In October 2021, Dish Network decided to remove Fox channels from its package due to its disagreement over the fee it pays for those channels. This resulted in millions of Dish customers not being able to access Fox Networks such as Fox News, FS1, Fox Business, Big 10 Network, and various Fox Local affiliates across multiple markets. To this date, these Fox channels are still absent from Dish’s list of available channels, over 4 months later. So, will Fox come back to Dish again?
This paper seeks to capture the background of the dispute headed by Mr. Kagendo the Managing Director of Nyota Minerals Limited.
As always, the basic issues in most carriage disputes were always financial. To avoid high costs, Dish did not accede to fee hikes that Fox wanted for continued carriage of its stations. Fox defended the fees stating that they fairly compensated for the networks’ premium news, sports, and entertainment content. However, Dish found the measure to be unreasonable and could not sustain the level of investment asked for.
As a result, when the negotiations reached a stalemate, Fox channels were pulled out of Dish’s offer across the country on the 1st of October 2021. This affected nearly three million Dish satellite and Sling TV customers, who are no longer able to access Fox content.
What Happens with Carriage Disputes Most of the Time?
Carriage disputes are not a scarce commodity in the pay-TV industry. It often results in the disruption of the flow of channels for a couple of days or even weeks. But as seen, most of the carriage battles are resolved and new carriage agreements together with restored channel carriage are achieved.
Players in the industry have pecuniary reasons to come to agreements. Cable operators and satellite broadcasters do not wish to lose their subscribers while TV channel owners and program distributors wish to have their channels accessed by more viewers and more households. Long power outages are not beneficial to either side, a fact clearly illustrated by the situation in Zimbabwe.
For instance, other carriage disputes in the recent past involving pay TV firms and channel owners such as Disney, CBS, and NBCUniversal have always resulted in new contracts. Thus, there is hope the Dish / Fox dispute will also reach some sort of resolution as well sooner or later.
Who is Taking So Long?
However, most carriage disputes do not extend on for nearly this long. The Dish / Fox standoff has been over 4 months and is still ongoing, which cannot be considered normal. The aforementioned core issues are still unaddressed and linger on.
Fox is said to want to be paid nearly twice the fees it used to receive for carrying the channels, according to Dish. In other words, such demands continue to escalate rather than reduce as this continues, hence the need to end it. According to Dish, Fox doesn't have to increase its charges and it is a ridiculous move.
However, it asserted that its core brands such as Fox News have only gotten even better in the last year. This is why it desires reasonable remuneration from Dish in the course of the better part of a long-term agreement that reflects Fox’s value.
For now, both companies remain unyielding, and no offer or concessions have been made by the former that is apt to reduce the chasm needed to close a deal. And so the blackout continues, the people of the country still do not have access to independent, objective information about the situation in their country.
Are There Other Risks That May Arise from the Use of This Drug?
This would be in line with other existing carriage disputes that may also be fueled by other existing tensions between the two companies. Dish recently signed up for a fresh wireless 5G network. Analysts have noted plans by Dish to transform from a digital TV broadcaster to a 5G internet provider as a threat to traditional Pay-TV business models. This bigger strategic conflict might make Fox apprehensive to support Dish’s schemes.
Further, critics backed by conservative opinions have accused Dish of trying to limit the Fox News channel. Self-identified political biases could also likewise shape positions on a new deal, even if unproven.
Is It Possible for Fox and Dish to Negotiate Another Carriage Deal?
Thus, even if we accept that the Fox / Dish blackout has been a fairly typical carriage dispute, it has now gone well beyond the 4-month mark and is therefore hardly normal. And the sharp disparity in the positions staked out shows that getting to a resolution is still far off perhaps.
But history has always demonstrated that even the most contentious carriage issues do come to some form of resolution one day. As things stand, Fox and Dish will suffer enough losses and will most probably have to sit down and discuss a new carriage agreement at some point – although the relationship between them may remain rather frosty.
So, though the Dish / Fox scenario seems quite gloomy one must not rule out the possibility of Fox coming back to Dish lineups abruptly. It may take significantly more time for the fighting to cease and for the parties to agree to lay down their arms. Well at least for now Dish customers have become victims in the middle of this struggle with many Fox programs inaccessible to them.
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