Court tv?
- Thread starter mzopinionated
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 407
- Views 67K
Seeing as I do not have the option of subscribing to all available programs à la carte, or building my own numerical package, then I am with Dish Network all the way holding out to any programmer who wants too high a price increase.
It helps keep my overall package down in price.
If Court TV can be satisfied with approx. 13 million fewer viewers because of their actions then more power to them. I hope their advertisers see it that way also.
It helps keep my overall package down in price.
If Court TV can be satisfied with approx. 13 million fewer viewers because of their actions then more power to them. I hope their advertisers see it that way also.
Here is a news article that says Dish refused an extension and is the one demanding a higher rate...
Officials at Turner Broadcasting System said Tuesday that they haven’t talked with EchoStar Communications’ Dish Network about Court TV since New Year’s Eve, and they don’t expect the justice network to be reinstated to the direct-broadcast satellite service anytime soon.
“The truth is, we are not currently negotiating,” Turner president of domestic distribution Andy Heller said. “We haven’t had a conversation since 9 o’clock New Year’s Eve … The network is off and, at the moment, absent some change in somebody’s position, it’s going to stay off, I think, for a while.”
Court TV came off Dish’s America’s Top 60 tier at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 1, when the programmer’s carriage deal with the satellite service expired. It was replaced by The Biography Channel.
That drop sliced roughly 11 million subscribers from Court TV’s distribution, which most recently had stood at 87.7 million, according to Nielsen Media Research.
A year ago, Dish was engaged in a nasty public dispute with another programmer, Lifetime Television. Dish pulled Lifetime and its sister services off its lineup for roughly one month.
This year’s Court TV dispute centers on Dish’s desire to move the network from its most widely distributed tier, America’s Top 60, to America’s Top 120, which reaches about 3 million fewer homes, with a penetration of only about 8 million.
“They proposed that [Court TV] move and they get to write their own rate card after they moved it, which wasn’t exactly consistent with our hopes and dreams,” Heller said.
Heller claimed that he offered Dish an extension to continue carrying Court TV on America’s Top 60 for the current license fee.
“We offered them an extension with no change whatsoever, just maintain the status quo,” he added. “This is the first time someone said, ‘No, I don’t want an extension’ … I’ve been doing this a long time, but this is the first time this has ever happened. Never, all of these networks that we have, I’ve never been in a situation where a network went dark.”
In its press release, Dish said Turner “refused to offer an extension in the company’s Top 120 package for continued negotiations.”
Turner wasn’t in favor of Court TV, a top-20-rated network, being moved to America’s Top 120, with its lesser penetration, Heller said.
“That having been said, we’re not going to say, ‘No, you can’t do it, but if you do it, we’re going to lose 3 million customers that currently have access to the product,’” he added. “That hurts our ad-sales business. And so we have a tiered rate card for that, and they didn’t want to pay it.”
Dish claimed that the license fee Turner was seeking if Court TV was moved to America’s Top 120 would amount to a 70% increase in rates.
“Unfortunately, Turner Networks refused to deliver a reasonable offer for carriage in America’s Top 120 package that fairly reflected Court TV’s overall ratings performance and value,” EchoStar spokesman Kathie Gonzalez said.
Heller conceded that the license fee for Court TV to be carried on America’s Top 120, versus America’s Top 60, “was much more expensive.” But he wouldn’t say how much more.
In the Dish press release, senior vice president of programming Eric Sahl said, “We are working hard to negotiate a fair contract with Turner Networks and Court TV … It is not fair to ask our customers to pay a DBS premium for a channel owned by the second-largest cable operator, Time Warner.”
Court TV became wholly owned by Turner in May, putting its carriage negotiations in Heller’s hands.
Officials at Turner Broadcasting System said Tuesday that they haven’t talked with EchoStar Communications’ Dish Network about Court TV since New Year’s Eve, and they don’t expect the justice network to be reinstated to the direct-broadcast satellite service anytime soon.
“The truth is, we are not currently negotiating,” Turner president of domestic distribution Andy Heller said. “We haven’t had a conversation since 9 o’clock New Year’s Eve … The network is off and, at the moment, absent some change in somebody’s position, it’s going to stay off, I think, for a while.”
