Blackouts of cable networks have cost programmers a total of $179.5 million in lost affiliate fees since 2013, according to a report by Kagan, a unit of S&P Global market intelligence, with more than $18 million of that hit occurring in 2020 alone.

According to Kagan, ViacomCBS has lost the most in affiliate fees over the past eight years — about $40.1 million — with most of that occurring between Oct. 1, 2014 and Aug. 23, 2017,  the dates the programmers’ channels were dark to Suddenlink Communications systems. That 1,057-day blackout cost ViacomCBS about $38.6 million in lost affiliate fees, according to Kagan. Verizon Communications’ 1,567-day carriage dispute with Comcast’s then-owned The Weather Channel was longer — it lasted from March 10, 2015  to June 24, 2019 — but cost the programmer less (about $31.5 million) according to Kagan. Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios purchased the Weather Channel in 2018. 

In contrast, the shortest dispute was a two-day dark period for Univision Communications channels for Charter Communications customers. That dispute, between Feb. 1 and Feb. 3, 2017, cost the Spanish language programmer about $200,000 in lost affiliate fees, according to Kagan. The least costly dispute was the three-day blackout of CBS broadcast stations for Dish Network customers between Nov. 21 and Nov. 27, 2017, that cost the broadcaster about $100,000 in lost affiliate fees. 

According to Kagan, 2016 was the worst year for blackout losses, with networks missing out on about $37.4 million in carriage fees. Networks lost out on about $31.9 million in fees in 2018, according to Kagan. 

While $180 million seems like a big hit for programmers to take, it is minuscule compared to the amount distributors pay out for content. Kagan later estimated that distributors pay out about $40 billion per year to cable networks for programming. Over an eight-year period, that $180 million represents about 0.06% of the $320 billion distributors have shelled out for content. 

Blackouts have become a common occurrence during carriage negotiations over the past few years, as networks usually time the expiration of their deals around major sporting or entertainment events. Distributors, who run the risk of losing subscribers to other providers the longer the disputes last, have in recent years taken a harder-line stance against carriage-fee increases. With the advent of streaming video, programmers have even more outlets for their programming.  

Even as the number of streaming services have grown with programmers creating direct-to-consumer products like Disney Plus, Discovery Plus, Peacock and the like, Kagan said that traditional distribution continues to be important. 

“Cable-network owners risk affiliate revenue loss in hopes of producing a more favorable deal with traditional multichannel operators, which still serve more than half of the video subscription market in the U.S. and still supply billions of dollars in revenues for the cable network industry,” Kagan wrote. “Although traditional multichannel operators continue to lose subscribers over the years, cable networks will not abandon their cable, satellite and telco customers in the near term, as traditional cable is still a profitable business.”

With its retransmission consent agreement with Dish Network expected to expire next week,  Sinclair Broadcast Group said Monday that it is “unlikely” that it will be able to reach a deal with the satellite TV giant.

Sinclair said that means 108 broadcast TV stations and the Tennis Channel will most likely go dark to about 3.5 million Dish Network subscribers across the country. In addition to the loss of a big chunk of its retrans revenue, the lack of a deal also could have repercussions for Sinclair's regional sports networks, housed under the Diamond Sports Group umbrella, which analysts have said were counting on a Dish deal to be reached.  

“...it is unlikely that a carriage agreement with Dish Network will be reached before the August 16, 2021 expiration of their current agreement for Dish’s carriage of Sinclair’s broadcast stations and Tennis Channel,” Sinclair said in a press release. “As a result, all Sinclair broadcast TV stations (see list below) and Tennis Channel would no longer be carried by Dish Network.”

Sinclair stock took an early beating on Monday, falling as much as low as $29.39 each in morning trading (down 5.2% or  $1.61 each). The stock closed at $30.08 (down 92 cents each or 3%) on Aug. 9.  Dish shares were relatively stable, closing at $42.25 on Aug. 9, up 0.7%, or about 28 cents each. .  

Sinclair said 97 of the stations in question are ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC affiliates, and are in markets ranging from Las Vegas; Washington, D.C.; and Minneapolis; to Boise, Idaho; and Butte, Montana. The deal also could serve a blow to Dish's satellite TV  subscribers, which will lose access to NFL football programming, local news and sports. The NFL's regular season is slated to start in September, and the preseason begins on Aug. 12 on the NFL Network. The first broadcast preseason game is slated for CBS on Aug. 29. 

