TV Answer Man, I have been waiting forever for Dish to end its fight with the Bally Sports channels, way back when they were Fox Sports etc. etc. Is there anything new in this thing? Do you think they will ever settle? — Vic, Scottsdale, Arizona.
Vic, Dish has been without the 19 Bally Sports regional sports channels (formerly known as the Fox Sports regional sports channels) since July 26, 2019 when the satcaster could not reach a new carriage agreement with their then-owner, Disney. Since then, Disney has sold the channels to Sinclair, and they were renamed this year as the Bally Sports regional sports networks.
Companies do not publicize carriage negotiations so we don’t know the dispute’s status. However, there is one thing that’s new in this battle. And that is the calendar.
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Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley has acknowledged that Dish’s contract with his company’s 100 plus local channels is scheduled to expire this summer. Both Dish and Sinclair have hinted that the negotiations for the local channels would include the regional sports channels as well. Ripley has even said it won’t allow Dish to offer the locals without carrying the sports channels.
While we don’t know the exact day that Dish’s contract expires, the calendar tells us that summer starts this month so the companies are likely engaged in, at least, preliminary talks now. And in the next few months, we should learn if they have reached a new agreement, and if so, whether it includes the regional sports channels.
This impasse also affects Sling TV, the live streaming service owned by Dish, which makes the negotiations a bit trickier. It’s possible that Dish will be more receptive to returning the sports channels to its satellite TV service than its streaming service. The latter has thinner profit margins, which makes carrying the expensive regional sports nets less attractive.
The TV Answer Man will continue to monitor this situation, and report back here if anything changes. But, Vic, I would say the Dish-Bally Sports fight could get more interesting in the next several weeks.
Happy viewing, and stay safe!
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— Phillip Swann
Vic, apparently your fellow Dish subscribers are fine with not having a RSN fee added onto their monthly charges for a channel they don’t want to watch. Just ring up Directv and get their pricey two year deal with the teaser promotion and binge on your local teams. It’s called customer choice. And no, I don’t have a dog in this fight. I stream.
Previously when Dish had the Fox sports channels, Dish had some of the games in 4K which is now absent from Dish Network.
If I can’t get the channels I subscribe to’, then why should I continue to pay the greedy. Of the 180 channels I get, 75% of them are nothing but garbage and the other 25% you only get half the program cause half of it is the same advertisements over and over again. GOODBYE DISH.
If negotiations are not settled in time for the 2022 baseball seson…. I will cancel my Dish contract. Will switch to Spectrum or Direct tv.
Sad time for fans
I have a buddy and 91 year old lifelong tigers fan. They have dish and can’t watch. I know they can always switch, but it’s no so easy teaching a 91year old with early dementia new things. The tigers, bally,dis whatever …just lost long time and devoted fans and its all about the $$$$.
Everything on TV is about the money and always has been.I don’t like it either but the sad truth is
money makes the world go round.
Am I ever so tired of Dish saying that they are working to reinstall SportsSouth, whether they are Fox or Bally? I am a Die-Hard Braves and Hawks fan in the Atlanta Area, and it is so tiring that Dish offers a replacement channel and it is nothing, but garbage and they raise the Monthly bill for it. we also lost the Atlanta Channels of 11 and 46. I too will soon drop Dish in about 2or 3 months if this continues and I’m already looking into Internet streaming when Baseball Season begins or not. I just have a sneaking suspicion that both Dish and Direct TV are scamming its existing customers out of their hard earn money just to keep going and to make up for lost revenue of customers leaving because of the disputes. I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it!
I will leave dish if no braves in 2022