Thank you for your email. We, too, regret that our negotiations with the DISH Network have come to an impasse. In fact, this is the first time in our station's history that a satellite or cable provider has taken our signal down from their system. Our company has successfully -- and fairly -- negotiated hundreds of carriage agreements in the past several years with other satellite and cable operators.
Our most recent carriage agreement with DISH expired at midnight on July 31. We submitted a proposed new agreement to them on May 23, and we didn’t get any substantive response until the week of July 21. Our discussions with them over the past 10 days have been disappointing and less than productive.
DISH Network is telling their subscribers that we are asking for (or, in their words, “demanding”) a huge increase in our carriage fees. In fact, our proposal does provide for an increase that reflects the going market rate for broadcast network affiliates. Moreover, the fees we have asked for are a fraction of what DISH pays for other program services such as ESPN, TNT, Fox News, USA and Nickelodeon -- all of which have considerably less viewership than our station.
One other point: as a DISH customer you are likely paying a monthly fee for the local stations. You might consider asking them to waive this fee, or at least issue a pro-rated credit, until such time that our station's signal is restored.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Again, we sincerely regret that our viewers find themselves in the middle of this unfortunate and unnecessary business dispute....and pledge to you that we work diligently to reach an agreement with DISH that is fair and reasonable to both parties. I would ask that you consider placing a call to Eric Sahl at DISH Network (ph 303-723-1515) and encourage him to make the same pledge.
David Jones
Operations Manager
KCAU-TV
712-277-2345 Ext. 201
djones@kcautv.com
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