EchoStar/dish network Pulls Viacom Channels

[kirpen]

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/breaking/breakingnewsarticle.asp?feed=OBR&Date=20040309&ID=3473518
NEW YORK (Reuters) - EchoStar Communications Corp. on Tuesday pulled from service 16 of Viacom's local CBS stations and 10 of its national channels after the companies failed to agree on contract terms and prices.

Viacom said in a statement it was ``dismayed and disappointed'' by the action, which affected channels like MTV and Nickelodeon, after a deadline expired early on Tuesday.

Satellite company EchoStar said it would like to transmit CBS programing on its DISH network again, but both parties stood their ground in the dispute.

The move, which analysts say affects 1.6 million EchoStar viewers in major cities such as New York and Los Angeles, follows a lawsuit from EchoStar in January after a four-month deadlock over rates and conditions.

EchoStar said Viacom was illegally forcing its DISH Network to carry cable networks it does not want in order for it to retain the right to transmit CBS.

``DISH Network would always have a place for CBS, and we're willing to pay for retransmission rights,'' said EchoStar Chief Executive Charles Ergen, but he said Viacom was ``holding the public airways hostage.''

EchoStar said Viacom had also asked for rate increases of up to 40 percent over the length of its contract with the company.

Viacom urged EchoStar customers to switch to another distributor, and said the satellite company should be able to cope with a rate rise since it had already raised its own fees to end-users.

``They recently hiked their subscribers' bills by as much as $3 a month. Yet they are unwilling to consider paying an additional six cents a month per subscriber for the right to carry our channels,'' Viacom said in a statement.

EchoStar said it would provide a $1 monthly credit to customers who lose programing while the channels are unavailable


I woke up in the middle of the night to find my channels gone & a promise of $1 a month credit for the 6-8 channels i lost. What are the odds that the government will force dish network to let us out of our contracts or at least lower our bills more then a buck? I cant add all those channels for a buck so they must be worth more.

[triphop]

Wow - whos gonna blink first.... My bet is on the cable network caving.

[Gazorgan]

Viacom offers 'package pricing'. The dish company can still get CBS, it will jsut cost as much as the 'package'. Turner networks work the same way. In fact it's the same for cable companies as well.

However, 6 cents a month sounds fishy for 14 total channels. 6 cents increase sounds typical, but how often?

[lordsmurf]

I'd bail on DISH if I had it... they contract to offer services, as far as I'd be concerned, they'd be in default of the contract, not me.

If DTV ever did that, I'd drop them like a rock for cable.

[axolotls]

This is so stupid.

Last night, i am watching Comedy Central (Viacom) owned, and Viacom runs a scrolling message through the center of the show.

10 seconds later, some at Dish Network puts a huge black bar over the text. For a week, I thought my box was going screwy.

Wonder what Viacom was spamming....

Dish Network won't blink first.

[Greg12]

I"m on comcast cable and i saw the same thing, I thought someone had tapped into the cable system.

It basically said call DishTV to demand the channels back.

[indolikaa]

I don't think Charlie will blink on this one.

He doesn't have to, especially if he argues that Viacom is not negotiating carriage in good faith.

EchoStar said Viacom was illegally forcing its DISH Network to carry cable networks it does not want in order for it to retain the right to transmit CBS.

To say this is illegal is an understatement. Charlie's got brass balls, but he's not stupid enough to let those carriage agreements expire just to save a few cents per subscriber.

Remember, too. Viacom has the Super Bowl controversy hanging over their heads. What now for EchoStar to go waltzing into the FCC and add this to the long list of infractions Viacom has committed.

@Smurf

The gal who forwarded the '412' resolution tidbit for NY/LA says Viacom may be hurting for US C/Ku uplink bandwidth very soon. Ever heard of a satellite operator shutting down transponders over a breach of carriage?

[trevlac]

I've got Dish and so far, I'm backing Charlie on this one. If it drags out for a month, I may re-think, but this is much more fun than watching survivor. Charlie is trying to compete and be the low price guy. I like that.

My wife on the other hand wants to watch survivor. I had to pull if off the air.

kinda strange isn't it? Dish charges $6/mo for locals. Cable basically charges $12/mo for locals. Viacom sends me CBS for free...


edit
Dish stock is up about 50 cents since this started. Viacom is down about $1. Always an interesting measure. As a comparison, comcast and DirectTV are both up just a little since Monday's close.

[indolikaa]

It's all wrong. If they send it for free over the air then it should be free, period. If they are going to get paid for the feed, then the FCC should charge them for the bandwidth.

We fall under the Distant Networks rule out here. I get Phoenix, New York and Los Angeles networks on my DTV and Dish accounts. I do it just to piss them off, not because I really need it.

[trevlac]

I do it just to piss them off, not because I really need it.

[Faustus]

Yeah I've been effected by this since one of the only things I watch on my dishnetwork is the Dialy Show.. pisses me off.

Wrote an email to the address giving for the CEO of dishnetwork tht basicly said "So I lose these channels and get a 1 dollar credit, how about I pay you the dollar and you give me one of the only reasons I want dishnetwork back."

Personally in this matter I could care less... Dish trys to says call and bug viacom because its their problem, but the truth is if they dont get the channels back it IS their problem also.

Also I agree that I no longer have a contract with them... I pay them for specfiic channels that they are no longer providing.

[painkiller]

Bummer.

I saw the scroll through my DTV channels two nights ago, only to read about the travesty from the Drudge site and Instapundit.com.

