DISH urges FCC to take immediate action to protect millions of innocent consumers from unlawful negotiating tactics of Sinclair
August 15 2015 - 5:46AM
Business Wire
- DISH notifies FCC that Sinclair has
threatened largest blackout in U.S. retransmission consent history
to intentionally exploit millions of innocent consumers to gain
negotiating leverage
- DISH asserts Sinclair is violating FCC
good faith negotiation requirements mandated by Congress
- Complaint states Sinclair is attempting
to negotiate illegally on behalf of 32 stations it doesn’t
control
- DISH requests that the FCC grant
preliminary injunctive relief to protect consumers
Today, DISH Network L.L.C. filed a Verified Retransmission
Complaint asserting, among other things, that in direct violation
of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules mandated by the
STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014 (STELAR), Sinclair Broadcast
Group, Inc. is refusing to negotiate with DISH for retransmission
consent for Sinclair’s stations unless DISH also agrees to allow
Sinclair to negotiate for 32 stations that Sinclair does not
control and are in the same markets as Sinclair stations.
The retransmission consent contract between DISH and Sinclair
expires tonight at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
DISH also charges that in violation of FCC regulation, Sinclair
has assumed a unilateral stance to its negotiations, including the
refusal of a contract extension so the parties can explore
alternative paths toward an agreement.
“We’re asking the FCC to act on behalf of consumers to bring
Sinclair back in line with the law,” said Jeff Blum, DISH senior
vice president and deputy general counsel. “Sinclair’s
‘take-it-or-leave-it’ posture is in direct violation of federal
regulations – they have offered a single path and are threatening
that any deviation from that path will lead to a consumer
blackout.”
DISH and Sinclair have been making steady progress in their
recent negotiations, and DISH was hopeful that mutual agreement
would be reached to renew carriage of the Sinclair local stations
in due course. In that spirit, DISH offered a short-term contract
extension to Sinclair that would include a retroactive “true-up”
when new rates were agreed upon, and would preserve the ability of
DISH customers to access the Sinclair local stations while
negotiations continued. The “true-up” would ensure that Sinclair
was made whole at the new rates for the period of the contract
extension.
Instead of accepting DISH’s good faith offer, Sinclair is
threatening the largest local channel blackout in retransmission
consent history, which would block DISH customers’ access to 153
local channels in 79 markets. Rather than negotiating in good faith
as required by law, it is clear from these actions that Sinclair is
seeking to intentionally harm and exploit millions of innocent
consumers to gain negotiating leverage.
“Since we offered to retroactively true them up when new rates
were agreed upon, Sinclair had nothing to lose and consumers had
everything to gain from an extension of our existing contract that
would allow negotiations to continue,” added Blum. “Instead,
Sinclair has rejected our offer and has chosen to use innocent
consumers as pawns to gain leverage for the economic benefit of
Sinclair, while causing substantial harm and disruption to the
lives of those very same consumers who ultimately will bear the
brunt of the unfair price increases sought by Sinclair.”
DISH is asking the FCC to immediately grant preliminary
injunctive relief while the Commission considers the complaint, and
to require Sinclair to negotiate in good faith for the stations for
which it has control under FCC rules.
The formal complaint can be read here: https://dishnetwork.newshq.businesswire.com/document-library/verified-retransmission-complaint-dish-network-llc-against-sinclair
About DISH
DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH), through its subsidiaries,
provides approximately 13.932 million pay-TV subscribers, as of
June 30, 2015, with the highest-quality programming and technology
with the most choices at the best value. Subscribers enjoy a high
definition line-up with more than 200 national HD channels, the
most international channels, and award-winning HD and DVR
technology. DISH Network Corporation is a Fortune 250 company.
Visit www.dish.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150815005012/en/
DISH Network L.L.C.John Hall,
303-723-1968johnw.hall@dish.com@DISHNews
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