Montgomery, AL FOX dispute update

CK SatGuy

Formerly ckhalil18
Original poster
Feb 7, 2011
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The Motor City
If you live in Montgomery, Alabama, and you're a Dish sub, you know that Dish dropped WCOV Fox 20 back on May 2nd. Now an update: Both sides seem to be nowhere near an agreement. Basically, the station wants 60 cents per sub per month from that $6/month Dish charges for locals. The station they're willing to go as low as 50 cents, but Dish is saying no deal. Hopefully both sides can come to an agreement ASAP.
WCOV Fox 20 fights Dish Network over terms, dropped service - WSFA 12 News Montgomery, AL |
 
I'd like to provide assistance, ckhalil18, as your post caught my attention! We are currently in negotiations with that network, working very hard to settle a fair deal on a new contract. As more updates comes to us about this, we'll keep you informed. Please understand that we negotiate hundreds of contracts each year and this one is being handled the same way.

Hope that helps!
 
Dish should tell them when they are serious and want their channel back on the air to give them a call, then just walk away from the table!
 
Update: Local Fox station hires former AG King in battle with DISH

From Local Fox station hires former AG King in battle with DISH | The Montgomery Advertiser | montgomeryadvertiser.com :

Local Fox station hires former AG King in battle with DISH

12:23 AM, May. 14, 2011



persbilde

Written by


Rick Harmon
rharmon@gannett.com






After the DISH Network dropped Montgomery's WCOV-TV, leaving thousands of Central Alabama subscribers without access to FOX programming, there were harsh words and accusations but a stated belief that it was only a temporary disruption.Ten days later, WCOV is still off DISH and the battle is escalating.
WCOV has hired former Alabama Attorney General Troy King, who while he was in office, sued the company for deceptive practices.
"As attorney general I stood up on the side of consumers they were deceiving once before," King said during a Friday news conference. "Now, I find myself doing so again."
But Francie Bauer, DISH's corporate communications manager, said it is DISH that is standing up for the consumer.
"What we pay programmers to air their stations already makes up the vast majority of our company's costs," she said. "So when programmers start demanding astronomical rate increases, that is a storm we can't weather. Because if we did, it would be our customers who in the long run would wind up footing the bill."
Bauer said WCOV owner David Woods is asking for a 200 percent increase.
"The last offer he made us was a 200 percent increase, and we haven't been able to move the needle on that. It is important to know that we have offered Mr. Woods what our competitors in the market pay, and we don't even know what they pay, but that he has refused that offer."
Woods has declined to discuss exactly how big an increase the station has requested.
But he isn't hesitant to talk about how upset he is about what he says are lies DISH has spread and continues to spread about the negotiations.
On the DISH channel upon which WCOV once aired, a note now reads that the airing of WCOV has been discontinued because of its demands for a 200 percent increase and because the station turned down an extension to keep the station on the air while negotiations continued.
Woods has said the latter statement is an outright lie and gave the Advertiser documents showing WCOV had requested an extension on more than one occasion.

Bauer said DISH's claim is true."We absolutely offered Mr. Woods an extension -- in fact, we offered a one-year extension, but he flatly refused that offer."
Asked about the explanation by phone while driving to Orange Beach for a broadcasters convention, Woods laughed, but without humor.
"An extension is a temporary period of time to stop a disruption of services while you negotiate," he said. "A year is not an extension, it's a contract."
He said DISH's misleading statements are exactly why he had to hire King to protect a small company from a large corporation that is using whatever means it can against his station.
"We are demanding that DISH discontinue the false, malicious and inaccurate attacks against us," Woods said. "We understand that their marketing representatives have told their customers over and over things that are just not true."
Both sides differ on the impact that DISH dropping WCOV has had.
Woods, who cites FOX programs such as "American Idol," "House," "Fringe," and NASCAR racing, said WCOV is hearing from plenty of former DISH customers who have switched to cable so that they can continue to get the programming
"They say that they have dropped their service because they weren't happy that they weren't getting the services that they paid for," Woods said. "When they bought DISH, they were promised that they would have WCOV FOX-20, and now they don't have it."
But Bauer said the impact on DISH has been "very minimal."
She said the reason many of the customers came to DISH is because it is reasonably priced and "many are supporting our stand because they know prices would be passed on to them."
"I think customers appreciate the fact we are trying to keep their bills low," she said.
But both sides say talks are continuing and that they are hopeful, because despite their strong disagreements, they agree upon one thing: It would be better for both sides if WCOV was on DISH.
"We are still working on getting this done because we know our customers want their local programming, and we'd obviously like to get this on the air as soon as possible," Bauer said.
Woods echoed that sentiment.
"We want to be on DISH and for DISH subscribers to be able to watch their favorite shows on WCOV," Woods said.
 
Huh? The article stated that Dish said: "It is important to know that we have offered Mr. Woods what our competitors in the market pay, and we don't even know what they pay, but that he has refused that offer." How can Dish offer what the competitors pay when they don't even know what that amount is? What if the competitors actually pay 50-60 cents for that station now? Wouldn't that mean that Dish would have to cough that up now?
 
Fox stations everywhere are going to demand huge increases, it was mentioned in this thread: http://www.satelliteguys.us/fox-tel...-replaces-two-affiliates-smaller-markets.html

The referenced LA times article: Fox replaces two affiliates in smaller markets over fee dispute | Company Town | Los Angeles Times

Fox is asking stations in the top 125 markets -- which includes Evansville and Boise -- to pay them a portion of money they get from cable and satellite operators who carry their programming. Initially, the network wants 25 cents per subscriber, per month with the fees rising to 50 cents in a few years. Stations in markets smaller than that would have fees starting at 15 cents per subscriber, per month with the fee increasing to 25 cents in the fourth year.

Essentially the stations are being squeezed by Fox national so they will have to raise their fees to all the providers. Its going to be a nasty fight.

So, every station is going to want at least $1/month since Fox national will want 50 cents. Lets see 80 million cable/DBS households, 50 cents a month 40 million a month 480 million - half a billion a year going to Fox... I bet all the other networks jump on this too...
 
You are missing the point big time. Dish knows around what others are paying, thus the offer, and thus the declining the offer. They can't come out and say they know. (Collusion)
 
The problem with the "we're willing to pay what other providers pay" line is that if the price has gone up (due to whatever factor, Fox network fees, station owner greed, whatever), then other providers may *currently* be paying below the asking rate, but when the other contracts come due the price may go up. I'm willing to bet that may be what prods some of these disputes into being resolved months later. Other contracts come up and they end up asking everyone for the same rate and no one has any leverage against them.
 
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