Tegna removes local channels

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Tegna Removes Local Channels from DISH TV Customers Nationwide
October 6, 2021
- Tegna demands unreasonable fee increase
- Programmer turns its back on its public interest obligation, uses customers for negotiation leverage
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Oct. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a news release from DISH:

Tegna Inc. today removed its local stations from nearly 3 million DISH TV customers in 53 markets across the country. The programmer is using customers as negotiation leverage, demanding a massive fee increase to nearly a billion dollars and holding viewers hostage during football season.

"We made a fair offer to keep Tegna stations available to our customers, but Tegna rejected it, forcing the removal of its channels," said Brian Neylon, group president, DISH TV. "Tegna is looking to sell its stations to the highest bidder and is simply trying to exploit DISH customers as a way to get the maximum price and further fatten their wallets."

"Tegna is demanding we pay for 100% of our subscribers in their markets, regardless of whether these subscribers receive or want Tegna's programming," added Neylon. "As one of the nation's largest local station owners, they are more interested in increasing their bottom line by charging our customers more money than providing programming to viewers under fair terms."

In the early 2000's, broadcasters like Tegna began charging cable and satellite companies to deliver their "free" local station signals to the public. This new revenue stream for broadcasters totaled a few million dollars in 2006, but has grown to over $12 billion dollars today. Free local programming has effectively become a multi-billion-dollar industry for broadcasters and a tax on American consumers. And now, Tegna is trying to raise this tax.

"We apologize to our customers and we're deeply disappointed in Tegna's decision to remove its channels from DISH in an effort to try and force an unjustifiable fee increase that directly impacts our customers," said Neylon. "We can't sit by and accept Tegna's unreasonable demands. We will continue fighting on behalf of our customers to come to a fair deal that is beneficial for all."

Affected Stations

Tegna's action affects viewers of various ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW, MNT and TDO stations in 53 markets nationwide. For a full list of affected stations, click here.

DISH customers can visit DISHPromise.com for more information.


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Glad I have OTA.

Glad there is prison space, although those b-stards will likely escape it.
 
:wave Tegna can keep their channel. Buh-bye!

david-spade-adam-sandler.gif
 
Lost KHOU 11 (CBS) and KTBU 55 (Quest) Houston. Family hasn't even noticed and one of the H3's has an OTA dongle on it anyways so meh.
 
Too bad Dish's software isn't smart enough to automatically switch DVR timers from the satellite feed to the OTA feed when this crap happens. My Hopper failed to record the "Chicago" shows from my local NBC station tonight after it was pulled. :mad:

It would also be nice if there was some advance warning when they're about to pull channels off so that we can go create new timers on the OTA channel ourselves since the software can't do it automatically.
 
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For any other NASCAR fans in NBC-affected cities, should the Tegna mess continue, I just saw that the final three races of the season are also going to be streamed on Peacock. Wouldn't help for this weekend at the CLT Roval, though.
 
For any other NASCAR fans in NBC-affected cities, should the Tegna mess continue, I just saw that the final three races of the season are also going to be streamed on Peacock. Wouldn't help for this weekend at the CLT Roval, though.
Does Peacock require a valid MVPD subscription?
 
I have learned...
Timers for Tegna...

I have OTA,
Timers set for particular channel do not schedule.
Timers set as SEEK find and schedule the program on the OTA.

Thanx Dish for keeping the OTA guide.

You do not need to use Seek. You just need to select the OTA channel and then you can use DVR timers. The problem wIth using a DVR timer would be if you had it set up for the satellite channel that is in dispute.


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Does Peacock require a valid MVPD subscription?
Not 100% sure on that one, but I don't think any of it is tied to any MVPD subscription. That said, I know they have some free content, and some that requires a a separate paid subscription of its own. Not sure where the NASCAR coverage might fall.
 
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