Dish could lose 164 local stations in 120 markets next week due to a carriage dispute with their owner, Nexstar Media Group.
The stations have posted a notice at their web sites alerting Dish subscribers that they could lose their signals on Wednesday, December 2.
Update: Dish Loses 164 Nexstar Local Stations In Fee Fight
“(The station) and DISH have a contract that allows them to carry our programming to you. That contract has expired and DISH removed WTTA from your schedule,” the notice reads, although the headline says the station could be removed on December 2. “(The station) presented a proposal for fair value, based on the importance and value our programming brings to our viewers. Despite our tireless efforts, DISH has refused our fair offer and is making negotiations very difficult. You’ve might have seen them do this before. They will tell you it’s for your benefit, but don’t believe it. Our offer is fair. And now they hold you the subscriber hostage. It’s not right.”
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Dish, which is now engaged in several other carriage disputes that have led to channel blackouts, issued a press statement today alleging Nexstar is asking for “unreasonable rate increases while intentionally using millions of Americans as pawns in their negotiations. This action by Nexstar would result in consumers being blacked out from the highest number of local broadcast stations in the nation’s TV history.”
The Dish statement adds: “In recent years, Nexstar went on a $12 billion local broadcast station buying spree to become the largest and most powerful station owner in the country. Now that Nexstar is the biggest in the industry, it is trying to strong-arm companies like DISH to pay outrageous rates and force unprecedented increases onto customers. The broadcaster continues to threaten to blackout its stations from DISH customers to gain negotiation leverage in an effort to line its wallet with viewers’ hard-earned money — a tactic it used last year against DirecTV and AT&T U-verse.”
DIRECTV and U-verse last year lost the Nexstar stations in a separate dispute. The blackout lasted seven weeks.
Dish also says Nexstar wants it to carry WGN America as part of the deal.
“Nexstar is also forcing DISH to carry WGN America as part of this deal, a channel that has experienced declining viewership in recent years. Nexstar acquired this channel when it bought Tribune last year. Now, the broadcast owner is looking to DISH customers to pay back this investment. Nexstar is demanding a significant payment for this low-rated channel that airs syndicated reruns found on other DISH stations and features a news program that can be accessed for free online,” the Dish statement says.
Nexstar has local stations in such large markets as Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Denver. The broadcaster’s web site says its local stations reach 115 markets representing 63 percent of all U.S. TV households. To see a list of the Nexstar stations, click here.
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I am not usually one to advocate for government interference in private business but the ongoing carriage disputes is getting ridiculous. The losers are always the consumers. Maybe it’s time for additional regulations and oversights from the federal government. What I would give to have a la carte television programming…a whole buffet of channels where I pick what I want and pay for it accordingly!
Government interference is what got us in this mess to start with. The NAB used intense lobbying to get Congress and the FCC to give them a license to steal. The stations make more money from retrans fees than they do from ad sales.
I agree and l want to see my shows that our.on
The local channels this is ridilous we r stayig in
Homes to keep from getting sick.and there
Isn’t much for us to enjoy and we.want to watch
Our TV Shows and the.companies Dish network
An Nexstar. Can’t come to an agreement so we will be the losers how sad. Please try to come
To an agreement for the sake of all of us.
Bonnie Spence
Sad dich does not pay i lost channl 7 here in washington seattle i look on line and dish is bying into 5g for phones sad if they turn off more channls i will go to xfinity even if it cost more sham on dish
Fix this mess, quit trying to buy other property until you get our channels back, also going elsewhere, after 1st of the year if you don’t start negotiate in good faith
Yikes. So Dayton will be without CBS (Cox Media Group), and NBC (Nexstar), and The CW (Nexstar) on Dish Network. That’ll leave only Sinclair Broadcast Group’s ABC/FOX duopoly in Dayton on Dish.
If I lose station I like I will quit paying for dish
You will just pay more for the same channels, that is Dish’s gripe. They say that Nexstar wants over a billion bucks to let them carry these stations. A significant increase that the consumers will pay.
Seems to me that when we sign up for Dish and agree to pay a price and sign contract for specified number and specific channels offered that if Dish does not deliver all of those channels then Dish is in breach of that contract.. i just switch 8 months ago from Direct Tv.. i have been without ABC since July and unfortunately have been missing a lot of sports games i wanted to see.. i may be switching back.if i loose anymore and just might switch back anyway because of 4 months no ABC..
Quit arguing and settle this mess, and stop being money hungry, and maybe 2 networks should merge or something. U companies r making too much money as it is, charging people over 100 dollars a month for a decent package. Every 4 or 5 months the bill keeps going up, while all the new homes going up and getting new costumers, but still raising ur prices.
This is BS!! I’ve been a long time Customer of Dish..and pay quite a bit every month..I watch my local channels often..so if we lose them..I can lose Dish as well!!
Nexts are is nothing but greedy. This blackmail needs to stop!
I pay good money for.these channels and if I don’t get them I hope I will not be charged or I will have to discontinue my.serves
Just went back to Dish after six years with DTV….so very disappointed now. Can’t watch my Cowboys play ball, and seems as if things are getting worse. Have mostly resorted to Netflix and Prime Video. While paying over $100.00 a month for channels I no longer get. What’s wrong with this picture? ( no pun intended).
