LOS ANGELES, November 23, 2017 – Late Thursday evening, Dish Network and CBS reached an agreement, just hours after more than three million Dish Network customers found they were unable to watch the LA Chargers and Dallas Cowboys game. The blackout of CBS programming via Dish Network had a serious impact on several major markets including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Atlanta and Boston.
The new deal between the two companies also included additional cable channels such as CBS Sports Network, POP and Smithsonian.
Regarding that agreement, CBS’s president of television network distribution Ray Hopkins released a statement, noting in part,
“We are pleased we have reached a deal with Dish, who recognizes the value that the number one Network brings to viewers in these markets. Dish customers will continue to get CBS’ must-have content, while we are also able to achieve our short and long-term economic and strategic goals.”
Dish Network’s Executive VP of Marketing, Warren Schichting, also released a statement, saying,
“We are grateful to our customers for their patience this holiday week as months of work has resulted in a deal that delivers CBS for years to come.”
As of the writing of this column, neither company has released final terms of the agreement.
The blackout came in for serious criticism across popular social media sites. The reaction was particularly sharp from Cowboys and Chargers fans who were not able to watch the Thanksgiving Day game. Fans were forced instead to use the CBS’ streaming service to watch the games.
The deal finally came after nearly three days of blacked-out CBS programming on Dish, which included those Thanksgiving Day NFL games. The new agreement immediately enables college football fans to watch SEC and NFL games Friday and Saturday of the holiday weekend. Dish Network sports aficionados can now catch Friday’s Missouri-Arkansas college football game, Saturday’s highly anticipated Iron Bowl game between No. 1 Alabama and No. 6 Auburn and Sunday’s slate of NFL contests.
Dish Network yanked CBS and affiliated content this past Tuesday. The parties’ current dispute – an increasingly common issue in recent years among various carriers and content providers – revolved around the fees Dish would pay CBS for 28 local channels as well as three cable channels. CBS last went dark on Dish for roughly 12 hours in 2014 during a similar impasse.
