Blackout looms for 2M Dish subscribers
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A dispute over fees threatens to leave more than 2 million Dish subscribers in 19 cities without access to local television stations owned by Gannett just as the fall TV season is starting.
Dish Network Corp. claims Gannett Co. is asking for a 300 percent increase in fees for the right to carry 22 Gannett stations affiliated with NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox. Gannett says it's seeking a fair deal in line with market rates.
The two sides are also fighting over Dish's new digital video recorder, the Hopper, which allows customers to automatically skip commercials from the previous night's prime-time broadcasts. Gannett argues the technology disrupts its business model and requires higher fees to compensate it.
The companies' existing deal expires at midnight Mountain time on Sunday.
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List of Gannett stations that Dish subs may lose
By The Associated Press
A contract between Dish Network Corp. and Gannett Co. expires at midnight Mountain time on Sunday, after which the signals may go dark. Here is a list of the Gannett television stations that may be blacked out to more than 2 million Dish subscribers.
-- WATL-TV, Atlanta
-- WXIA-TV, Atlanta
-- WLBZ-TV, Bangor, Maine
-- WGRZ-TV, Buffalo, N.Y.
-- WKYC-TV, Cleveland, Ohio
-- WLTX-TV, Columbia, S.C.
-- KTVD-TV, Denver
-- KUSA-TV, Denver
-- WZZM-TV, Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Mich.
-- WFMY-TV, Greensboro, N.C.
-- WTLV-TV, Jacksonville, Fla.
-- WJXX-TV, Jacksonville, Fla.
-- WBIR-TV, Knoxville, Tenn.
-- KTHV-TV, Little Rock, Ark.
-- WMAZ-TV, Macon, Ga.
-- KARE-TV, Minneapolis-St. Paul
-- KPNX-TV, Phoenix
-- WCSH-TV, Portland, Maine
-- KXTV-TV, Sacramento, Calif.
-- KSDK-TV, St. Louis, Mo.
-- WTSP-TV, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.
-- WUSA-TV, Washington, D.C.