Dish is about to lose my business completely, if the cost doesn’t slow. I’ve got Netflix, Hulu, Vizio along with Apple TV and hundreds of free to very low cost stations. I truly don’t know why after twenty years even keep Dish, other than an addiction?? It’s like the ATT landline, that took me way too long to rid of, and I’ve never looked back!! I pay approx. $80. a month for dish that has very little to offer anymore. The DVR is nice, yet there’s nothing to record that all of my other options offer!! Peace
I agree with Everyone else, Stop this MESS!!! Think of your customers (elderly aswell, rural areas also). We need to have our bills lowered when you want to play these Cut off feuding. I pay too much a month for you to get Rich with the BS games amongst one another.. Local Chanel’s should be FREE… You charge TOOOO much for channel’s we Don’t want or need. I rather pick my own Program Package. Dish you are getting a “Very Bad Name for Yourself”…
Thank you Dish for fighting for me! I will gladly do without any content as you fight these greedy stations. These stations are insulated from us viewers so they think they can just keep increasing the cost to Dish, DTV, etc. I for one thank Dish for being the leader in fighting these stupid greedy rate hikes. All you you whining about this are likely also whining about when your rates increase. Stand behind Dish, or your provider of choice, to finally stop these regular increases and channel bundles.
So tired of Dish’s excuses! I still don’t have HBO which was taken off like a year maybe two yrs. ago! They keep telling me “they are negotiating!” That’s BS! I told them this is a game changer for me! Of course they blame everyone else under the sun! There needs to be some regulation on these birds! The consumer is always the one to suffer and I’m tired of it!
I completely agree. I had HBO for years with dish. I lost ABC in July . My monthly bill continues to rise
I am paying alot of money its not fair for them to cut more channels and I was lied to from beginning about my getting all movie channels including HBO AND I’m not getting HBO Now they want to cut more channels from us. They told me I was getting a bundle service Tv and Internet which I’m paying for Internet but do not have Internet still. I was told I was going to have HOOPER 3 But still do not receive it either.Something needs to be done about making things right and STOP TAKING AWAY MORE CHANNELS FROM US.
Nothing but pure greed! Left Direct TV after 22 years for same reason. I pay good money every month and I expect to get what I am paying for. The paying customer is not your pawn.
I got rid of all of my local channels
Because I couldn’t afford them, and I
been happy. What other channels is
am I not going to get?
At a time that people are staying home and safe, need these channels. Please make a deal and keep these channels. This is not the time to be doing this.
I’ve been a Dish customer for many years. I pay big money for stations I like and depend on. I’m a senior citizen and at home a lot. With the pandemic it’s forcing us to rely on TV more. If this isn’t resolved I will do what is necessary to terminate Dish. I’m sick and tired of using the consumer as scapegoats.
I definitely agree with everyone here. This is ridiculous. Local channels are supposed to be FREE! Why on earth would we pay for it? Why is it such a dispute and why would you even CONSIDER removing it? With everything that’s currently going on with Covid, this is when we need it the most! Some of our favorite shows are on local stations, news, Covid updates in our own community, etc. Not everyone has access to internet so this is likely some people’s only source of information. Please get it together. These huge, rich, greedy corporations only care about their own pockets. I have to call every so many months just to try to get discounts to keep my bill reasonable. This doesn’t make sense.
Yeah like someone said we pick our channles under a contract but yet when things like this happens we are the losers cause you guys wanna fight over taking our staions so if I lose my locals then my bill should go down till I get my locals back only right !!!!!! I shouldn’t have to pay the same if we lose our locals !!!!!!!!!!
I just changed to DISH after almost 30 years with Direct TV. Since AT&T bought Direct TV, the service and prices are terrible. Now I have DISH and I like it. We pay a lot if money for these services and the customers deserve better than taking our channels away. Please keep our service like it is.
I want to know since you all are taking our local channels are you gonna reduce the bill. It’s a shame we pay all this money and can’t get what we want. Y’all have already taken fox and now u talking about taking channel 3. This is a bunch of BS. We need our local channels for the weather. It’s already stressful enough with this so called COVID-19 VIRUS going own and now y’all want to mess with channels. So if taking the channels can you please reduce my payment.
So now we will lose all the local channels unless fish agrees to the exhorbarant price increase, it’s ridiculous I already pay way to much now for my cable bill and not to mention my internet bill which is separate from that, which I wasn’t told until they were I stalling it. If they can’t provide me with the channels promised when I signed my contract I’m going back to my cable provider. Get it together people
We have several channels missing from our Dish programming but we still pay the same . Dish no longer gets HBO which we always had . I have been a satisfied Dish customer for many years but am now fed up with paying for channels we no longer have .I have already been looking into other alternatives & when I find something that works then will change over . Tired of the constant fighting with these greedy companies who control the channels .It would be a lesson if they found companies no longer haggle with them for higher fees for their channels . So greedy and the customers suffer as does the satellite companies etc . Just say no & let them have a taste of their own medicine , when no one wants their channels & they aren’t making money , they will listen a little more humbly we hope .
