TV Answer Man, I am very angry that we still do not have our ABC station (KIII-TV) here in Texas. We have Dish but they are fighting with the owner of the station. I was told by my friend in church that we could get some money back from Dish for our loss of the station. Do you know what that would be and how to get it? — Terry, Corpus Christi, Texas.
Terry, as you know, Dish has been missing 64 Tegna-owned network affiliates for the past month due to a carriage fight. The list includes your ABC station in Corpus Christi.
The two companies have each filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission, charging the other with negotiating in ‘bad faith.’ The federal agency has yet to act on the complaints and, as of this morning, there is no end in sight to the dispute.
So, can you get some of your Dish subscription money back while your channel is blacked out?
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The answer appears to be yes — if you call Dish and request a credit. The satcaster has been issuing one-time credits of at least $5 to subscribers who have called to complain about the blackout. Some customers have reported that Dish has also given them a few months free of a premium channel or two so you might want to ask for more than the $5 when you call.
I asked Dish’s media relations department yesterday if the company has a standard response to subscribers who ask for a credit. For example, could some people get more than $5?
But as of this morning, Dish has not responded to our inquiry. The TV Answer Man will report back here if that changes.
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The $5 credit may not seem like much, but it’s better than nothing. And if the blackout continues much longer, perhaps you can for another credit later.
Terry, hope that helps. Happy viewing, and stay safe!
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
Speaking from experience, you can save a lot more than $5 with some effort.
I tried Hulu + Live TV free for a week and then Fubo TV free for a week. Neither impressed. I’m now a week into a two week free trial of YouTube TV and it’s working well. I told my wife that unless CBS comes back before the YouTube TV trial is up, we’ll be cancelling Dish. It’s a shame, we like Dish. But we need our local channels.
FWIW, the picture quality of YouTube TV is noticeably better than Dish. The 4K is dramatically better.
I am a recent subscriber to DISH. I specifically requested local channels upon signing up. 2 week after signing up they cancelled ABC, I will be calling DISH to cancel and change back to Direct TV as soon as I have an extra hour to waste while on hold with them.
Dish gave me a free antenna to hook up to my hopper my neighbor got an outdoor one free.