Is DISH still Negotiating with Cox Media?
Is It True That DISH is Still in Discussions with Cox Media Group?
Cox Media Group had been in a carriage dispute with DISH Network since the end of February and all Cox’s stations were removed from the DISH television network across the United States. This disruption of service impacted millions of DISH consumers who were unable to view some main network affiliates and other Cox-owned stations. Currently, the two firms are still in the process of negotiating without any resolution being made as to who would be the rightful owner of the car.
What contributed to the Failure of Negotiations?
The prior carriage deal that DISH had with Cox was regarding carrying its satellite television services, which ended in February. They were unable to reach a consensus over the other commercial aspects of a new multiple-year deal before this date. Cox was reportedly demanding a hike in payment charges of more than 100 percent to what they had been offering in the previous deal according to DISH. To bring back all the Cox stations, DISH was not ready to endure such a massive quarterly leap in price affecting more than a million of its customers. However, in Cox’s perception, they argue that they were merely trying to charge consumers a reasonable amount of money for the programming.
In What Ways and to What Extent?
This is a list of broadcast stations owned by Cox in more than 20 media markets across the United States of America. This mainly consists of ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX networks and some other independent broadcasting stations. Some of the major metro areas that are affected and now inaccessible to DISH subscribers as a result of the disagreement include Atlanta, Orlando, Pittsburgh, and Seattle among others. Some of the popular channels out of the air include WSB, ABC Atlanta, WHIO CBS Dayton, WFTV, ABC Orlando as well as KIRO CBS Seattle.
Is it possible that talks are still being held?
Based on the people who were privy to the negotiations, both firms are still discussing issues while remaining poles apart on the issues. For its part, DISH contends that Cox has been demanding a higher renewal price since the negotiations standoff began. They also cite that Cox decided to drop their channels from its DISH platform and did not openly disclose the terms of the deal it sought. Cox argues that they are only requesting DISH to pay them fairly in a new contract, and not to take any further steps.
Yes, Cox does have reason to move to a resolution; or at least, they have reason to move to the conclusion that a particular solution is in their best interest. The longer the blackout stretches into March, the more problems arise for Cox not only from the network affiliates not being on the air but also the threats of customers leaving. They also assumed control of regional stations that Apollo Global Management used to control directly earlier this year and arguably do not wish for their recently acquired stations to have sour relations with a significant distributor like DISH.
For the likely resolution, the two parties will be expected to engage in a peaceful protest, receive constructive criticisms, and make changes where necessary to enhance the quality of their performances.
As is the case in most other carriage disputes between broadcasters and pay-TV providers in the recent past, this impasse shall be resolved by the two parties coming to a negotiated agreement between DISH and Cox Media. Whereas the when and how remain uncertain and depend on the specific circumstances and conditions that may prevail at that given time of occurrence. DISH generally negotiates very aggressively with programmers and cannot be expected to grossly overpay on new contracts, while Cox has fairly good reasons to slightly hike rates in comparison to their expired contract. Both BBC and ITV have their self-interests involved in the renewal of the channel for the viewers. Others have estimated that it may take a few more weeks to finalize the deal.”
That the two parties are embroiled in disputes one can infer from their public debates, which show that bargaining is taking place. However, there is generally a divergence in the price level that both parties are willing to accept and this means that the price expectations gap must be reduced before give-and-take bargaining over some issues in arriving at a new deal. The local audiences who are subscribed to DISH in the affected markets are eager to get back their beloved local content. Moving on into March and April, resolution expectations are still that Cox/ DISH will sort out their differences.
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