Posted on 03/09/2004 5:42:32 AM PST by Born Conservative
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Satellite television provider EchoStar Communications Corp. pulled the plug on MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and local CBS affiliates early Tuesday in a contract dispute with Viacom Inc. over the price of programming.
An estimated 1.6 million customers on EchoStar's DISH Network across the nation were affected, a move that could threaten their ability to watch, among other things, the March Madness college basketball tournament.
In place of Viacom programming, some customers in the Denver area saw a message from EchoStar saying the multimedia giant was asking an unreasonable amount for its programming.
A statement from Viacom after the 3 a.m. EST contract deadline passed urged EchoStar customers to stop subscribing to the DISH Network.
"Current EchoStar-DISH Network subscribers who would like to continue receiving BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, and all our other channels can easily switch," said a statement from spokeswoman Susan Duffy after the channels were turned off.
She said Viacom was "dismayed and disappointed" by the DISH Network decision, and said the company "refused to entertain a reasonable proposal or to negotiate in earnest."
"We have solid business partnerships with virtually every other satellite and cable TV operator - except for EchoStar-DISH Network," the statement said.
DISH also posted an announcement about the cancellation on its Web site, along with a plea for consumers to call CBS.
"DISH Network will always have a place for CBS and we're willing to pay for retransmission rights, but Viacom is holding the public airwaves hostage, trying to extract concessions and higher rates on programming unrelated to CBS," EchoStar chairman Charles Ergen said in a statement released as the deadline for the cancellation approached.
Echostar said Viacom had sought rate increases up to 40 percent over the length of the contract, which "potentially equates to hundreds of millions of dollars" in payments, Ergen said.
EchoStar said it would provide $1 monthly credits to customers who lose CBS programming, and another $1 for those who subscribe to additional Viacom channels.
But Viacom's statement it couldn't understand EchoStar's position.
"They recently hiked their subscribers' bills by as much as $3 a month. Yet they are unwilling to consider paying an additional six cents a month per subscriber for the right to carry our channels," the company said.
DISH customers in markets in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Denver, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Salt Lake City, Green Bay, Wis., and Austin, Texas, lost their local CBS affiliate programs as well.
Viacom and EchoStar began sparring after a contract for the DISH Network to broadcast Viacom channels expired Dec. 31.
The contract was extended at least three times, voluntarily and by court orders. The latest court order for the programming to continue expired at the overnight deadline.
In January, EchoStar filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco alleging Viacom was illegally trying to force EchoStar to carry Viacom-owned MTV, Spike and other cable channels at unfair prices in exchange for the right to carry 18 CBS-owned stations in 16 media markets.
Ergen had said previously he would rather drop CBS than submit to Viacom's demands.
Englewood, Colo.-based EchoStar delivers hundreds of channels to 9 million subscribers.
BTW, we subscribe to the full Dish network package. And we certainly won't miss the programs Dish is deleting, since we never watched them to begin with :~)
sw
I just hope that Dish is just as supportive of it's customers when Dish is squeezing the end users by bundling it's programming.
It's good to see that a company is willing to draw a line. Isn't that why the Direct TV/Dish deal was nixed by congress? We can't have just one monopoly.
I miss Danger Mouse from the eighties. I used to rush home from work to watch DM.
I got rid of BET too....locked it out on all my sets what a bunch of trash.
I've heard many people say that DirecTV has a slightly sharper picture on most channels than Dish. You could always change - they are having a big promotion at the moment.
Michael
Um, DTV's customer service is right here in the USA. I don't know if it's staffed with Navajos, Kiowas, Creeks, or Chickasaws or not.
While I've had one bad experience with them, it was over an arcane matter of Motorhome Exemptions for Distant Networks which was partially my fault for improperly explaining, the vast majority of my DTV experience has been quite positive. Plus, for most programming changes, you can simply make them online and by the time you log off, the changes are in effect in your service.
Michael
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