Dish Network subscribers will lose access to CBS-owned stations Thursday night if the companies can't agree on a new contract. In a statement, CBS said after six months of talks, Dish has "not been operating with the same sense of urgency" to make a deal."In the last few weeks, we have granted two extensions, in the hopes that this would give both parties sufficient time to come to a resolution," the network's statement said.
"The second extension, which protected Dish subscribers’ programming over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, was the final one.""We would very much like to avoid going dark," CBS added. "Unless agreements are reached, however, our viewers should be prepared to lose CBS from their Dish systems on Thursday evening at 7:00 PM/ET."
Customers of the satellite-TV service could lose access to CBS outlets in 14 cities including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and Detroit. And it's possible an impasse also could endanger carriage of some CW and independent stations and cable networks including Showtime and CBS Sports Network.
At issue, The Street reports, is how much money Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen is prepared to pay CBS to to carry the network that remains the most watched on television.
CBS has pressed for higher fees to cover higher production costs, but The Street reports this year is different because advertisers are redirecting some marketing money to digital platforms, and away from TV. Still, TV remains a $70 billion ad market, The Street reports, though growth is shrinking.
In a statement, Dish said "only CBS can force a blackout of its channels, Dish is actively working to reach a deal before the contract expires," Dish said. "There is time for the two parties to reach a mutually beneficial deal." USA Today notes CBS went dark for much of August last year for Time Warner Cable customers while the companies tried to work out a new contract; the blackout ended in September 2013 when a new deal set higher fees for CBS and allowed the network to retain streaming rights for live and archived shows.
