBS affiliate WGCL, DMA 10
• Phoenix — CBS affiliate KPHO and KTVK (IND), DMA 12
• Louis — CBS affiliate KMOV, DMA 21
• Portland, Ore. — Fox affiliates KPTV and KPDX (MYN), DMA 22
• Nashville — NBC affiliate WSMV, DMA 27
• Kansas City — CBS affiliate KCTV and KSMO (IND), DMA 32
• Hartford-New Haven — CBS affiliate WFSB, DMA 33
• Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C. — Fox affiliate WHNS, DMA 38
• Las Vegas — Fox affiliate KVVU, DMA 39
• Mobile, Ala.-Pensacola, Fla. — Fox affiliate WALA, DMA – 58
• Flint-Saginaw, Mich. — CBS affiliate WNEM, DMA 65
• Springfield-Holyoke, Mass. — CBS affiliate WSHM, Fox affiliate WGGB-DT and ABC affiliate WGGB, DMA 108

Dish issued the following statement: “Even as more Dish customers turn to digital antennas for free access to their local channels, we recognize that many continue to rely on their pay-TV package to get these stations. For those customers, we are actively working to reach a fair deal before the contract expires knowing that only Meredith Corporation can choose to take their content away from Dish customers.

“Dish has successfully negotiated agreements representing hundreds of stations in recent months that benefit all parties, including our viewers. We are unsure why Meredith decided to involve customers in the contract negotiation process at a point when there is still time for the two parties to reach a mutually beneficial deal.”