DISH Statement on Apollo Group Management

[sam_gordon]

DISH-Apollo Retrans Spat Gets More Litigious

DISH-Apollo Retrans Spat Gets More Litigious

Cox Media Group (CMG) is suing DISH for copyright infringement for the continued carriage of 13 former Cox Enterprises stations.

www.cablefax.com

When DISH lost 18 Apollo Global-owned Cox Media Group stations on Jan 18 (formerly Northwest Broadcasting stations), it managed to keep 13 Cox Media Group stations from going dark on its lineup thanks to a temporary restraining order issued by Illinois state court. But in the latest turn of events, Cox Media Group (CMG) is suing DISH for copyright infringement for the continued carriage of those 13 former Cox Enterprises stations, which include Atlanta’s WSB (ABC) and Orlando’s WFOX (Fox).

This makes no sense. Illinois court said Dish could keep retransmitting (temporarily), and 11 days later CMG says "you can't do that"? IMO, CMG doesn't have a leg to stand on because Dish HAS a retrans agreement from last year (presumably lasting the normal three years). Just because the owner changed should not make that agreement null & void.