Dish Service Drops CBS, MTV, et al

[Kennedy 0]

in the news

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EchoStar Satellite Drops CBS in 16 Cities
Reuters 1 hour, 43 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Echostar Communications Corp. (NasdaqNM:DISH - news) on Tuesday dropped local CBS stations from its satellite service in 16 cities and dropped MTV, Nickelodeon and other cable channels nationwide after contract talks with Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIAb - news) broke down.

The impasse left an estimated 1.6 million people without CBS network television in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Miami the week before the CBS broadcast of the NCAA (news - web sites) basketball tournament. It leaves another 9.5 million nationwide without 10 Viacom channels.

Viacom said it was "dismayed and disappointed" by the action.

EchoStar said it would like to transmit CBS programing on its network again, and accused Viacom of "holding the public airways hostage."

Echostar shares were up 2.4 percent in early afternoon trading, while Viacom shares were down 0.9 percent.

Analysts said both sides have plenty to lose. Fee disputes between content owners and distributors have become commonplace, but usually they are resolved before customers lose service.

"Over the long term it's not good for either side," said John Hill, analyst at SoundView Technology Group.

Cablevision Systems pulled the Yes Network off its systems in 2002 in a fee dispute. Time Warner Cable pulled Walt Disney Co.-owned channels like ABC and ESPN from its systems in 2000.

Should the dispute drag on, Hill said, Viacom will take a hit to its earnings as it loses affiliate fees and advertising revenue for cable channels like MTV, VH1 and Showtime.

EchoStar is in an even more precarious position. Most subscribers to its DISH Network have other options for television service, such as their local cable provider and satellite TV competitor DirecTV.

"It's certainly damaging to DISH's subscriber roles and its ability to market in one-third of the country," Hill said.

EchoStar said Viacom demanded exorbitant fee increases and space for new cable channels as a condition for retransmitting its CBS affiliates in local markets.

Viacom says its fee demands are reasonable, given its combined CBS affiliates and cable channels reach 20 percent of the American viewing public.

"They recently hiked their subscribers' bills by as much as a month. Yet they are unwilling to consider paying an additional six cents a month per subscriber for the right to carry our channels," Viacom said in a statement.

Viacom has completed deals with Comcast Corp., Cox Communications and DirecTV in the last six months and says it is asking for similar terms from EchoStar.

Analysts said if the dispute lasts more than a week, EchoStar could begin seeing defections to local cable TV service or to its larger satellite competitor, DirecTV.

"The question is how many subscribers are going to switch from EchoStar and go to cable and DirecTV to get their programing," said Tom Watts, analyst at investment bank SG Cowen.

In a research note, Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Thomas Eagan said EchoStar defections could accelerate in major markets starting March 16, when CBS airs the NCAA basketball championship known as "March Madness (news - web sites)."

But Viacom will also take revenue hit if the dispute drags on. SoundView's Hill estimates Viacom earns between $5 and $6 per EchoStar subscriber for its cable networks in affiliate fees and advertising revenue. (additional reporting by Kenneth Li and Sinead Carew)

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[indyz 1]

I've been following this for a while because I'm a Dish subscriber. Starting late last night I no longer get MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, WBBM (my local CBS affiliate), and many others. Needless to say, I'm pissed.

[Kennedy 0]

If they don't get it back soon are you going to jump ship?

I wouldn't stay with anyone that couldn't get me the NCAA tourney.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[Rainbo 0]

Yeah, I was missing channels today. I don't watch MTV to much, not my kind of stuff on it anymore. However I do like the Comedy Channel and the kids need thier Nick.

When you breakdown the increase Viacom is really looking for something like a 40% increase in fees for thier product. Ten times the inflation rate or something like that. Of course each side makes the numbers like whatever they want them to.

Viacom really is starting to lose money because many people are leaving the cable market to the satellite markey. They had a good lock on the cable people now they want it on the satellite folks.

Rainbo
TheSpeedTriple - Speed is everything
"Blessed are those who can give without remembering, and take without forgetting."

[Daizey 0]

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Needless to say, I'm pissed.

me too...Im sick, all i wanted to do was lie in bed and watch soem tv and now half my channels are missing. And theres nothign I can do about it cause Im at school and dish happens to be what we have....grrrr

*daizey*

[jceman 1]

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I've been following this for a while because I'm a Dish subscriber. Starting late last night I no longer get MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, WBBM (my local CBS affiliate), and many others. Needless to say, I'm pissed.

So am I.

Especially since I pay my DISH fees on an annual basis and just paid them on 29 Feb!

I called DISH and told them to restore the services by 16th of this month or refund my money.

I then sent an email to Charlie Ergan (CEO of DISH) telling him the same thing. I told him that using his customers as pawns (with absolutely no warning, btw) is something straight out of elementary school.

I'm lucky in that I get cable here as part of my lot rent, but I got the sat dish for my RV.

If I were a betting man (and I am), I'd lay even money that next week I will be adding digital cahnnels to my cable and getting a Direct TV receiver for the RV.

Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, more money.

Why do they call it "Tourist Season" if we can't shoot them?

[bertusgeert 1]

That sucks. One of the things I sell is Dish-tv. now ppl will come in here and yell at me. dangit. Sell more Direct-Tv I guess.

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As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

[indyz 1]

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I told him that using his customers as pawns (with absolutely no warning, btw) is something straight out of elementary school.

Absolutely.

About a week ago I noticed that Viacom was putting scrolling messages at the bottom of the screen. They'd only be up for a couple of seconds before Dish covered them with a black bar, so I never really figured out what it was about. I finally found out about EchoStar's threat Sunday night. Honestly, I didn't believe that they would go through with it. Now I'm thinking it's DirecTV for me.

I'm more pissed that EchoStar intentionally suppressed information about the blackout from it's customers than the blackout itself. "Everythings fine, nothing to see here, keep sending us checks."

Edit to add: Oh yeah, we are eligible to receive a whole $1 if our local CBS service is interrupted, and another whole dollar for each national channel affected. Yeah, that makes it all better.