Dish Network blackouts escalate
June 20, 2016
By Chris Forrester
The slew of channels, stations and broadcasters blacked out by Dish Network is growing, and now sports fans are affected. Dish Network stopped carrying the NFL Network (mainly carrying the National Football League) and NFL RedZone channels on June 16th in another dispute over carriage fees.
In a statement, Dish said: “Our contract with NFL Network has expired. We remain open to a fair offer that allows us to carry this content at an appropriate value to our customers.”
Dish is also declining to negotiate with Tribune Media’s 42 local and affiliated stations across the country, and that dispute also includes satellite carriage of the WGN America channel.
The NFL blackout is particularly irksome as the league’s evening telecasts are extremely popular, especially in then build-up to the new season’s games. This is the first-ever time that the NFL has gone dark on Dish.
The NFL created a dedicated web-site on June 17th, which says: “Unless DISH resumes carrying NFL Network, DISH subscribers will miss out on coverage of NFL Training Camps, a chance to catch all 65 Preseason games, the excitement of Thursday Night Football, every touchdown from every game Sunday afternoons on NFL RedZone, and shows such as NFL Gameday Morning and A Football Life, and much, much more. To avoid missing key NFL action, DISH subscribers should find a provider that carries NFL Network and NFL RedZone now — and the good news is there are plenty of choices. NFL Network and NFL RedZone are available on Comcast Xfinity, Verizon FiOS, Charter Spectrum, Time Warner Cable and many others. NFL Network also is available on DirecTV, along with the chance to watch every out-of-market Sunday game live through NFL Sunday Ticket.”