DISH is at it again. We talked about their fee dispute with Sinclair last year. The largest blackout in U.S. history ensued, affecting 79 markets. The Federal Communications Commission got involved, and they finally worked out their differences.
Now DISH is taking on Tribune, and it’s not pretty. Tribune stations have been blacked out for DISH subscribers for almost a month and no new information seems to be surfacing to discuss a possible resolution. Tribune is running “dump DISH” ads and Dish is suing Tribune for its “misleading and deceptive statements.”
But wait, there’s still more to this saga. The Reverend Jesse Jackson has also weighed in on this dispute claiming that DISH is undervaluing the series the same way “the old south counted African Americans as three-fifths of a man.” He is urging the two companies to come to an agreement soon.
So where does all this drama leave you? In some cases, Tribune stations may still be viewable by the market via an antenna over-the-air, which is good news. But either way, we’re in the same place as last time. If you’re a cj client in an affected market, you’ve already seen an email from us acknowledging the blackout. Now, your buyer will keep following the negotiations as the information becomes available. Once the two have resolved their differences we will be working with our reps to negotiate fair makegoods for the ratings missed during the blackout.
Until then, we wait and watch the fireworks as these two battle it out.
