What Denver's Scripps station is saying...

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From the article:
" Scripps continues to advocate for market-standard distribution terms while Dish attempts to control our local stations’ signals and limit our ability to create new services with other cable and satellite companies. "

So, exactly what new services does Scripps want to create with other cable and satellite companies, and withhold from Dish subscribers? It sounds like Scripps wants the ability to make an exclusive deal for any new cable channels with any (or all) of Dish's competitors, and not allow Dish to carry those new channels, regardless of whether or not Dish reaches a deal to carry the Scripps local broadcast channels.

Also from the article:
" What is true is that Dish has little motivation to seek a deal: Dish’s profitability improves by several million dollars each month by not distributing the Scripps stations while its customers – who are locked into Dish’s monthly charges for stations they’re not receiving – miss out on the news, weather and sports programming they rely on from our stations. "

" At this point, we recommend that Dish customers in our local markets seek out a different service. "

So, is Scripps going to offer to reimburse us for our early termination fees? They acknowledge that many Dish subscribers are locked into a contract, while telling those same subscribers to switch service providers.
 
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Scripps used to own a bunch of cable channels but I thought they sold them to discovery
They did. The language in the article is talking about any new services going forward. The statement is vague enough that it may or may not be referring to any newly-created cable channels. I just wonder what other types of services that Scripps may want to provide to Dish's competition, while not providing those same services to Dish.

Also, as someone pointed out in another Scripps thread, there has been an impasse over some of the (former) Scripps-owned cable channels in the past, which makes this line from Scripps's statement false:
" This remains the only time in Scripps’ history that we have reached an impasse over a distribution agreement. "
 
So Scripps charges several mollion dollars every month for a bunch of stations that are supposed to be free over the air..what a scam

I wish it was like the old days where locals did not get $$$ from the carrier. They were a must carry item. When station owners started charging then it was a different ball of wax. The station owners little by little are pricing themselves out of the market with their charges, when the channel is free OTA. I think in time, carriers will just not carry locals and supply an antenna. Orby and some streaming services already do that. It is up to the customer to get their own locals. For years Dish or Direct did not carry locals. They had East/West nets. After all, most of the Network fare is available streaming and local stations do have their local news up for free.
 
Yep, NY and LA networks were provided by both Directv and Dish in the old days. They were great unless you wanted to watch local news and sports. Dish should go back to what it was and provide antennas to customers who demand their local channels.
 
Yep, NY and LA networks were provided by both Directv and Dish in the old days. They were great unless you wanted to watch local news and sports. Dish should go back to what it was and provide antennas to customers who demand their local channels.
I go back even farther than that. I remember when they still carried the PrimeTime 24 package, which had a decent selection of network affiliates from around the country, including at least one channel each from NY and LA. While not being exactly "local" it at least improved the odds that you could see something from a little bit closer to your area of the country, while also seeing a variety of other areas of the country.
 
I go back even farther than that. I remember when they still carried the PrimeTime 24 package, which had a decent selection of network affiliates from around the country, including at least one channel each from NY and LA. While not being exactly "local" it at least improved the odds that you could see something from a little bit closer to your area of the country, while also seeing a variety of other areas of the country.
That’s awesome if you just want channels, but practicality wise, in today’s market, that wouldn’t be very useful. I know a certain someone that would love that, as long as there was an app to go with it, and they were HD.
 
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That’s awesome if you just want channels, but practicality wise, in today’s market, that wouldn’t be very useful. I know a certain someone that would love that, as long as there was an app to go with it, and they were HD.
It depends on which specific affiliates are chosen, and whether you happen to be a fan of the NFL team shown in that region. It would be a way to get out-of-market games without having to subscribe to Sunday Ticket. ;) (I know that RedZone kind of solved that problem, if you only want to see live highlights, and not the entire game. However, Dish no longer has RedZone, either.) :(
 
Getting back on topic, here is this month's counter-point from Dish on their dishpromise website:

"We appreciate your patience while we continue to work with Scripps on reaching a fair agreement to restore its channels.

We offered Scripps multiple extension options to keep services up while negotiations continued, but they declined all our offers. Scripps made the unfortunate decision to remove their channels as a tactic to restrict consumer choice and raise fees.

The reason behind this all about greed. Scripps is seeking to remove our customers’ ability to choose whether or not to receive and pay for local channels. This elimination of consumer choice is un-American and something we will not accept. On top of eliminating customer choice, Scripps is also looking to increase the rates you pay for their channels today.

Our goal, as always, is to make sure our customers get a fair deal for great content. We don’t think what Scripps is demanding is fair, and that's why we're fighting hard to keep your TV bill as low as possible.

We have been and continue to be open to working with Scripps in hopes of reaching a fair agreement to restore their channels."

The important part that Scripps did not address in their statement is this:
"Scripps is seeking to remove our customers’ ability to choose whether or not to receive and pay for local channels."
 
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Getting back on topic, here is this month's counter-point from Dish on their dishpromise website:

"We appreciate your patience while we continue to work with Scripps on reaching a fair agreement to restore its channels.

We offered Scripps multiple extension options to keep services up while negotiations continued, but they declined all our offers. Scripps made the unfortunate decision to remove their channels as a tactic to restrict consumer choice and raise fees.

The reason behind this all about greed. Scripps is seeking to remove our customers’ ability to choose whether or not to receive and pay for local channels. This elimination of consumer choice is un-American and something we will not accept. On top of eliminating customer choice, Scripps is also looking to increase the rates you pay for their channels today.

Our goal, as always, is to make sure our customers get a fair deal for great content. We don’t think what Scripps is demanding is fair, and that's why we're fighting hard to keep your TV bill as low as possible.


We have been and continue to be open to working with Scripps in hopes of reaching a fair agreement to restore their channels."

The important part that Scripps did not address in their statement is this:
"Scripps is seeking to remove our customers’ ability to choose whether or not to receive and pay for local channels."
That’s been my guess this whole time. They want to make it mandatory carriage, compared to if someone wants to use an OTA.
 
When Dish had a dispute with the NBC affiliate in Denver a few years back, a certain departments within Dish tried to get the employees to go to the station and picket out front of the station.
But they made sure to tell the employees not to wear anything that showed they were a part of Dish. "you want to look like you are normal citizens angry about the station pulled the channel".
wonder if they tried that with channel 7?
 
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