Court TV came off Dish’s America’s Top 60 tier at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 1, when the programmer’s carriage deal with the satellite service expired. It was replaced by The Biography Channel.
That drop sliced roughly 11 million subscribers from Court TV’s distribution, which most recently had stood at 87.7 million, according to Nielsen Media Research.
A year ago, Dish was engaged in a nasty public dispute with another programmer, Lifetime Television. Dish pulled Lifetime and its sister services off its lineup for roughly one month.
This year’s Court TV dispute centers on Dish’s desire to move the network from its most widely distributed tier, America’s Top 60, to America’s Top 120, which reaches about 3 million fewer homes, with a penetration of only about 8 million.
“They proposed that [Court TV] move and they get to write their own rate card after they moved it, which wasn’t exactly consistent with our hopes and dreams,” Heller said.
Heller claimed that he offered Dish an extension to continue carrying Court TV on America’s Top 60 for the current license fee.
“We offered them an extension with no change whatsoever, just maintain the status quo,” he added. “This is the first time someone said, ‘No, I don’t want an extension’ … I’ve been doing this a long time, but this is the first time this has ever happened. Never, all of these networks that we have, I’ve never been in a situation where a network went dark.”
In its press release, Dish said Turner “refused to offer an extension in the company’s Top 120 package for continued negotiations.”
Turner wasn’t in favor of Court TV, a top-20-rated network, being moved to America’s Top 120, with its lesser penetration, Heller said.
“That having been said, we’re not going to say, ‘No, you can’t do it, but if you do it, we’re going to lose 3 million customers that currently have access to the product,’” he added. “That hurts our ad-sales business. And so we have a tiered rate card for that, and they didn’t want to pay it.”
Dish claimed that the license fee Turner was seeking if Court TV was moved to America’s Top 120 would amount to a 70% increase in rates.
“Unfortunately, Turner Networks refused to deliver a reasonable offer for carriage in America’s Top 120 package that fairly reflected Court TV’s overall ratings performance and value,” EchoStar spokesman Kathie Gonzalez said.
Heller conceded that the license fee for Court TV to be carried on America’s Top 120, versus America’s Top 60, “was much more expensive.” But he wouldn’t say how much more.
In the Dish press release, senior vice president of programming Eric Sahl said, “We are working hard to negotiate a fair contract with Turner Networks and Court TV … It is not fair to ask our customers to pay a DBS premium for a channel owned by the second-largest cable operator, Time Warner.”
Court TV became wholly owned by Turner in May, putting its carriage negotiations in Heller’s hands.
Wow, that's the most detail I've heard out of a negotiation.
So much for non-disclosure.....
Interesting. Both sides have a point. E* wants to move them to AT120, but it will cost 70% more. Turner wants them to keep it in AT60, even offered to extend deal at current rates. E* decides to play hardball and pull the channel to force their hand.
Look for Court TV to cave for about half the difference....
So much for non-disclosure.....
Interesting. Both sides have a point. E* wants to move them to AT120, but it will cost 70% more. Turner wants them to keep it in AT60, even offered to extend deal at current rates. E* decides to play hardball and pull the channel to force their hand.
Look for Court TV to cave for about half the difference....
The biggest information that I get out of that press release is that Dish apparently is making a strong point of the association (working in concert if you will ) of program providers and those providers with the competition to Dish, namely cable, in this case Time Warner. Perhaps Dish knows or suspects Court TV is being offered at a much lower rate to Time Warner.
The next thing is, Dish is not allowing the programmer to decide in what package the station is delivered. I get the sense that Dish would have paid more per subscriber to put it in a package seen by less people, but not 70% more cost.
I also find it curious that Court TV says they did offer to allow the programming to continue as is while they negotiated. If true, I don't know the real upside to Dish dropping it so soon.
) of program providers and those providers with the competition to Dish, namely cable, in this case Time Warner. Perhaps Dish knows or suspects Court TV is being offered at a much lower rate to Time Warner.The next thing is, Dish is not allowing the programmer to decide in what package the station is delivered. I get the sense that Dish would have paid more per subscriber to put it in a package seen by less people, but not 70% more cost.
