The long-standing contractual disagreement between CBS and Dish Network has led to the removal of CBS from Dish Network as a channel partner since November 2022. This means Dish contract customers can no longer view CBS broadcast stations, along with CBS-operated cable networks including CBS Sports Network. Thus, one has to ask why this happened and what such a turn of events portends.
The Carriage Dispute
In essence, it is a controversy over how this company should compensate CBS for the distribution of its content on Dish Network. Pay-TV operators require programs such as NFL and ‘60 Minutes’ which CBS as one of the major networks in the US broadcasts. However, due to poor subscriber base Dish has been in a position to resist fee hike demands from owners of content such as CBS among others.
Previous contracts for carriage had expired in November and the two companies failed to agree on a new contract. CBS demanded that Dish compensate it for allowing it to broadcast its 14 owned and affiliated stations, CBS Sports Network, Smithsonian Channel, and The CW among others. Dish rejected fee increases at the wrong time when it was still struggling with its satellite TV subscription business.
This led to CBS removing its signals from Dish and Sling TV, meaning more than 3 million subscribers could no longer watch prime-time CBS shows.
Who's Impacted
The blackout is for Dish satellite TV customers in 101 markets in the US as well as the Sling TV national live-streaming broadband customers. This is a great loss to many American households as per the new season it means no CBS programming means no AFC games on Sundays. Dish customers also had no access to other sports that aired on CBS such as college football from the SEC and PGA tour golf.
Furthermore, some of the major CBS programs include 60 Minutes, Survivor, NCIS, Young Sheldon, and others that were interrupted mid-season. Since CBS is the most-watched broadcast network in the nation overall, the choices are now significantly scarcer for Dish consumers.
The rub that it all boils down to is that Dish has significantly fewer than 60 million subscribers for advertisers to target. CBS also suffers lost retransmission consent fees that Dish would pay for reduced viewership, and thus advertising revenues.
No End in Sight
On the current state of affairs, it can be observed that there is no sign of a CBS & Dish deal shortly as both continue to stand their ground.
CBS issued the following statement: “Dish remains in its stubbornness to offer terms operating way below the fair market value, they are not willing to negotiate at all We would like to negotiate a fair multi-year deal with Dish, just like in the case of the other providers.”
Meanwhile, Dish countered in their statement: CBS wants to charge Dish customers for programs that have lost viewership for the past couple of years. “We made an effort to negotiate with CBS for fair terms that would not harm the nearly 3 million Dish TV consumers, to no avail.”
This standoff could persist for months unless one side decides to back down or give in. Unfortunately, this puts Dish customers in a situation where they no longer have access to their favorite CBS shows, and there are no other choices available unless they want to switch to another cable provider.
The Aftermath
Such protracted network blackouts are indicative of the escalating pressures seen in the conventional pay TV sector. With the continuing trend of people shedding their cable subscriptions because of the increasing programming prices, companies like Dish are faced with over-inflated TV bundles. However, a similar problem is relevant to other broadcasters, such as CBS, due to the reduction of ratings across network television.
In the end, Dish subscribers suffer the consequence of these conflicts in terms of increased tariffs and limited channel options. And these carriage fights only appear to be set to intensify in the years to come as the traditional cable and satellite industry struggles with shrinking viewership. As for whether the CBS blackout is going to be sorted out at any point soon, it’s probably safe to say it’s not going to be the last time that programming will vanish from Dish Network.
Ready to upgrade your TV experience? Call us now at (877) 471-4808 to find the perfect Dish Network plan for you! Don’t miss out on great entertainment—our team is here to help you choose the best package and get you started today.