"We have tried unsuccessfully to reach fair and customary terms with Dish Network for the renegotiation of our retransmission consent," Sinclair general counsel David Gibber said in a press release. "Given the status of these negotiations, we feel it is important to alert Dish Network subscribers to the real risk that some of their favorite stations will no longer be available through Dish Network including their access to live, local news, popular syndicated programming, sports programming including college and NFL football, and the network programming of our ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and CW affiliates in those markets. Dish subscribers are also at risk of losing Tennis Channel. With this loss, tennis fans will not be able to see wall-to-wall coverage of the Western & Southern Open from Cincinnati, Ohio in the run-up to the last Grand Slam of the year, the US Open."

Analysts had hoped that carriage of the RSNs, which have been dark to Dish customers since 2019, would be included in the retrans talks. However, with the apparent collapse of those negotiations, it is unlikely that the RSNs would return to the satellite carrier anytime soon.

Also Read: Sinclair RSNs: Focus on the Dish Deal 

In an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June, Sinclair apparently baked in Dish carriage of the RSNs into its revenue estimates for Diamond Sports. Some analysts have said a Dish deal cold represent as much as $400 million in revenue for those channels. 

Dish is no stranger to carriage disagreements -- Sinclair estimated that the satellite TV company has dropped about 230 channels over the years. But some had hoped that with the recent return of HBO to the Dish lineup -- after a three-year hiatus -- that there was a chance that the two may have been able to squeeze out a compromise.

"We apologize to our viewers for the inconvenience this may cause although our programming will continue to be available either through other program providers or via over-the-air antenna reception," Gibber continued in the press release. "We encourage subscribers in these markets to contact Dish Network and let them know that it is important to them that DISH Network carry these stations and that they should switch to another TV provider if they care about their news, local and national sports, and top tier entertainment programming."

Dish officials did not immediately return a request for comment. The company, which released its Q2 financial results this morning,  is scheduled to conduct a conference call with analysts at noon today (Aug. 9). It is expected that the Sinclair negotiations will be one of the topics discussed.

Here are the stations that will be affected if a deal cannot be reached:

Abilene-Sweetwater, TX: KTXS (ABC)

Albany - Schenectady - Troy, NY: WRGB (CBS)

Albany, GA: WFXL (FOX)

Amarillo, TX: KVII (ABC), KVII-2 (CW)

Austin, TX: KEYE (CBS)

Bakersfield, CA: KBAK (CBS), KBFX (FOX)

Baltimore, MD: WBFF (FOX), WBFF-2 (MyTV)

Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX: KFDM (CBS), KFDM-3 (FOX), KFDM-3 VIE (FOX), KFDM-2 (CW)

Birmingham (Anniston and Tuscaloosa), AL: WBMA (ABC), WTTO (CW), WABM (MyTV)

Boise, ID: KBOI (CBS), KYUU (CW Plus)

Buffalo, NY: WUTV (FOX), WNYO (MyTV)

Butte-Bozeman, MT: KTVM (NBC)

Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Iowa City & Dubuque, IA: KGAN (CBS), KGAN-2 (FOX)

Champaign & Springfield-Decatur, IL: WICD (ABC)

Charleston, SC: WCIV-2 (ABC), WCIV (MyTV)

Charleston-Huntington, WV: WCHS (ABC), WCHS-2 (FOX)

Chattanooga, TN: WTVC (ABC), WTVC-2 (FOX)

Chico-Redding, CA: KRCR (ABC), KRVU (MyTV)

Cincinnati, OH: WKRC (CBS)

Columbia, SC: WACH (FOX)

Columbia-Jefferson City, MO: KRCG (CBS)

Columbus, OH: WSYX (ABC), WSYX-3 (FOX)

Corpus Christi, TX: KSCC (FOX), KTOV (MyTV)

Dayton, OH: WKEF (ABC), WKEF-2 (FOX)

Des Moines-Ames, IA: KDSM (FOX)

El Paso (Las Cruces), TX-NM: KFOX (FOX), KDBC (CBS)