I also find it curious that Court TV says they did offer to allow the programming to continue as is while they negotiated. If true, I don't know the real upside to Dish dropping it so soon.
Dish dropping the channel is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, Dish may lose some subs if the channel is gone too long. On the other hand, it puts pressure on Turner to negociate, since there will be lower ad revenue because the audience is less.
My guess is that the pain due to lost advertising revenue (from a smaller viewer base) outweighed the loss of subscribers who cancelled E* due to them dropping the channel.
I read somewhere that in relationships, the one who loves the least is the one in control of the relationship. To carry over the metaphor, he who can survive more easily without the other will dictate the terms. Lifetime learned this the hard way. It's Time Warner's turn.
I read somewhere that in relationships, the one who loves the least is the one in control of the relationship. To carry over the metaphor, he who can survive more easily without the other will dictate the terms. Lifetime learned this the hard way. It's Time Warner's turn.
My question is, why would those of us with Top 60 (or HD Bronze) lose this channel? Why did Dish Network decide that the Top 60 tier should no longer include Court TV, especially since Court TV was willing to provide their programming at the same cost that Dish pays now? I could only see them moving it from Top 60 to Top 120 if Court TV wanted a large increase for keeping it in Top 60. But that's not the case here.
And why did Dish Network not inform their customers that they were planning to remove Court TV from the Top 60 tier? Does Dish Network have plans to remove other channels from Top 60 based on other negotiations? Exactly what will the new Top 100 comprise of in February if they are planning to remove basic networks like Court TV from the package?
Seems to me like Dish Network is the one to blame here. And once again, I (as a consumer), am being used as the pawn.
Robert
And why did Dish Network not inform their customers that they were planning to remove Court TV from the Top 60 tier? Does Dish Network have plans to remove other channels from Top 60 based on other negotiations? Exactly what will the new Top 100 comprise of in February if they are planning to remove basic networks like Court TV from the package?
Seems to me like Dish Network is the one to blame here. And once again, I (as a consumer), am being used as the pawn.
Robert
Looks like this is a decision that may be based on Dish's guarantee to not raise the prices on AT60 this year. They never guaranteed that they would keep the same AT60 channel lineup.
I think some channels need to be removed from the more basic packages to keep them low. If ESPN wasn't in AT60 then it would be $5 per month cheaper. Why do you think Dish Family is so much cheaper?
Geez, why don't we just pay Dish anyway and not get any channels?
This is my first experience with satellite and perhaps I was a bit naive because I didn't realize that when I signed up for a package, which I chose based on the channels that were in that package, that they may be there when you wake up on New Year's Day and maybe they won't. It seems a bit deceptive to not alert subscribers of the change until AFTER people complain about it. Not top service in my opinion; maybe that is why it is cheaper. 
Last edited:
Geez, why don't we just pay Dish anyway and not get any channels?
Dish is cheaper imho because they challenge and fight the providers where as the cable companies pay whatever the going rate is. I've never heard a cable company try and keep costs down like Dish does.
Ron
consider yourself met. I've been watching the evening shows (forensic files, murder by the book, the investigators) regularly for about a decade. I would think, in a country that screams for more reality tv, this channel would be more popular. it's version of reality is certainly more than fox news
The whole debate is rather annoying to me - whether courttv is in the 60 package or the 180 package, I'll get it either way. I've had the everything package since it was introduced. Do some people really get by on only 60 channels? wow
all I have is an antenna and FTA and I don't miss satellite/cable at all and the money I save is the bonus...so I could get along with only 60 channels and I watch allot of tv.
Anyone that has a Star Choice system can still watch Court TV with most of the same shows.
Why? I don't know, but I do know you can't get blood out of a stone.
Hang in there Dish Network.
I don't know why corporations think that it's an automatic every year to have a rate increase for anything and everything.
Does everyone but everyone get a pay raise every year? I don't think so.
Cost of living increase maybe.
Why? I don't know, but I do know you can't get blood out of a stone.
Hang in there Dish Network.
I don't know why corporations think that it's an automatic every year to have a rate increase for anything and everything.
Does everyone but everyone get a pay raise every year? I don't think so.
Cost of living increase maybe.
