Dish accounts for half of all retrans disputes, NAB says

[Bruce]

Continuing to single out one pay-TV operator in its ongoing quest to convince the FCC to keep retrans regulations the way they are, the NAB has called Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) "the communications industry's ultimate regulatory profiteer and catalyst for half of all retransmission consent disputes. "

http://www.fiercecable.com/story/dish-accounts-half-all-retrans-disputes-nab-says/2016-05-26

 

[Tampa8]

As a subscriber to DISH I wear that as a badge.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Somebody has to stand up to the outrageous demands by the channel providers. Otherwise the cord cutting would be twice as large as it is now. Noticed also that DISH will now be cutting channels out like Newsmax that want too much money. I say go for it. Cut as many as need be to keep the bills lower. There is no reason why cable /satellite bills should be as high as they are. Now if DISH could just do something about their ever expanding , ever increasing , charge it because we can, DISH FEES.

 

[Cold Irons]

Yep...if the NAB is fer it, I'm agin' it....

 

[Bruce]

Somebody has to stand up to the outrageous demands by the channel providers. Otherwise the cord cutting would be twice as large as it is now. Noticed also that DISH will now be cutting channels out like Newsmax that want too much money. I say go for it. Cut as many as need be to keep the bills lower. There is no reason why cable /satellite bills should be as high as they are. Now if DISH could just do something about their ever expanding , ever increasing , charge it because we can, DISH FEES.

Yet with all these fights with the providers, Dish's prices are pretty much the same as everyone else, some less, some more.

And this is not to attack Dish, Comcast pulled some channels from the Starter Package and the price did not go down ( did not go up either), there is just no evidence that these pulled channels or fights with the providers over fees keeps the price down for any cable/sat. company.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Yet with all these fights with the providers, Dish's prices are pretty much the same as everyone else, some less, some more.

And this is not to attack Dish, Comcast pulled some channels from the Starter Package and the price did not go down ( did not go up either), there is just no evidence that these pulled channels or fights with the providers over fees keeps the price down for any cable/sat. company.

From what I read yesterday online , DISH and other sat and cable providers have decided to cut down on channels that are trying to force them ever higher on their prices, so they can keep the price increases down. So the niche channels that some people like might face being dropped if they can't keep their demands down. VIACOM recently tired to do this and I don't remember if it was ever settled or not and Comcast did too if I remember right. They are predicting that skinny bundles are the first step towards what is already happening in Canada . Where they actually making them provide a small locals pack with some essential channels for like $25.00 and from there you are free to pick what you want ala cart. IF this comes true in the U.S. we might see some relief on the prices ,but the expanding niche market will quickly contract and somebody's favorite niche channel might go bye bye. I personally say go for it. Most of the channels we have now are all niche channels that show nothing but informercials , reality tv garbage and reruns from network tv. I wish that tv was more like Netflix. Give me my locals you could watch live or anytime primetime and the rest of the cable shows could be presented in tile form and you could pick which shows you want to watch and all for a small low monthly price. Maybe someday.

 

[Bob Haller]

sell niche channels by download. if they are worthwhile people will uy them for a small fee

 

[Claude Greiner]

Yet with all these fights with the providers, Dish's prices are pretty much the same as everyone else, some less, some more.

And this is not to attack Dish, Comcast pulled some channels from the Starter Package and the price did not go down ( did not go up either), there is just no evidence that these pulled channels or fights with the providers over fees keeps the price down for any cable/sat. company.

I have been making that point for years.

Every time Dish pulls a channel, they go and make this big stink that they are doing it for the consumer and trying to save you money.

The fact of the matter is that not once has Dish ever said they are not raising rates due to winning a programming dispute, every year the rates or fees are increased.

The fact of the matter is that so and so channel wants to raise rates from lets say 5 cents to 6 cents per channel, in a package that you pay $50 for.

You as a consumer don't care since your rates went up $3 -5 Last year, but for Dish that's 1 penny for all 13 million of their subscribers that they have to pay for the next 12 months.

So do the math 13,000,000 Pennies x 12 = 156,000,000 Pennies or $1,560,000 over the course of 12 months.

So meanwhile all because of a penny increase, or $1.5 million dollars to Dish Networks bottom line, you get to deal with warnings for 2 weeks that the channel is going away, and possibly be without your channel for 2-3 days while Dish battles it out.

For a penny the average customer could care less, as the rates are going up anyways. For Dish, your penny is $1.5 million if not more to their bottom line at the end of the year.

 

[Claude Greiner]

BTW, unless congress passes a law, we will never have alacarte packages.

The providers package too many Bullsh!t channels in with the good channels to force us to watch stuff we don't want.

If alacarte was here, many channels like the "TV Guide" channel would be gone.

 

[MitchDeerfield]

Somebody has to stand up to the outrageous demands by the channel providers. Otherwise the cord cutting would be twice as large as it is now. Noticed also that DISH will now be cutting channels out like Newsmax that want too much money. I say go for it. Cut as many as need be to keep the bills lower. There is no reason why cable /satellite bills should be as high as they are. Now if DISH could just do something about their ever expanding , ever increasing , charge it because we can, DISH FEES.

