Dish announced tonight that it has lost AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh and Root Sports Northwest in a carriage dispute.
AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh is the TV home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Penguins while AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain carries the regional broadcasts of the Colorado Rockies, Utah Jazz and Vegas Golden Knights. Root Sports is the TV home of the Seattle Mariners, Seattle Kraken, and Portland Trailblazers.
Dish does not carry the other AT&T-named regional sports network, AT&T SportsNet Southwest.
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“The current RSN model is fundamentally broken,” Brian Neylon, Dish’s group president, said in a statement. “This model requires nearly all customers to pay for RSNs when only a small percentage of customers actually watch them.”
Dish alleged that the three regional sports channels “are demanding rates that would be passed on to nearly every customer, whether they watch RSNs or not. This inequitable model has become antiquated due to the rise of a la carte viewing options and specialized streaming services.”
Dish has been a vocal opponent of the economic models of regional sports networks and does not carry other RSNs such as Bally Sports and the NBC Sports regional nets. (Dish is currently negotiating a possible new pact with Sinclair, the owner of the Bally Sports channels.)
The three regional sports networks have yet to issue a statement on the dispute and Dish’s charges. The TV Answer Man will update this article if and when they do.
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Sports nuts make up a very small percentage of all pay television viewership yet they expect people who have absolutely no interest in sports which is the huge majority people who watch television or stream television to pay for their addiction ESPN invented at ridiculous notion years ago and the clowns who run all the other regional sports networks jumped in and that caused enormous increases which led to the demise of the traditional cable package this is spot on by telling AT&t to go fly a kite they should be commended and will lose nothing over this AT&t and DirecTV are in total desperation mode and with a demise of satellite television the regional sports networks will be hard pressed to stay in business into the future
I couldn’t have said it better
So unless you’re streaming there’s no was to see rsns in the SF Bay Area ?
Yep no a’s, giants, warriors or sharks since April 1.
Sure, take away the Mariners with three games left, because it’s a broken system that not everyone should be paying for, but keep umpteen religious channels, a boatload of QVC/HSN wannabes, and news stations that few watch, because it hews to the political leanings of your CEO.
I get where Dish is coming from. Nobody wants to be paying for a service they don’t use. Heck, there are a lot of cable channels I don’t want or need.
But, really, cutting us off from the Angels – Mariners game just after the first run? As the Mariners are pursuing a play off spot.
Cruel. All of you. Do the Mariners know?
I don’t know, but probably. The TrailBlazers site had a story about Dish cutting Root Sports just days before the NBA preseason started.
We pay for a package that includes the sports, local channels, movies, and all the infomercials. DISH takes away the sports channels, yet we get no discount for missing what we paid to watch. DISH OWES US A REFUND.
I will be switching. I always want my regional sports channel that is included in my package. This is happening way to much with dish.I left direct tv because of price but I will go back for reliability in getting what I pay for.
Seriously!