Looking to avoid a blackout of Sinclair’s programs during contract negotiations, both companies agreed to a short-term contract extension on August. 15, though on Tuesday, the brief extension came to a halt with neither Dish Network nor Sinclair Broadcast Group reaching an agreement on a new long-term contract, WPEC-TV CBS 12, in Florida, reported.
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Sinclair stations went dark on Dish Tuesday.
WCHS and WVAH are owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, which did not reach an agreement with the satellite provider Dish Network.
DISH has blacked out more than 150 local television stations spread across 79 different markets. Earlier in the day, Sinclair stations were warning viewers they could be off Dish today (Aug. 25) and that warning proved prophetic. It also said it planned to amend its FCC complaint “to include allegations stemming from Sinclair’s decision to blackout local channels to millions of innocent consumers…”
That included some sobering assessments, including this answer to how long the signals would be off Dish.
Baltimore-based Sinclair and Denver area-based Dish have been in heated negotiations over what Dish should pay Sinclair for retransmission of Sinclair-operated stations.
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“Since we offered to retroactively true them up when new rates were agreed upon, Sinclair had nothing to lose and consumers had everything to gain from an extension of our existing contract that would allow negotiations to continue”, said R. Stanton Dodge, DISH executive vice president and general counsel.