I hate to tell you this, but Newsmax pays Dish for carrying its channel. Dish doesn't pay Newsmax a nickle. Dish wanted to raise the amount of Newsmax pays even higher.

 

[Tampa8]

I hate to tell you this, but Newsmax pays Dish for carrying its channel. Dish doesn't pay Newsmax a nickle. Dish wanted to raise the amount of Newsmax pays even higher.

Yes, but not exactly. It is being reported Newsmax may be asking to be carried for no charge. That would be a better reason why they are not being carried.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Yes, but not exactly. It is being reported Newsmax may be asking to be carried for no charge. That would be a better reason why they are not being carried.

Bingo! That is what I read online the day before today. The reason why many niche channels maybe dropped is due to them now asking to be paid or paid even more than they are worth. So bye bye to these type of channels.

 

[david_jr]

Hard to believe Dish would get in a retrans fight for a penny increase. I suspect the requests are a bit higher. I remember when one of our locals were fighting with Dish a few years ago and they were saying Dish is going to make you lose our channel over a few pennies a day increase. Well even a penny a day incease is a lot if you follow Claude's formula above. In addition to programming Dish has a lot of other expenses and from what we keep reading and hearing their profits have remained around the same per subscriber for several years. Bottom line is pay TV is getting more expensive regardless of the provider. Should Dish just accept every increase every content provider asks for without trying to get the best price? They get in a lot of fights, ok, more than anyone else, but I never lost locals for more than a couple of days over the years. Other channels that have gone dark for a time never really bothered me either. My only other alternative other than cutting the cord is D* so I wouldn't expect to save anything by switching and I would certainly miss my Dish equipment. I say keep up the good fighting.

 

[ohioankev]

I wonder how willing these local affiliates are to give raises when their employees walk into the bosses office? It wouldn't be a good business practice if DISH just agreed with the increase price. Sure it sucks for consumers when the station goes dark for a few weeks...

 

[sam_gordon]

I have been making that point for years.

Every time Dish pulls a channel, they go and make this big stink that they are doing it for the consumer and trying to save you money.

The fact of the matter is that not once has Dish ever said they are not raising rates due to winning a programming dispute, every year the rates or fees are increased.

The fact of the matter is that so and so channel wants to raise rates from lets say 5 cents to 6 cents per channel, in a package that you pay $50 for.

You as a consumer don't care since your rates went up $3 -5 Last year, but for Dish that's 1 penny for all 13 million of their subscribers that they have to pay for the next 12 months.

So do the math 13,000,000 Pennies x 12 = 156,000,000 Pennies or $1,560,000 over the course of 12 months.

So meanwhile all because of a penny increase, or $1.5 million dollars to Dish Networks bottom line, you get to deal with warnings for 2 weeks that the channel is going away, and possibly be without your channel for 2-3 days while Dish battles it out.

For a penny the average customer could care less, as the rates are going up anyways. For Dish, your penny is $1.5 million if not more to their bottom line at the end of the year.

I think you've got the right idea, but your math is faulty. As someone said, the claim is usually "pennies a day". So let's say a channel wants an extra 50 cents a month (just to keep the math easy). Now multiply that by all the subscribers.

BUT, although you mentioned it, you didn't take it into account. Your bill goes up $5/month. Now multiply THAT by all the subscribers.

While channels claims of "pennies a day" is simply spin, so is Dish's claims of "fighting to keep prices low". If they were fighting that hard, wouldn't you expect to see a drastic difference between Dish's prices and their competitors? And wouldn't that difference increase over time since Dish keeps "fighting"? Why does the price difference stay pretty constant?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Of course DISH counts for half, since they are NATIONWIDE, while many of the cable companies are only regional and don't need to deal with all of these stations who are trying to get every buck they can.

DISH should be proud of working to trying to keep costs down, not only for them but their subscribers.

 

[MitchDeerfield]

Yes, but not exactly. It is being reported Newsmax may be asking to be carried for no charge. That would be a better reason why they are not being carried.

Can you please post the source of that report? Would like to see the link.

I hope it isn't this double talk from Swanni:

"Newsmax has yet to issue a comment on the dispute, but it would appear that Dish is either asking the channel for more money, or Newsmax is seeking carriage now without having to pay any fee."


Knowing Charlie Ergen you can bet he wants more money.

 

[dare2be]

BTW, unless congress passes a law, we will never have alacarte packages.

You're right. That is exactly what has to happen.

 

[navychop]

Dish is fighting the good fight, and other companies benefit. If Dish holds the line, the "providers" can't extract much more from DTV, Comcast etc. If they did extract more, competitors of Dish would have to raise rates notably higher than Dish. And all the players know this.

 

[ChadT41]

I automatically assume everything the NAB says purposefully does not benefit the customer and only benefits the NAB.