Dish Network Agrees To Bring Back AMC & Pay The Company $700 Million In Settlement
Dish Network customers are probably salivating with joy right now over the prospect of watching Mad Men, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad, as the company and AMC have finally reached a settlement. “Finally” is the key word here — it feels like these two have been fighting forever, even if the dispute really only got heated in July.
It sounds pretty sweet for AMC and its sister company Cablevision, too. They’re going to get $700 million in cash in the deal, reports the Associated Press. Around $80 million of that will be earmarked to buy various video and distribution licenses for Cablevision in 45 metro areas around the U.S.
And of course, the most important to all us Walter White fans — Dish will restore AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel and We tv to its 14 million subscribers, as well as offer the music channel Fuse.
The lawsuit popped up after Dish decided to ditch on a plan to carry AMC’s Voom HD. Everything escalated when Dish also dropped AMC saying that it was just too expensive, but AMC says Dish was just being bratty to gain the upper hand in the lawsuit.
“We are glad to partner again with Dish Network and are delighted to bring back our popular channels and programming to their customers,” said Josh Sapan, president and CEO of AMC Networks in a statement.
Dave Shull, senior vice president of programming for Dish said in a statement that the deal delivers a “fair value for both parties and includes digital expansion opportunities for AMC Networks’ programming.”
That’s what we call kissing and making up. Everybody wins!
Dish Network settles with Cablevision, AMC [Associated Press]
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