Dish Network, Hearst Reach Agreement, End Blackout

By Jon Lafayette
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

37 stations had been unavailable to satellite subscribers since September

Dish Network
(Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Dish Network said it reached a new carriage agreement with Hearst Television, ending a blackout that had lasted since September.

Dish said Hearst's 37 network-affiliated stations were immediately restored to its customers.

“We’re pleased to have reached a long-term agreement that benefits all parties and most importantly, our customers,” Gary Schanman, executive VP and group president, video services at Dish Network, said. “Thank you to our customers for your patience and understanding as we worked through the negotiations.”

Dish had claimed Hearst was demanding tens of millions of dollars in rate increases.

Hearst said Dish had been paying below market rates for retransmission rights to its stations.

Dish lost 64,000 pay TV subscribers in the third quarter and posted a $139 million loss.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.