Eugene, OR: KVAL (CBS)

Eureka, CA: KAEF (ABC), KECA (CW)

Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, MI: WSMH (FOX)

Fresno-Visalia, CA: KMPH (FOX), KFRE (CW)

Gainesville, FL: WGFL (CBS), WGFL-2 (MyTV)

Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, MI: WWMT (CBS), WWMT-2 (CW)

Green Bay-Appleton, WI: WLUK (FOX), WCWF (CW)

Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem, NC: WXLV (ABC), WMYV (MyTV)

Greenville-New Bern-Washington, NC: WCTI (ABC)

Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville-Anderson, SC-NC: WLOS (ABC)

Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, PA: WHP (CBS), WHP-3 (CW)

Johnstown-Altoona-State College, PA: WJAC (NBC)

Las Vegas, NV: KSNV (NBC), KVCW (CW), KVCW-2 (MyTV)

Lexington, KY: WDKY (FOX)

Lincoln & Hastings-Kearny, NE: KHGI (ABC), KFXL (FOX)

Little Rock-Pine Bluff, AR: KATV (ABC)

Macon, GA: WGXA (FOX), WGXA-2 (ABC)

Madison, WI: WMSN (FOX)

Medford-Klamath Falls, OR: KTVL (CBS), KTVL-2 (CW Plus)

Milwaukee, WI: WVTV (CW), WVTV-2 (MyTV)

Minneapolis, MN: WUCW (CW)

Missoula, MT: KECI (NBC)

Mobile-Pensacola (Ft. Walton Beach), AL-FL: WEAR (ABC), WFGX (MyTV/ThisTV)

Myrtle Beach-Florence, SC: WPDE (ABC)

Nashville, TN: WZTV (FOX), WUXP (MyTV)

Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, VA: WTVZ (MyTV)

Oklahoma City, OK: KOKH (FOX), KOCB (CW)

Omaha, NE: KPTM (FOX)

Ottumwa-Kirksville, IA-MO: KTVO (ABC), KTVO-2 (CBS)

Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg, KY-MO-IL: KBSI (FOX), WDKA (MyTV)

Pittsburgh, PA: WPGH (FOX), WPNT (MyTV)

Portland-Auburn, ME: WGME (CBS)

Portland, OR: KATU (ABC)

Providence-New Bedford, RI-MA: WJAR (NBC)

Quincy-Hannibal-Keokuk, IL-MO-IA: KHQA (CBS), KHQA-2 (ABC)

Raleigh-Durham (Fayetteville), NC: WLFL (CW), WRDC (MyTV)

Reno, NV: KRXI (FOX)

Richmond-Petersburg, VA: WRLH (FOX)

Roanoke-Lynchburg, VA: WSET (ABC)

Rochester, NY: WUHF (FOX)

Salt Lake City, UT: KUTV (CBS), KMYU (MyTV)

San Angelo, TX: KTXE (ABC)

San Antonio, TX: KABB (FOX), WOAI (NBC)

Savannah, GA: WTGS (FOX)

Seattle-Tacoma, WA: KOMO (ABC)

Sioux City, IA: KPTH (FOX), KPTH-3 (CBS), KPTH-3 VIE (CBS)

South Bend-Elkhart, IN: WSBT (CBS), WSBT-2 (FOX)

Spokane, WA: KLEW (CBS)

St. Louis, MO: KDNL (ABC)

Syracuse, NY: WSTM (NBC), WSTQ (CW)

Tallahassee-Thomasville, FL-GA: WTWC (NBC), WTWC-2 (FOX)

Toledo, OH: WNWO (NBC)

Traverse City-Cadillac, MI: WPBN (NBC)

Tri-Cities, TN-VA: WCYB (NBC), WCYB-2 (CW)

Tulsa, OK: KTUL (ABC)

Washington, DC (Hagerstown, MD): WJLA (ABC)

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, FL: WPEC (CBS), WTVX (CW)

Wheeling-Steubenville, WV-OH: WTOV (NBC), WTOV-2 (FOX)

Wichita-Hutchinson Plus, KS: KSAS (FOX)

Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hazleton, PA: WOLF (FOX), WQMY (MyTV)

Yakima-Pasco-Richland-Kennewick, WA: KIMA (CBS), KIMA-2 (CW Plus)

Dish Network said regional sports network NBC Sports Chicago pulled its programming from the satellite TV service provider’s customers on Oct. 1, after the two failed to reach a carriage agreement.

