Dish Network Goes Dark After Disagreement

A relatively small dispute between satellite TV provider Dish Network and LIN Media, based on retransmission consent for the 17 stations of LIN, have resulted in the most drastic of consequences as a result of its timing: a blackout of all these channels on Dish Network systems.

The move comes just two days after an FCC claim to review current retransmission-consent rules in order to prevent such occurences. Key US markets that have been hit by the LIN blackout include Albuquerque, Austin, and Buffalo, amongst others. The main area of dispute between the two parties is broadcast station fees, with LIN, who previously offered their content free for satellite and cable providers, now wanting to start charging for their programming.

LIN Media President / CEO Vincent L. Sadusky has said of the ordeal: “We only want what is fair for our local stations, so that we can continue providing the premium news, sports, entertainment and other local programming that is most important to viewers.”

The Dish Network replied to these comments with an official statement that seemed intent on provoking the other side, reading: “LIN Media is simply being greedy, insisting on a rate increase so immense that Dish Network and its customers couldn’t possibly absorb it. Their onerous demands and burdensome contract terms would result in payments of millions of dollars more each month, exceeding current market rates and demanding more money than we pay most of our popular national networks.”

A deal needed to be reached by 2am (EST) on Saturday in order to stop some of the satellite TV households losing their local station signals, while neither side is revealing how many of their customers were affected by a blackout.

Crazy Matt Cazzy into all things hi-tech, gizmos and gadgets. If its just out, i want it. Loves watching tv on every device ever invented that can handle it

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