Fisher Communications Channels are BACK on Dish!

[jpmarto]

Well, I predict a lot of phone calls to the KOMO general manager today: Seattle area is in gridlock due to snow and people are being advised to stay home.

I will call the GM later today to explain to him that Charlie would sooner poke a rusty nail in his eye than raise the rates he is already paying Fisher Communications. The fact that KOMO has extremely good OTA coverage won't help their cause.

Here's the blurb on KOMO's website:

KOMO no longer available to DISH Network Subscribers






To DISH Network Subscriber:

The carriage contract with KOMO expired with the DISH Network at 11 p.m. on December 17, 2008. Our station has been in negotiations with DISH in an attempt to reach a new agreement. Unfortunately, those negotiations have not yet been successful.

We will keep you fully informed. Here are the FACTS:

- DISH charges you a fee to receive KOMO. We believe DISH should be willing to pay a small portion of the fees you pay to DISH for the program content we provide to you. Our request is reasonable given our award-winning news, sport, and entertainment programming. It is considerably less than the amount paid by DISH for less popular satellite program networks.

- We will continue to work diligently in the hope that DISH will complete an agreement for carriage of KOMO. Our programs include your favorite news, weather, sports, and entertainment programs, including Lost, Desperate Housewives, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and more.You may continue to watch these and other great programs of KOMO by alternative means.Your choices include:

• Free, over-the-air reception directly from the station
• DIRECTV
• Your local cable system
• In some cases, your local telephone company.

We will keep you fully informed of the status of our negotiations and we regret any inconvenience DISH may cause you. Below is a list of payments made to other cable networks for a fraction of the audience that our stations generate

Cable Network 2006 License Fee
ESPN $2.91 [$3.26 in 2007]
Fox Sports $1.67
TNT $0.89
Disney $0.79
Fox News $0.75
USA $0.47
CNN $0.44
Nickelodeon $0.41
TBS $0.39
FX $0.35
MTV $0.29
CNBC $0.26
Discovery $0.25
ESPN2 $0.24
Family $0.23
Lifetime $0.23
AMC $0.23
Golf $0.23
TCM $0.23
A&E $0.22
E! $0.20
Spike $0.19
History $0.19
Speed $0.18
SciFi $0.17
Bravo $0.16
TLC $0.16
BET $0.15
MSNBC $0.15
Cartoon $0.15
VH1 $0.13
Comedy $0.11
Court TV $0.11
The Weather Channel $0.10
TVLand $0.09
Travel $0.09
HGTV $0.08
Animal Planet $0.08
Food $0.07
CMT $0.05
This list is of cable network channels only and does not include the carriage fees paid to other over-the-air broadcasters.

 

[LJALLEN97]

I sent an e-mail to KATU Portland expressing my opinion on the cut off extortion. Living 100 miles from the main KATU broadcast tower I will seek an out of area ABC station if this extends long term. Does anyone know if those lousy/low powered relay stations broadcast in HD and is that considered sufficient to deny a out of area signal? KATU for the last several days appears to have been sending a degraded signal to the E*Colorado site, it's been very fuzzy and boxed when it was excellent prior to that. I do not fault E* at all.

 

[Hall]

The stations are aware of the impact on their audience and ratings. Notice how these disputes rarely happen anywhere near sweeps weeks?

Time Warner Southwestern Ohio division and the local Dayton NBC station, owned by LIN TV, couldn't come to an agreement ~2 months ago and TW had to drop NBC for almost a month, as I recall. They did come to an agreement the week prior to "sweeps week". Surprise, surprise... I really do hope that TW "won" in that dispute. WDTN had much more to lose.

 

[cparker]

In order to be granted a waiver you must reside in an area that can not receive a "Grade B" signal. At 100 miles, unless conditions are extraordinarily good, you are probably not in a Grade B signal area. TV stations have software that maps their coverage area. The software is not accurate in all cases. My local CBS affiliate tower is about 45 miles away. I asked for a waiver (years ago.... don't need it now) and they sent a truck to my house to measure signal. I was granted a waiver because (and they put this in writing) even though their software showed me as living within the Grade B signal area, actual measurements by THEIR ENGINEER proved the software incorrect.

 

[NightRyder]

I sent an e-mail to KATU Portland expressing my opinion on the cut off extortion. Living 100 miles from the main KATU broadcast tower I will seek an out of area ABC station if this extends long term. Does anyone know if those lousy/low powered relay stations broadcast in HD and is that considered sufficient to deny a out of area signal? KATU for the last several days appears to have been sending a degraded signal to the E*Colorado site, it's been very fuzzy and boxed when it was excellent prior to that. I do not fault E* at all.

You can check here to see if you qualify for out of market locals.

https://www.mydistantnetworks.com/qualification.php

NightRyder

 

[mike123abc]

Local car ads are one of the biggest sources of local station revenue. The stations are hurting now that so many dealers have been cutting back. They are looking for any source of extra income. New HD facilities cost $$. They are least are not allowed to charge OTA customers. I expect these disputes to reach an insane level soon.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Heres a letter from Charlie Ergen to FIsher Broadcasting... he seems like he is trying to work with them.