NBC Sports Chicago had warned Dish customers earlier in September that it may go dark after the final regular season game for Major League Baseball team the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs formed their own RSN -- with broadcaster Sinclair Broadcast Group -- earlier this year, called Marquee Sports Network. NBC Sports Chicago no longer has the rights to carry Cubs programming.

NBC Sports Chicago, owned by Comcast,  has beefed up programming from other teams -- it carries games from the NBA Chicago Bulls, NHL Chicago Blackhawks and MLB's Chicago White Sox -- and has directed Dish customers to other providers that carry the channel. 

Dish has claimed that NBC Sports Chicago, despite the loss of the Cubs games, was demanding payment on a minimum number of subscribers. 

“The regional sports model has been broken for years, and we’re facing a critical point in our industry,” Dish SVP of programming Andy LeCuyer said in a statement. “NBC Sports Chicago is losing its most popular content in the Cubs, while demanding payment on a guaranteed minimum number of subscribers, when only a fraction watch the channel. It simply makes no sense for our customers.”

Dish said it offered a short-term contract extension to keep the channels available while negotiations continued, but NBC Sports Chicago refused.

In a statement, NBC Sports Chicago said that it values Dish and is working in good faith to reach a deal, but claims the satellite TV service provider is "unwilling to meaningfully engage."

“NBC Sports Chicago thanks the many distribution partners who recognize the great value of our channel and have decided to continue serving fans with the most local games and best coverage of Chicago sports," the RSN said in a statement. "We are disappointed Dish has dropped NBC Sports Chicago, denying its subscribers more exclusive local Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox games than the network has ever had before. Dish subscribers have other options and can learn how to switch providers on www.mysportschicago.com.”

NESN, the regional sports network of the Boston Bruins and Red Sox, put out warnings to fans that the Sony PlayStation Vue virtual MVPD has indicated it will drop the network at 5 p.m. ET today (April 19), ahead of the fifth game of the NHL Bruins' playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Here's one warning on NESN's Twitter feed:

[embed]https://twitter.com/RealJackEdwards/status/1119217463340802048[/embed]

PS Vue also carries NESN's national feed but is mostly of concern to subscribers in the six New England states minus Fairfield County, Conn., which shows Bruins and MLB Red Sox games (schedule). A NESN-sponsored tweet said the network offered a 30-day extension but PS Vue declined. (Update: the tweet was by Jack Edwards, the Bruins play-by-play announcer, and he and NESN said later the offer was for 21 days.) NESN is owned by Fenway Sports Group (Red Sox) and Delaware North (Bruins).

In what may be the first true test of its commitment to keeping down programming costs by jettisoning what it considers to be non-essential networks, AT&T has until Friday to decide whether a system-wide blackout of up to 23 Viacom networks is worth the hassle.

Viacom already is turning up the rhetoric, informing viewers that they could lose access to MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, painting AT&T as a greedy corporate behemoth only interested in the bottom line, not its consumers. According to Viacom, it has presented a plan that would actually help AT&T lower its programming costs -- offering to charge below the current rate initially and then escalating after.

“Unfortunately, AT&T is abusing its new market position by favoring its own content -- which significantly underperforms Viacom’s - to stifle competition,” Viacom said in a press release.

Viacom also has set up a website -- KeepViacom.com -- to inform viewers of its position and what it says is AT&T’s refusal to come to the negotiating table.

Viacom pointed to AT&T’s recent purchase of Time Warner, which brought it content assets like TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and others. That in addition to being the largest pay TV distributor in the country with about 24 million subscribers to its DirecTV, Uverse, DirecTV Now and AT&T Watch services.

Related: Chang: Viacom Deal Sends Signal 

In a statement, AT&T said it was disappointed that Viacom decided to negotiate its deal in public, adding that it was on the side of customer choice and hoped to avoid a disruption of service. But it also pointed out that the channels aren’t as popular as they once were.

