Free Previews Discussion Thread - July 2020

[Ypsiguy]

Well, I guess that is an unexpected freebie, then.

Or a future irate call to Dish when I get billed for something I didn’t purchase lol.

Detroit DMA btw.

 

[pattykay]

...
Detroit DMA btw.

That is interesting, since Detroit is one of the markets that is about to be impacted by the dispute with the Scripps local stations. If that is the reason for the freebie, though, then I would expect Dish to be doing the same thing here in the Cleveland market.

 

[Ypsiguy]

That is interesting, since Detroit is one of the markets that is about to be impacted by the dispute with the Scripps local stations. If that is the reason for the freebie, though, then I would expect Dish to be doing the same thing here in the Cleveland market.

No worries here on a Scripps local dispute. I get my locals OTA. I noticed they were active for me when I went in to look at the channels available. I use a custom list to chop out the religious, shopping and other unwanted stuff. I left the locals out of my custom list as I use Dish only for the cable nets.

 

[joewhite57]

This is the thread for any discussion about the current month's free previews. A complete list of free channels on Dish can be found in the linked thread here: Free Previews (No Discussion) Thread - July 2020

I just received an e-mail that Comcast will have Showtime in free preview August 7-9. Any scuttlebutt about dish having the same?

 

[pattykay]

I just received an e-mail that Comcast will have Showtime in free preview August 7-9. Any scuttlebutt about dish having the same?

Not yet, but that would be a good time for it. If Dish is going to do their annual "Kids Binge-A-Palooza" this summer like they have done in years past, then there would at least be a free preview of Showtime Family Zone. Back in June, I speculated that would happen in July, but so far it hasn't started yet. So, it would almost have to be in August, or Dish is going to run out of summer.

 

[Ypsiguy]

Just curious if anyone knows...does Dish pay a programmer for the time that a channel is in free preview or does the programmer simply approve it and not get revenue from it?

 

[pattykay]

Just curious if anyone knows...does Dish pay a programmer for the time that a channel is in free preview or does the programmer simply approve it and not get revenue from it?

I would assume that some kind of contract has to be negotiated to allow the free preview. We saw that in full force earlier this year, during the height of the coronavirus crisis-related previews. The timing of when the previews started was staggered (instead of doing all of the news channels at once, for example) with multiple channels owned by the same company starting new previews (or extending the dates for existing previews) all at the same time. As for the exact terms of those contracts, those are likely subject to non-disclosure agreements, so none of us will ever know the answer for sure.