DISH Endorses Sinclair and NAB Free Antenna Giveaway
August 18 2016 - 9:07AM
Business Wire
- In wake of Tribune blackout, DISH has
distributed $7 million worth of OTA antennas to consumers
- DISH encourages Tribune to follow
Sinclair’s example
- DISH and Tribune Broadcasting continue
to negotiate
Today, DISH endorsed Sinclair Broadcast Group, the National
Association of Broadcasters, Antennas Direct and TVfreedom.org for
their “Broadcast TV Liberation Tour” that is raising
consumer awareness of free over-the-air (OTA) local TV. Antennas
Direct reports it has handed out $1 million in free OTA antennas in
60 cities.
“It’s smart. The country’s 90 million pay-TV customers, all of
whom pay retransmission fees for local broadcast stations, are
frustrated by rising costs and channel blackouts,” said Warren
Schlichting, DISH executive vice president of Marketing,
Programming and Media Sales. “Complementing the pay-TV experience,
which includes the increasing adoption of streaming services like
Sling TV, Sony Vue, Hulu and Netflix, is good business and may
drive a solution to the otherwise compounding problem of
ever-rising retransmission consent fees for local TV.”
DISH has embraced this approach having distributed $7 million
worth of OTA antennas to affected customers this summer since
Tribune Broadcasting blacked out its stations from DISH customers
on June 12.
“Sinclair is on the right track for consumers and we’d encourage
Tribune to follow its example,” added Schlichting.
Each year, the cost to carry local broadcast stations rises far
beyond the rate of inflation, more than 225 percent over the past
five years, leading to blackouts across the country that affect
millions of subscribers of various pay-TV companies. According to
SNL Kagan, a leading source on the media industry, broadcast fees
burdening pay-TV consumers will reach an unprecedented $7.7 billion
in 2016. These same rates, for channels available free over the
air, were as low as $215 million in 2006, soared to $4.9 billion in
2014 and are expected to more than double to reach $11.6 billion in
2022.
“While we continue to advocate for an overhaul of the system
that guides these types of negotiations, and have been on opposite
sides of the issue from TVfreedom in the past, it is heartening to
see that we may agree on this point: TV viewers should have a
choice on how to watch, and how much to pay for local TV,” said
Schlichting.
Update on Negotiations Between DISH and Tribune
DISH and Tribune continue to progress in retransmission
negotiations, but Tribune continues to black out millions of DISH
customers from 42 local stations in 33 markets.
“Tribune is back at the table and we are making headway that I
am hopeful will get these channels back to our customers soon,”
said Schlichting. “Regrettably, Tribune had stopped negotiating for
five weeks, delaying a resolution. In the time since Tribune
blacked out its stations, DISH has completed 10 local
retransmission deals, one that covered more stations and more
markets than Tribune. This can be done.”
Affected DISH customers can learn more about the negotiations
and find ways to watch their shows and events by visiting
DISHPromise.com.
About DISH
DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), through its subsidiaries,
provides approximately 13.593 million pay-TV subscribers, as of
June 30, 2016, with the highest-quality programming and technology
with the most choices at the best value. DISH offers 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 200 company.
Visit www.dish.com.
Subscribe to DISH email alerts: http://about.dish.com/alerts
Follow @DISHNews on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DISHNews
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160818005356/en/
DISH Network Corp.John Hall, 720-514-5351news@dish.com
DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
DISH Network (NASDAQ:DISH)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024