“We hope to avoid any interruption to the channels some of our customers care about,” AT&T said in its statement. “The facts speak for themselves: several of Viacom’s channels are no longer popular. Viacom’s channels in total have lost about 40% of their audience in the past six years. Viacom is a serial bad actor in these business negotiations and has repeatedly used these tactics with other distributors.

“Our goal is always to deliver the content our customers want at a value that also makes sense to them,” AT&T continued. “We’ve always fought to get the best deal for our customers, delivering the content they want at a great value. We’ll continue to fight for that here.”

AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson has said in the past that the company would be “assertive” in its programming negotiations. 

“We’ve got to get the content cost growth in line with what the customer is willing to pay,” Stephenson said during AT&T’s Q4 earnings call in January. “And the customer is willing to pay virtually no additional money right now. So the content costs have to reflect that. We will be very assertive as we go through the course of this year to control the spend on content costs.”

Viacom last reached a deal with AT&T’s Uverse in 2015, which at the time AT&T said it standing as the largest pay TV provider in the world afforded its IPTV and satellite platforms the “best deal in the industry for Viacom’s leading portfolio of television brands.” 

Prior to that, DirecTV had last inked a carriage deal with Viacom in 2012, when it was an independent company. At that time, the programmer was thought to be vulnerable as its ratings had begun what later turned out to be a multi-year slide as viewers turned their attention from linear TV to SVOD platforms like Netflix. Still, Viacom managed to secure what it characterized at the time were healthy increases, especially after a nine-day blackout.

Whether Viacom will test the waters with another blackout this time will depend on how vulnerable they believe the other side is. Viacom, like other programmers, has struggled with falling ratings and shifting viewership habits but has shown improvement. Earlier this year it agreed to buy free streaming service Pluto TV as the potential backbone of it own direct-to-consumer offering and has struck deals with other streaming video and traditional distributors.

At credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings Group,  director Patrice Cucinello warned that the negotiations could be contentious. She added that while Viacom's recent turnaround efforts have strengthened the company -- it has seen improved ratings at MTV, Comedy Central and BET -- there is still softness at its Nickelodeon and Paramount networks.

"We remained concerned by the trajectory and brand relevancy in light of continued media fragmentation," Cucinello said in a statement. "Viacom’s ability to successfully renegotiate its carriage agreement is critical to the health of its affiliate revenues and cable networks business."

AT&T isn't exactly on totally solid ground either. It recently weathered a big drop in DirecTV Now subscribers in Q4 after it eliminated promotional pricing. Its plan to raise prices as it shrinks choices -- it recently restructured the DirecTV Now to two packages for new customers priced at $50 and $70 per month without AMC, Viacom and Discovery channels -- could increase that subscriber drain.

At its DirecTV satellite TV unit, subscriber losses have been heavy -- more than 1 million last year alone -- with a much more robust video package -- it has an industry-leading ARPU of $115 per month. The possibility that it may lose the 23 Viacom channels permanently could pose some additional risk.

In a blog posting Wednesday, BTIG media analyst Rich Greenfield wrote that dropping the networks isn’t good for either party. Losing access to Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and MTV will likely save AT&T some programming money, but result in heavier subscriber losses. And Viacom probably would prefer not to see what it is like to lose 24 million potential viewers overnight.

“We suspect a deal will be reached relatively quickly even if a drop occurs, and would not be surprised to see the two sides reach an agreement in principle before this weekend to avoid a drop and then work out the details in the weeks ahead,” Greenfield wrote.

Cable network Fuse said it was being dropped by Comcast, effective Dec. 31, a move Comcast confirmed.

Fuse said it had not received an explanation for the decision from the cable operator, but complained that the decision runs contrary to the promises Comcast has made about making a commitment to support diverse and independently-owned programmers.

Update: Fuse on Monday said Verizon Fios also was dropping the channel as of Dec. 31. Fios, which on Dec. 28 dropped BlazeTV, also has warned customers it is facing a possible loss of Tegna TV stations as of 5 p.m. Dec. 31.

In a statement, Michael Schwimmer, CEO of Fuse, said dropping the network comes after Comcast was freed from the consent decree it agreed when it acquired NBCUniversal. The decree was designed to ensure that Comcast treated networks it didn’t own fairly.