Why couldn’t there be a set-up for everyone where you pick what you want to watch. If there are channels that you don’t want then don’t pay for them. All this fighting and losing beloved channels is stupid and we the consumers are getting the bad result of it. This should go to Congress or are President should be on it. I’m afraid Dish Network is going to lose a lot of customers if this battle continues. God I want my Channel 9 back.
This is a Terrible way to Treat Your Loyal Customers, both New and Old.. We have grown very accustomed to our Local Channels and Watch them and Record from them Weekly.. .Get Your Heads out of Your Butts and get the Customers the Great Affordable Service and Channels that they Deserve.. I bet not a One of You are having Your Cable Interrupted, and You all Probably don’t have to Pay the Prices that we the Customers are Paying… Such Poor Business, Get Your Act Together and bring back all the Local Stations, that You all so RUDELY took away
I wonder what the Better Business Bureau would have to say about all this Non Sense and the Way You all treat Your Customers.. You are definitely not for Your Customers, but are all for Yourselves and Lining Your Pockets with all Our Hard Earned Dollars… Lets just see what the BBB thinks
This is really deplorable. Here we are in the midst of a pandemic where we are constantly being told everyone needs sacrifice and do their part. We are to minimize trips and stay home, so everyone is depending on their TVs for entertainment more than ever. So to pull a stunt like this at this time is despicable. I don’t care whose fault it is. These companies need to do their part, sacrifice themselves and show some empathy for the customers they claim to care about so much.
How dare Nexstar and their stockholders do this to the people who have paid their salary for years and now of all times with the World in a Financial and Health Pandemic they chose to NOT take the hit financially like the rest of us. They are trying to make more money, get raises and the Stockholders are making sure their dividend checks grow instead of getting smaller like the rest of the American public. We have lost jobs, salaries sometime both salaries are gone and along with that health insurance. These stockholders have no idea what pay check to pay check living means.
They should be ashamed of themselves and their actions in a time of WORLD Crisis. Who ever is advising them to raise cost at this time when businesses have closed, people have lost jobs because of this and the circle continues round and round. They will hopefully pay, maybe not now since they are raising prices, but in the future when things settle down, I hope they find themselves facing restructuring/reorganization bankruptcy, or having to sell Nexstar, their BIG fancy homes ( I am sure they have more than 1(one) home around the country and maybe even out of the country) because they are broke, in the red, BANKRUPT, and they will maybe understand better what they are doing now the the little people who pay their salary in a round about way. By strong-arming the media companies for extremely high cost, for our own local stations to be broadcast, maybe they will feel the crunch we are feeling now and they lose their butts.
We need to make sure they suffer when things turn around. I am hoping the American public remembers what they are trying to do to us now and give them a taste in the future what we have faces now and for prior 9 months.
We all have had to cut back on traveling, taking vacations etc. Childrd are home schooled, and at least one parent or relative has to be home with the children so there is a lost income, but when family is home together, it is TV, that brings us together, movies, special shows, but we have lost one local channel and may lose more. The number one shows are on ABC, AND we can’t watch it. Shame Shame on them.
I say let’s make Nexstar remember what they have done and at a time they should be looking to help us, not take from us.
They should be ashamed, taken out back and spanked for being SOOOO GREEDY at a time the World is struggling with not only a Health Pandemic, but a Financial one as well.
Instead of taking a financial hit like the rest of us, they are looking for the bigger dividend checks, bigger pay checks, and have no understanding what it means to live pay check to pay check.
Hopefully when things settle down, they will get Payback big time, by having to sell their BANKRUPT Company NEXSTAR. They have to sell ALL their homes, but the one they live in the longest part of the year.
They are being very money hungry, Greedy as if there is nothing out of the ordinary going on in the world.
This is a time where the children are home schooled, can’t have friends over, and at least one parent is usually home with the kids home schooling them, trying to keep them entertained and the TV is very important during this World Health and Financial Pandemic.
Greed will come back to haunt them when things settle down, and we can help them understand what they are doing now is one of the most UN-AMERICAN, selfish, Greedy money hungry, money gtubbng dis-tasteful things a person who is suppose to be an American could do. NEXSTAR will be BUST. BANKRUPT, BROKE and SELLING at a loss. They deserve to taste what the rest of us have been feeling for the past 9 or 10 months.
To those that deserve a swift kick (Nexstar), I sure hope you ALL get what you deserve.
This is ridiculous, I know it’s business but sooner or later people will stop using Dish, Direct and other satellite or cable sites. Do they not know you can buy products to play local stations and other ones to get their other favorite stations. These stations will no longer exist due to greed.
Kids don’t watch TV, they play video games most adults are to busy working and if their not they are on line. You better get you head out of you wallet before you lose it all.
I bought a Wally for our motor home when we had to live in it while our house is being built. Dish has raised its price twice in a year, lost NBC because they think only they can raise prices. Our house is almost d9 e and I can’t wait to sell the Wally and dump cable. I cut the cord because direct tv had raised my rates to 30 dollars a month more than my kids were paying for same service and amount of tvs. I think they need govt regulation as they are all thieves