Dish Loses Fox Over Contract Dispute, Blacking Out Football

(Bloomberg) -- Dish Network Corp.’s customers lost access to Fox Corp. channels while the two companies spar over their latest contract, blacking out NFL games and other shows for millions of viewers.

Dish, the second-largest satellite-TV provider, said Thursday that Fox blocked local channels in 17 markets across 23 states and the District of Columbia. In a separate statement, Fox said that Dish and its Sling online service chose to drop the networks “in an effort to coerce us to agree to outrageous demands.”

The number of blackouts has increased this year as cable networks and pay-TV providers feud over the cost of programming. Dish has a separate dispute with AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia that has kept HBO off its service for months -- an impasse that has contributed to an exodus of customers from the satellite company.

“Dish/Sling is at it again, choosing to drop leading programming as a negotiating tactic regardless of the impact on its own customers,” Fox said in its statement. “While we regret this is Dish/Sling’s preferred approach to negotiating, we remind our loyal viewers that the Fox services are widely available through every other major television provider.”

In addition to local Fox channels, Dish lost FS1, FS2, the Big 10 Network, Fox Soccer Plus and Fox Deportes. Fox News wasn’t affected by the dispute because it wasn’t part of the contract in question.

Michael Biard, Fox’s head of operations and distribution, sent a letter to Dish on Thursday saying the satellite provider was free to continue using the networks during negotiations.

“We sent Dish an extension Tuesday, extending the term through noon on Friday, Sept. 27 on the same terms that apply today,” Biard said in the letter, which was obtained by Bloomberg.

For its part, Dish said that Fox is demanding a “double-digit” percentage increase and that it wants the TV provider to bundle local channels with unrelated cable networks. Dish, based in Englewood, Colorado, has about 12 million customers nationwide.

“Fox’s actions are profoundly anti-consumer,” Andy LeCuyer, Dish’s senior vice president of programming, said in the statement. “Fox is raising prices and turning its back on its public obligation to provide channels to consumers for free.”

In the meantime, Dish is recommending that customers use an over-the-air antenna or the NFL app to watch football games.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nick Turner in Los Angeles at nturner7@bloomberg.net;Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net

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