Dish’s previous agreement with Tegna
expired Sept. 30. The two sides extended that through Friday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. ET, citing a desire to not deprive viewers of local TV coverage about looming Hurricane Joaquin.
Dish, which has a legacy of playing hardball in negotiations, has been more willing than its pay-television peers to let TV channels go dark on its service when talks hit an impasse.
In its most recent dispute, in August 129 local TV stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group went dark on Dish —
the largest TV blackout in history — before the two sides
came to terms less than 24 hours later. Dish’s feuds have extended to cable nets, as well: The satcaster said it suffered
lower activations and higher cancellations in the first quarter of 2015 because of the
loss of Fox News Channel and several
Turner Broadcasting channels in late 2014.
Fox News returned to the Dish lineupin mid-January.
Broadcasters in recent years have become aggressive in demanding higher retrans fees. The industry is projected to reap $6.3 billion from pay-TV providers in 2015, up from $4.9 billion last year, according to research firm SNL Kagan.
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