By Dish announced this afternoon that it has signed a one-month temporary carriage agreement to carry 28 local stations owned and/or managed by Mission Broadcasting so the satcaster’s subscribers in those areas can keep up with Coronavirus news updates.
The satellite TV service in January lost the stations due to a fee fight between the companies. (See the list below; Mission also manages White Knight Broadcasting-owned stations, which are included in the list.) The cities affected include the Little Rock Fox affiliate, the Amarillo, Texas Fox station, the Lubbock, Texas ABC station and the Abilene, Texas NBC station, among others.
Mission has claimed that Dish refuses to pay the market rate for its stations. Dish, of course, has disputed that by saying Mission pulled the stations after Dish refused to pay what it regards as an excessive carriage fee.
However, the Coronavirus outbreak has brought the two warning sides together so the local stations can return to Dish’s lineup until April 13.
“Dish is committed to ensuring that our customers have access to critical local news coverage regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in their community,” said Andy LeCuyer, Dish’s senior vice president of programming. “Our customers always come first, and restoring these channels is one more step we’ve taken to help them get through this challenging time.”
Here are the stations that have returned to Dish:
WVLA
Baton Rouge LA
NBC
KFXK
Tyler-Longview TX
FOX
51
KLJB
Davenport-Rock Island-Moline IA
FOX
18
KPEJ
Odessa-Midland TX
FOX
24
KMSS
Shreveport LA
FOX
33
KRBC
Abilene-Sweetwater TX
NBC
9
KCIT
Amarillo TX
FOX
14
KCPN
Amarillo TX
MNT
33
WVNY
Bennington County VT
ABC
22
KHMT
Billings MT
FOX
4
WVNY
Burlington-Plattsburgh VT
ABC
22
WFXP
Erie PA
FOX
66
WTVW
Evansville IN
CW
7
KFQX
Grand Junction-Montrose CO
FOX
4
KODE
Joplin MO-Pittsburg KS
ABC
12
KASN
Little Rock-Pine Bluff AR
CW
38
KLRT
Little Rock-Pine Bluff AR
FOX
16
KAMC
Lubbock TX
ABC
28
KTVE
Monroe LA-El Dorado AR
NBC
10
WTVO
Rockford IL
ABC
17
KSAN
San Angelo TX
NBC
3
KOLR
Springfield MO
CBS
10
WAWV
Terre Haute IN
ABC
20
WUTR
Utica NY
ABC
20
KJBO
Wichita Falls-Lawton TX
MNT
35
KJTL
Wichita Falls-Lawton TX
FOX
18
WYOU
Wilkes Barre-Scranton PA
CBS
22
WVNY
Windham County VT (Boston Plus)
ABC
22
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