Related: ACA Says DOJ Needs to Keep Leash on Comcast-NBCU

Comcast is set to launch two new African-American targeted networks this month as part of a promise made in securing the NBCU merger approvals. 

Fuse, which includes Jennifer Lopez among its owners, has been carried by Comcast for 10 years and says that its ratings are up among young viewers at a time when cable networks overall are down. Fuse also noted that its viewership is nearly three-quarters multicultural. Nielsen's household universe estimate of basic cable channels had Fuse in about 60 million homes in November.

Comcast confirmed it was dropping Fuse.

“We regularly evaluate our channel lineups and sometimes make changes to ensure we’re offering customers a wide variety of the content that they want to see at the best value," Comcast said in a statement. "In this case, much of the content carried by Fuse is similar to content that is also available on other networks. We understand that some customers may find Fuse’s programming of interest, and we will work with them to find options that will help them continue to watch other content like this programming.”

Here is the full statement from Fuse president Michael Schwimmer:

"Despite Comcast’s publicly-stated commitment to support diverse and independently operated networks, Comcast has elected to drop Fuse, a multicultural-focused television network, on December 31, after more than a decade of carriage. This decision is both surprising and troubling considering that Fuse met Comcast's financial demands and no other requirements were ever communicated to us.

"A commitment to diversity is an enduring value, not a politically expedient card for Comcast to play until such time as consent decrees or business objectives no longer require it. Comcast’s behavior leading to its decision to drop Fuse reveals an agenda inconsistent with their public statements, giving further credence to the merit of on-going DOJ oversight.

"We have been dedicated from the very beginning to providing opportunities for diverse creative talent to entertain and inform diverse communities. By removing our network from its consumer offering, Comcast is silencing yet another independent media company, in this case one that is devoted to providing a platform for inclusive voices and authentic representation at a uniquely important time in our society."

Update: Regarding Fios, Fuse Media said in a statement that "Verizon Fios’ final offer contained terms Verizon Fios understood were unacceptable and as a result, the telecommunications giant will be removing Fuse’s multicultural-focused television network from the Verizon Fios service. The impact of Verizon Fios’ decision will be a low single-digit reduction of Fuse’s distribution versus 2018 levels.

"This is another instance of one of our nation’s largest telecommunications companies taking action inconsistent with its public posture regarding diversity. While claiming to be committed to supporting customers from underserved communities, Verizon Fios is removing unique content programmed to the passions and values of the large and growing multicultural millennial audience."

Featured image credit: Getty Images for The ALMA Awards, which aired on Fuse in November.

AT&T’s DirecTV and DirecTV Now services have dropped beIN Sports from their channel lineups in a dispute over pricing and packaging.

The blackout follows a similar move made by Comcast at the beginning of August. Verizon's Fios also dropped beIN channels this month.

“Despite beIN Sports USA’s offer to extend its contract with AT&T-DirecTV and DirecTV Now, they chose to abruptly cease negotiations and drop the beIN SPORTS channels from their lineup. beIN Sports remains committed 24-7 to re-establishing access to our service in an effort to move our channels to lower priced packages that ultimately save viewers money,” said Antonio Briceño, beIN Sports’ deputy managing director for the U.S. and Canada.

“AT&T-DirecTV and DirecTV Now, conversely, seek to keep beIN in higher more expensive tiers and have shown no intention of providing fans continued access to our world-class sports content, headlined by the 2018/2019 La Liga season that millions of fans look forward to every week, and is widely considered to be the top soccer league in the world. beIN Sports remains committed to serving its loyal fans and will continue its industry fight to achieve carriage in lower priced tiers,” said Briceño. ”beIN Sports continues to create and deliver some of the most compelling and exciting sports content in the industry, and we strive for that content to reach as large an audience as possible, without making our fans pay more for it.”

The programmer has set up a website for viewers who want to continue the network at www.keepbeINonDirecTV.com.

AT&T cited the high cost of sports content and said its subscribers will still be able to see top-level soccer and other matches despite the dispute.

