Some DISH Customers Could Miss the SEC Championship Game
No need to panic yet, but some DISH Network subscribers could miss the SEC Championship game.
While there is no specific indication viewers in the Southeast are affected, some Dish Network customers in up to 16 television markets may miss the SEC Championship game.
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CBS will go dark on DISH in 16 major markets, including New York and Los Angeles, if Dish and CBS do not reach agreement today (Thursday, December 4, 2014). For SEC football fans, the timing is critical. However, no one appears to know how many, which customers, and which CBS networks – such as CBS Sports, will be affected by a potential blackout.
While there is much not known, this is what we do know: The companies have been negotiating financial terms for six months. The contract expired in late November. Dish continued carrying CBS channels in the affected markets after two extension agreements. The second extension, which covered the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, “was the final one,” CBS said.
Fox Business News, Deadline.com and Variety.com reported this morning that CBS would agree to no more extensions to the current contract.
USA Today.com reported on Tuesday that CBS said channels could be off the air on the Dish Network in some large markets if the two companies can’t agree on a new contract by Thursday (December 4) evening.
“We would very much like to avoid going dark,” CBS said in a statement reported by USAToday. “Unless agreements are reached, however, our viewers [in affected markets] should be prepared to lose CBS from their Dish systems on Thursday evening at 7:00 PM/ET.”
CBS has little fear of blackouts, as demonstrated last year when the network won a tough battle with Time Warner Cable. Time Warner backed down and gave in to demands after Time Warner pulled CBS programs for a month in several of its markets.