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We have the Dish Network, and I have been amused to hear about the recent contract negotiations between Fisher Broadcasting and Dish Network.
Currently, ABC is unavailable on Dish in Seattle and Yakima, WA; Portland and Eugene, OR; Boise and Idaho Falls, ID; and Bakersfield, CA. In its place, Dish is looping their side of the story. They have a constant pipeline into the homes of their customers. In their story, Fisher Broadcasting is asking for a HUGE increase in broadcasting fees. Dish can’t except such a large increase and is fighting for their customers.
Fisher’s story is that Dish is holding ABC’s outstanding content hostage. Fisher is only asking for a “modest increase in the low double digits”, and it’s all Dish’s fault that you can’t watch Lost or Good Morning America. I know this because I heard a random commercial on the radio while driving around town the other day. KOMO/Fisher is resorting to radio advertising to try and communicate with its Dish Network customers. How much cash is Fisher spending/losing with this type of shotgun advertising approach?
I have to say, Dish has the upper hand, and they are coming off as being more reasonable as they are broadcasting other options to get ABC shows and news (Off-Air antenna, online, news from other networks [ouch]).
There’s no telling how long this might go on. But with most well-known shows on hiatus, the most missed content for a while is going to be news and sports. News can be seen on any other network channel, so sports is the problem. There is no pro football on ABC, and hockey, basketball and others are in the middle of their long regular seasons.
I’m not sure how much ABC is going to be missed right now.