"It's unfortunate that we could not agree to terms to extend beIN Sports and beIN Sports en Español. As the cost of televised sports continues to soar, we strive to deliver the content our customers want at a value they can also support," AT&T said. "There are now fewer leagues, popular matches and premier events on beIN channels than before. We continue to offer the world’s top soccer action including English Premier League, Serie A, Liga MX, Bundesliga, MLS and still other competition on approximately 20 different ESPN, NBC Sports, Fox Sports and Univision channels, as well as independent programmers like GolTV, TyC and Eleven Sports." 

The Puerto Rico-based TV stations WAPA Television and WAPA Deportes were restored to DirecTV on the island after about a six-week outage, under a new multi-year agreement on retransmission-consent payments signed today.

RELATED: WAPA Opens Feed For Hurricane Coverage

The stations were dropped by the AT&T-owned service on May 4, with AT&T claiming that Hemisphere Media Group wanted to "nearly double" its retransmission fees. 

“WAPA has been Puerto Rico’s ratings leader for nine consecutive years, and we’re pleased to have reached a new agreement with DirecTV so our viewers can continue enjoying the #1 television network and leading sports channel in Puerto Rico,” Alan J. Sokol, CEO of Hemisphere Media Group, said in a statement. “We look forward to our continued partnership for years to come.”

“We have had a longstanding relationship with WAPA and WAPA Deportes in service of the local Puerto Rico community,” added José Juan Dávila, VP and general manager for AT&T Puerto Rico/USVI, in the release. “We are pleased to be able to restore these channels to our customers.”

And from WAPA president Javier Maynulet: “We sincerely thank our viewers for their continued support and loyalty during this difficult time, and we regret the inconvenience this has caused. We are committed to continuing to serve the Puerto Rican community the way WAPA has done for the past 64 years—by delivering the best news and entertainment programming to our people.” 

During the outage, WAPA TV remained available over the air and on other distributors, including Dish Network.

This article was updated to reflect the pact covers carriage on Puerto Rico.

Charter Communications has filed suit against the city of El Centro, Calif., saying the city was unlawfully interfering with its ongoing commercial dispute with Northwest Broadcasting.

Charter said that in addition to filing an unwarranted complaint against it at the FCC, the city the city invoked a 20-year-old code, since preempted by state law, and started issuing citations and monetary penalties alleging Charter had failed to give requisite notice to customers of the blackout and had discriminated against those customers by not providing the Northwest stations during that blackout.

Charter says the city's action has hardened Northwest's negotiating position

Charter wants the court to declare that the city code is preempted and unenforceable and that the city can't force charter to carry the Northwest stations.

Northwest Broadcasting president Brian Brady said that the broadcaster submitted a new proposal in that impasse this week and had reached out to Spectrum, but had not heard back.

He also took issue with some of the suits claims, including that it was Northwest that prompted the blackout following two extensions.

The cities of Yuma, Ariz., and El Centro, Calif., and the town of Jackson, Wyo., jointly filed a complaint with the FCC two weeks ago against Charter/Spectrum systems in their respective municipalities -- originally Bresnan and Time Warner Cable Pacific West systems -- over removal of Northwest Broadcasting TV stations in a carriage-fee dispute.

The complaint asserted that the cities and the customers of the Charter-owned systems involved did not get notice of the station's removal until after the fact, in violation of the FCC requirement that they get 30 days advanced notice. Northwest stations went off Charter systems on Feb. 2. 

NBCUniversal said it is at an impasse in its carriage negotiations with Charter Spectrum and that the content company’s cable and broadcast networks will likely go dark when their respective agreements expire Dec. 31.

“NBCUniversal values its partnership with Charter Spectrum, our third largest distributor,” the Comcast-owned programmer said in a statement. “Charter Spectrum has been unyielding in its demand for terms superior to those agreed to by the rest of the industry, including larger distributors. Given this position, we feel the responsibility to inform viewers that Charter Spectrum may drop NBCUniversal’s networks at the end of the year, including NBC, Telemundo, USA, Bravo and hit shows including the #1 show on TV — Sunday Night Football, WWE, the Golden Globes, This is Us and more.”

Charter officials declined to comment, but noted any loss of signal in a dispute would have to be initiated by the programmer.

Charter is the second largest cable operator and the third largest pay TV provider in the country with about 17 million customers, trailing DirecTV and Comcast. The cable operator bulked up with more than $90 billion worth of acquisitions, closing its $80 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable and its $10.4 billion purchase of Bright House Networks in May.

