DISH says Univision demanding 75% rate increases, Univision says DISH unwilling to negotiate an amicable deal, devaluing programming.
In yet another tit-for-tat American carriage battle, DISH has blacked out Univision services on its network, with both DISH and Univision blaming each other.
DISH did not hold back in telling the world that Univision was attempting to raise rates despite a universally declining viewership, and pointed out that the network has been blacked out by three other pay-TV providers in the last two years for the same reason, including customers of AT&T, Charter and Verizon (in a takedown lasting over a month)..
“Given current events impacting the Hispanic community, we call on Univision to return its signal to DISH, DishLATINO and Sling TV customers as soon as possible. This is not the time to be making outrageous demands to make up for bad business decisions, or, as many have suggested, better position themselves for a sale,” said DISH’s Rodríguez Diaz-Marta.
Univision were not holding back with the rhetoric either, pointing to the number of blackouts instigated by DISH in distribution negotiations citing 68 since 2010.
“While DISH has routinely used blackouts against broadcasters—its 68 broadcast blackouts since 2010 are significantly more than any other distributor in that time — Univision expected DISH to take our negotiations and its commitment to Hispanic consumers seriously when it told its customers this week that it wanted to reach a mutually beneficial deal for Univision’s high quality content.”
Univision’s statement went on to say; “Instead of fulfilling its promise to its customers, DISH has chosen to devalue our programming, disingenuously offering a fraction of what it pays our English-language peers.
“We stand ready to continue negotiations and enter into a short-term extension to restore service, especially with DISH customers missing our coverage of the Mexican Presidential Election, which many are calling ‘the biggest election in Mexican history.’ DISH should do right by its Spanish-speaking audiences, agree to restore service, and negotiate a good faith agreement.”
Ultimately, these very public tit-for-tat battles do not serve the audiences or customers of television channels or service providers at all.
Both DISH and Univision should be sat around a table right now working out a deal that’s best for all concerned.
With the amount of these situations which develop year after year in the United States, it is high time that the FCC intervened and created carriage regulations so that transmission systems can’t make it up as the go along, and that the broadcasters must expect to have to pay for carriage.