After barely averting a blackout of CBS-owned stations for millions of Dish Network satellite customers, CBS now says the latest deadline to end the contract stalemate with Dish is coming on Thursday night. [More]
blackouts
Dish Customers Get Cartoon Network, CNN Back After Month-Long Blackout
By 11.21.14
Just hours after averting (for now) a blackout of CBS-owned stations in 14 markets, Dish Network has made nice with another of its foes in the broadcasting world, ending the month-long blackout of Turner channels like CNN, HLN, and the Cartoon Network. [More]
CBS Blackout Still Looms For Dish Customers
By 11.20.14
UPDATE: A blackout has been averted for the time-being, with CBS and Dish agreeing at the 11th hour to continue negotiating. So football fans with Dish will at least get through this weekend without having to worry about missing games on CBS. [More]
CNN Parent Company Not Pleased With Dish’s Veiled Threats To Permanently Pull Channels
By 11.5.14
A few weeks back, Dish and Turner Broadcasting — parent company to CNN, HLN, Cartoon Network and others — couldn’t reach a deal on a new contract, meaning millions of Dish subscribers haven’t had access to these channels since. And last night, Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen hinted that maybe it’s time for CNN and other cable mainstays to rethink how important they are. [More]
Dish Network Loses CNN, Cartoon Network
By 10.21.14
Because pay-TV providers and content networks can’t negotiate anything without resorting to blackouts to try to prove who has the bigger dishes, the contract stalemate between Turner Broadcasting and Dish Network has left millions of satellite customers without a large slate of popular channels, including CNN, HLN, truTV and — most importantly — Cartoon Network. [More]
The Future Will Be Online TV, But That Might Come With Online Blackouts
By 10.17.14
It’s been a heck of a week for anyone who’s been waiting for all their TV to go online. HBO, CBS, and Univision have all announced online streaming subscription packages this week, which is big news for consumers. But the future, while different, may not be rosy. You can’t watch streaming video without internet access, after all. So what happens to your show when your TV network and your ISP get mad at each other? [More]
Senators: NFL Could Lose Tax Breaks, Antitrust Exemption If Blackouts Continue
By 10.2.14
Earlier this week, the FCC voted unanimously to repeal its 39-year-old Sports Blackout Rule, which that prevented the broadcasting of certain sporting events if they weren’t sold out. While that decision removes federal involvement in blackouts, the pro sports leagues may still negotiate private blackout deals with broadcasters. However, a pair of prominent U.S. Senators have warned the NFL to not go that route. [More]
FCC Repeals Sports Blackout Rule, But Blackouts Will Continue
By 9.30.14
Calling the NFL on its bluff to move its broadcast games to cable, the FCC voted unanimously this morning to repeal the outdated sports blackout rule that prevented the airing of certain games that weren’t sold out. Though it doesn’t mean the end of blackouts. [More]
NFL Threatens To Put Games On Cable If Blackout Rules Are Eliminated
By 8.8.14
Last fall, the FCC announced that it would look into whether or not it was time to eliminate blackout rules affecting local sports broadcasts of games that weren’t sold out. Since most MLB, NBA, and NHL teams have moved their broadcasts to regional sports channels and away from over-the-air TV, the only league that would be realistically impacted by the elimination of these decades’ old rules is the NFL, which recently told the FCC that it will pick up its ball and go to pay-TV if it can’t be allowed to black out games anymore. [More]
FCC Chair Asks Time Warner Cable Why It Treats Dodgers Fans So Badly
By 7.30.14
As we’ve discussed in an earlier post, some 70% of people in L.A. are currently unable to watch the L.A. Dodgers because SportsNet L.A., a station jointly owned by the first-place team and the bottom-of-the-barrel cable company, won’t let other pay-TV carriers air the channel without paying a premium. While the FCC has generally stayed out of such messes, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler has let TWC know that he’s not exactly happy with the current situation in Los Angeles. [More]
Weather Channel Returns To DirecTV, But With Less Reality Programming
By 4.9.14
Three months after a standoff over fees left 20 million DirecTV customers without The Weather Channel, the station is making a return to the satellite service. But in order to get that large audience back, the Weather folks have had to agree to some changes in its programming, which some had criticized as being too focused on things other than just telling people about the weather. [More]
UPDATE: Weather Channel Goes Dark On DirecTV
By 1.13.14
UPDATE: Shortly after midnight ET on Tuesday, DirecTV customers no longer had access to The Weather Channel. [More]
FCC Wants To Let You Watch Your Home Team’s Games At Home
By 12.19.13
Sports broadcasting: it’s both lucrative and confusing. Sometimes you can turn on the TV and watch a game that’s taking place in your own hometown, and sometimes you can’t. When you can’t, you’re part of a broadcast blackout. [More]
Time Warner Cable Loses 300,000 Customers Because Of Idiotic CBS Blackout
By 10.31.13
While we didn’t pick sides in the moronic month-long fight between Time Warner Cable and CBS (because they both hate you and are just using you for your money), it always seemed like TWC was fighting the more pointless battle, as it needs the network more than the network needs it and it will be the one that ultimately has to anger customers by increasing their monthly bills. The utter pointlessness of the blackout was made even more evident today when TWC blamed the loss of hundreds of thousands of subscribers on the prolonged spat. [More]
DirecTV, TWC, Charter Mulling Over Aereo-Like Services
By 10.28.13
While Aereo — the online service that transmits over-the-air network feeds to subscribers’ computers and mobile devices — is slugging it out with broadcasters in court, the operators of several cable and satellite services are reportedly looking to launch similar products of their own, setting the stage for an all-new TV war. [More]
Dish Customers, Prepare For Potential ESPN (And ABC, Disney) Blackout
By 9.30.13 — Updated: 10.1.13
UPDATE: As expected, the two parties reached an 11th hour agreement to extend the talks past the Monday deadline. No details were provided about when an actual deal would need to be reached in order to avoid the blackout. [More]
Jacksonville Jaguars Offer Free Beer To Anyone Willing To Buy Tickets
By 9.26.13
Amazingly, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ gorgeous two-tone helmets have done little to help the team’s game or to put butts in the seats at EverBank Field. So how do you entice fans to ante up anywhere from $45 to $425 per ticket to see an 0-3 team face off against the 2-1 Indianapolis Colts? Free beer. [More]
Time Warner Cable Says Customers Left Because Of Blackout; CBS Unaffected
By 9.12.13
In news that will hopefully sour cable companies’ view of blackouts as a viable negotiation tool, Time Warner Cable has admitted that its pointless, month-long standoff with CBS ended up costing it customers. Meanwhile, the network came out of the dust-up unscathed. [More]