The cable company tweaked the noses of some programmers earlier this year when it tried to impose Time Warner Cable’s rate card on its Charter systems. Some programmers objected, claiming those old, pricier deals with Charter weren’t set to expire until later, prompting some to file lawsuits. Charter, according to some of the suits, had tried to explain the shift by claiming it was acquired by TWC, not the other way around. 

NBCU has set up a informational web site for customers concerning the dispute at Delivermyshows.com, and has provided a toll-free number for customers at 1-844-55-Deliver (1-844-553-3548).

If the dispute goes long, Charter customers stand to miss sports programming like NFL Sunday Night Football, the NHL Centennial Classic and Premier League soccer on NBC as well as returning broadcast shows like Blindspot (Jan. 4); The Blacklist (Jan. 5); The 74th Golden Globe Awards (Jan. 8) and This is Us (Jan.10).

Dish Network dropped the NFL Network Thursday night over a contract dispute, according to the league.

The league announced the move Thursday night, saying the satellite service pulled the NFL Network and the NFL Red Zone highlight channel off of its lineup. It’s the first time in the NFL Network’s 13-year history that it’s been dropped from a service provider, according to the league. The network is slated to carry 18 games during the upcoming season, 14 of them on Thursday nights. Eight games are on NFL Network exclusively: the league sold rights to five games each to CBS and NBC, and NFL Network will simulcast those contests. 

In a statement, the NFL said: “As the only network 100% dedicated to coverage of America’s most popular sports league, NFL Network is committed to serving the millions of NFL fans by reaching fair distribution agreements with the pay TV industry.”

Dish in a statement said: "Our contract with NFL Network has expired. We remain open to a fair offer that allows us to carry this content at an appropriate value to our customers.”

The move follows this past Sunday's loss of Tribune Media stations and WGN America to Dish subscribers in another contract dispute. Dish claims that Tribune is trying to force an exorbitant rate increase coupled with full carriage of WGN America as terms for a deal, while Tribune argues that it is merely asking for fair compensation for its content.

U-verse TV's universe of Spanish-language television channels once again includes Univision.

AT&T’s telco-TV service on March 24 restored Univision Communications-owned broadcast network UniMás and pay TV channel Galavisión to its channel lineup, some 20 days after U-verse pulled the plug on those two channels and flagship network Univision.

AT&T had restored Univision to U-verse TV on March 9, a good-faith “temporary” gesture to allow Hispanic U-verse subscribers to watch that evening’s Democratic Presidential Debate telecast co-hosted by Univision and The Washington Post.Further temporary extensions came following the debate.

Univision's initial reaction to AT&T's decision to black out its networks was fierce. The broadcaster accused the telco of undervaluing Univision and the Hispanic audience.

"We are always proud to stand with the Hispanic community, regardless of the costs to Univision," the Spanish-language media firm said in a March 7 statement. "For us, it is about standing up for the future of multicultural media and the opportunity for it to thrive in a multiplatform marketplace. In many of the markets U-verse serves, Univision stations are ranked No. 1, regardless of language. If, as the most popular Spanish-language broadcaster, we do not take a stand and require the distributors treat us on par with English-language broadcasters, what does that mean for the minority and independent creators that come after us?"

Since then, Univision and AT&T have remained relatively mum as negotiations continue to renew the deal that expired Feb. 28. In a February internal memo to employees, Univision said it made several attempts to open negotiations with AT&T but the telco had not moved forward to renew its pact with the broadcaster. For its part, AT&T said in a statement that it was in talks with Univision.

One reason for AT&T’s reluctance to make a new deal could be tied what some analysts have said are AT&T's efforts to shift U-verse customers to its recently acquired DirecTV platform. A DirecTV-Univision carriage deal was struck in March 2013.

As of March 31, there are no official updates as to when Univision and AT&T might reach terms on a new deal.

Separately, NBCUniversal and satellite-TV provider Dish Network are at odds over carriage of Telemundo's 16 owned-and-operated TV stations and cable network NBC Universo. NBCUniversal's networks remain on Dish as part of a cooling-off period tied to arbitration invoked by the satellite provider.