Why don't we get some of the lawyers (here?) to sue BOTH Dish and Viacom for breach of contract with the consumers?


THAT will get their attention.

[wulf109]

Personally I'd rather have the dollar off. I never watch the viacom channels anyway. I don't care if they ever return the channels.

[lordsmurf]

@indolikaa:

And to think Charlie actually wanders why Dave is beating them..
I think Charlie deserves a big fat "DUH!" award.

Pulling transponders? I know Ku is limited, but didn't think it was coming down to crunch time already.

@ others:

FCC forced locals to put feeds on satellite. I think it's fair that somebody has to pay. Since satellite customers reap the benefits, make them pay. Locals didn't want it (mostly). Big mess there.

Viacom greedy? Sure.
DISH innocent? Ha! No way.

[Bob W]

Personally I'd rather have the dollar off. I never watch the viacom channels anyway. I don't care if they ever return the channels.

Same here. That Nick@Nite is a joke, 5 minutes of content followed by six to seven commercials. So Viacom demands an unreasonable rate increase (like 40%), then inserts a negative message about Dish Network onto the programing that has already been paid for then when angry customers call Viacom they refer them to Dish Networks competitors. One low life company IMO.

[TBoneit]

Persoanlly I'll take the two dollar discount. 1$ for cable Viacom channels and 1$ for loosing WCBS. Not really lost since I kept basic cable along with cable modem service.

I'd like to see them stay off until after the next ratings sweep is over and see Viacom really hurt, Then onto Disney and ESPN!

I read where one analyst stated that Viacom is loosing approx $2 million a day from lost advert revenue.

Has anyone noticed that all the news reports say Echostar pulled the channels? Whereas they were required by law to pull them once they lost the right to broadcast them. I'm sure viacom is saying it's echostar thast pulled them because they wouldn't agree to the increase + extra bundled channels. However Echostar is saying Viacom want excessive price increases. My moneys on Echostar telling the truth... Why should they have to take unwanted channels from Viacom?

I believe that Viacom is loosing more on this than echostar. However they are acting in a naughty fashion by running those messages trying to hurt future echostar prospects.

A couple of predictions: Government regulations arising out of this.
Echostar sues Viacom, a judge already said they have a good case against Viacom.

Viacom should have looked at Echostar Vs Yes network....

Still no Yes network on Echostar, No loss to me, I'd rather not have my rates go up to help pay a overpriced team.

Charlie Ergen said Yes was to expensive, kept rates down and grew faster that DirecTv and Cable that have Yes.

Someone needs to stop these rate increases, I have no desire, nor do I plan to pay what a full boat of cable channels costs.

When I had a full load of Cable, every time they raised there rates I dropped a premium and ended up lower priced, then switched to Sattellite TV. SCROOM!

My brother recently said his cable bill (Comcast, 2 TVs) was $130 , Yikes. I guess it got to him too. Now he's complaing about reception with rabit ears and borrowing DVDs.

Anyway
TTFN

[Roundabout]

You guessed it was coming, and it didn't take long...

From Yahoo TV/Reuters:

EchoStar Customer Sues Service Over CBS Dispute
Wednesday March 10 10:23 PM ET


An irate EchoStar Communications Corp subscriber sued the satellite service provider on Wednesday, after EchoStar pulled CBS and 10 Viacom Inc. cable networks this week.

The subscriber, Rebecca Dolan, filed the suit in San Francisco Superior Court, after EchoStar's DISH Network satellite television service dropped Viacom's programming, including Viacom-owned CBS, "without warning."

"Dish is saying that it has the right to eliminate critical aspects of its programming packages, yet its customers have no right to terminate their relationship ... unless they pay a termination fee of up to $240," said Eric Gibbs, an attorney at Girard, Gibbs & DeBartolomeo LLP, who represents the plaintiff.

EchoStar is offering to reimburse customers between $1 and $2 a month for the outage.

EchoStar pulled CBS from 16 cities and Viacom cable networks nationwide after failing to arrive at an agreement to renew a deal to carry Viacom channels.

EchoStar, based in Englewood, Colorado, sued Viacom in January, charging the media conglomerate with illegally forcing it to carry cable networks it did not want in exchange for the right to retransmit CBS broadcasts in some local markets.

Dolan remains a subscriber, Gibbs said.

[Tiny71]

You can't sue Dish for removing the channels, under the law they had to.

Personally, I don't care if they ever come back. I don't watch them.

I was watching the Special Charlie Chat about the removal of the channels and they were reading emails from people that were angry and people that were of likemind to me.

One lady wrote in saying that she was LOST without the Nick Channels, especially NickToons.....


Looks like to me that her baby sitter was just taken away from her.

If I could get al a carte, that would be great. ESPN, FSN, FOXNEWS, HISTORY, movie channels, and what ever channel shows Monster Garage and American Choppers, and Myth Busters. That is pretty much all the channels I watch. Oh, and TechTV on occasion.

[lordsmurf]

5:30 am EST, just heard on ABC News that it's over ... you'll be getting channels back now.

[JohnnyCNote]

They're back as of now....

[Faustus]

woooo! That means I'll have the daily show PVRed when I get home.

[indolikaa]

So who blinked first?


IT WAS ALL SMURF'S FAULT! BLAME THE BLUE GUY! :P

[samuraijack]

Gosh. I can feel the love! http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/updates/index.shtml


Jeeesh!

[beric3236]

I am sure they will give back the dollar for this month but will raise the bill $2.00 next month because of it

And Dish network don't forget the free movie also for puting us through the inconvence as you do it every time you raise the rates.