Dear Colleen,

I understand that our respective teams have spent many days and hours trying to renegotiate the terms of our retransmission consent agreement that would grant DISH the continued right to deliver your network programming to our mutual viewers. I am also in receipt of your representative’s note stating Fisher’s request for an extension until Monday because of the impending snowstorm expected to hit the Northwest.

Although DISH Network customers in the Seattle, Portland and Yakima communities will be able to receive emergency information from their other local affiliates, I think we can agree that winter weather will continue to be an issue throughout the next several months. We also agree that public safety information is very important and if emergency communication to viewers is truly your concern, I am willing to offer an extension until March 31, April 30, or May 31, 2009, as severe weather will continue to be a potential issue through the winter. This offer to extend will remain until the expiration of the current agreement at 11:59 pm tonight.

If you do not wish to extend, it seems that we’ve reached an impasse in this negotiation. Fisher has demanded over an 80% increase in rates in the first year alone of a three year deal. We have always paid Fisher as much as any other broadcaster in your markets, even if another broadcaster is bigger or has higher ratings than Fisher. I strongly reiterate our offer to continue to treat Fisher fairly and pay you the highest rate in any new agreement. This will meet your needs of an increase rate next year, which is well over the current rate of inflation, but certainly less than the 80% you are demanding.

As you stated yesterday in your letter to Fisher’s shareholders, the financial, housing, automotive and credit crises have affected industries and consumers nationwide. While we certainly sympathize with our broadcast partners and recognize Fisher’s need to create new forms of revenue, in this current economy it is unreasonable to expect DISH Network to pass through an 80% price increase to our customers.

I remain open to a discussion anytime and can be reached via email or phone. On a more personal note, I congratulate Fisher Communications on its 100 year anniversary and hope that DISH Network can continue as a distribution partner for the next 100.

Respectfully,

Charlie Ergen, CEO and President DISH Network, LLC

 

[patton044]

Hypocrisy

I find it funny that Scott defends the honor of Dish while hawking satellite service, which he no doubt gets paid a referral fee for new customers.

 

[navychop]

Nice letter. I wonder how it got out.

 

[navychop]

I find it funny that Scott defends the honor of Dish while hawking satellite service, which he no doubt gets paid a referral fee for new customers.

patton044, you do not know what you are talking about when you make such a slanderous statement.

 

[DMarshal17]

I find it funny that Scott defends the honor of Dish while hawking satellite service, which he no doubt gets paid a referral fee for new customers.

Scott, I would like to thank you for all of the hard work and dedication you put into this site and also MultiChannel. I believe some of us understand what you bring to the table here.:up

 

[Tony S]

patton044, you really should try to verify before you write such a ridiculous statement. It makes you look like an idiot!

 

[patton044]

Hypocrisy

I'll certainly retract if in fact Scott verifies that his site is not compensated for referrals.

 

[torp74]

Thanks DISH for another slap in the face of your customers. Par for the course.......

 

[8bitbytes]

Thanks DISH for another slap in the face of your customers. Par for the course.......

So apparently, you would rather Dish accept the renewal at the higher rate and then charge you 10.99 a month for Locals instead of $5.99/mo?

 

[pabeader]

I'll certainly retract if in fact Scott verifies that his site is not compensated for referrals.

since al requests for referrals end up getting shunted, by other posters, over to Dishstore, that question is already verified.

 

[8bitbytes]

I'll certainly retract if in fact Scott verifies that his site is not compensated for referrals.

Ah so accusations can be thrown out at anytime with no factual evidence to support them and it's up to the accused to prove that they are untrue. Proof you will most likely claim to be insufficient.

Nice.

You must be one of those slip and fall attorneys that chase ambulances and then take 80% of the settlement.

 

[Jordan420]

Thanks DISH for another slap in the face of your customers. Par for the course.......

Thanks dish for standing your ground, I do not need this fee passed on to me as a subscriber

torp74 are you prepared to pay $300 a month or more for dish?

Do you expect them to pay what ever a station demands for carriage?

I find it funny that Scott defends the honor of Dish while hawking satellite service, which he no doubt gets paid a referral fee for new customers.

please support your post by providing a link to this forum "hawking satellite service" and by that I do not mean linking to a forum sponsor

 

[navychop]

Ah so accusations can be thrown out at anytime with no factual evidence to support them and it's up to the accused to prove that they are untrue. Proof you will most likely claim to be insufficient.

Nice.

You must be one of those slip and fall attorneys that chase ambulances and then take 80% of the settlement.

Makes me want a "vote him off the island" feature.

 

[EatMyVolts]

I'll certainly retract if in fact Scott verifies that his site is not compensated for referrals.

Scott is certainly an industry booster, but then look at the name of this forum. He's also written enough bad things about Dish to erase any doubts about him being a shill.

And as for you sir, you are a two-bit Troll. (why am I even bothering to feed you) You wouldn't work for Fisher would you?