This story has been updated with new information.
DISH Network television customers in several Michigan markets have been disconnected from Gray Media-owned stations amid a dispute between the two companies.
DISH Network and Gray Media failed to reach an agreement on transmission renewal on Tuesday, March 10, leading DISH users to lose access to Gray Media stations. Gray-owned stations across the country posted messages on social media and their websites saying DISH had dropped their stations. DISH Network blamed Gray Media for the blackout in a March 10 news release.
In the Upper Peninsula, DISH customers were disconnected from WLUC TV6, the Negaunee-based NBC affiliate serving the Marquette area, on March 10, the station said.
Mid-Michigan DISH customers lost access to two Gray Media-owned stations on March 10, WNEM TV5, a Saginaw-based CBS affiliate station, and WILX-TV 10, a Lansing-based NBC affiliate, according to the stations.
Southeast Michigan DISH customers lost access to 13abc, a Toledo, Ohio-based ABC affiliate serving the area, that became unavailable March 10, the station said.
Here’s what to know about the DISH Network and Gray Media dispute in Michigan.
What happened between DISH Network and Gray Media?
DISH Network and Gray Media failed to reach an agreement on transmission renewal, leading DISH viewers nationwide to lose access to Gray Media-owned channels, including in Michigan.
What are the companies saying?
Gray says it is the nation’s largest owner of “top-rated local television stations and digital assets serving 113 full-power television markets.”
Gray-owned stations across the country posted messages on social media and their websites saying DISH had dropped their stations, and the company later in the day issued a statement on the decision.
“Gray’s track record for fair and reasonable distribution negotiations is undisputed in the industry. Gray has never had its signals dropped by a satellite operator, and its last multimarket cable system dispute lasted just a few days over a decade ago,” the company said in a release.
“Dish’s action follows the parties spending several months negotiating and nearly reaching agreement on rates, tenure and all other customary terms in a standard new distribution agreement. It also follows weeks of Dish operating under extensions of the companies’ prior distribution agreement that Gray provided to prevent Dish from removing Gray’s signals to its paying customers during the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics, NBA All-Star Game, and numerous breaking news emergencies occurring in many of Gray’s local markets over the past several weeks,” the release added.
“To the great surprise and disappointment of Gray’s leadership, Dish insisted that Gray agree to a materially adverse provision in the new agreement that is unlike any provision in any distribution agreement with Gray’s roughly 400 other distribution partners, and, to Gray’s knowledge, unprecedented in the several decade history of the pay-TV industry across any cable or DBS operator and any broadcaster. Because this new demand from Dish has no precedent in history, it is flatly inconsistent with marketplace conditions in clear violation of Dish’s federal statutory obligation to negotiate retransmission in good faith,” the company said.
In a release, DISH Network blamed Gray Media for the blackout.
“Following Gray Media’s decision to black out its local stations from the DISH TV lineup, 226 channels in 113 markets are currently unavailable to DISH customers. Gray Media chose to disconnect these stations — which provide critical local news, sports, and weather — after DISH refused to accept unreasonable rate increases that would have raised monthly bills for consumers,” the company said.
“Gray Media is utilizing its market dominance to demand ‘retransmission consent’ fee hikes that are disconnected from the reality of declining viewership and the availability of free and low-cost streaming alternatives,” DISH claims. “Gray Media also introduced ‘last-minute’ demands regarding stations they don’t yet own, stalling negotiations just hours before expiration.”
What Michigan channels are impacted?
In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, WLUC TV6, a Negaunee-based NBC affiliate serving the Marquette area, is no longer available to DISH Network customers, the station said.
In mid-Michigan, DISH Network customers lost access to WNEM TV5, a Saginaw-based CBS affiliate station, and WILX-TV 10, a Lansing-based NBC affiliate, both owned by Gray Media, the stations said.
Toledo, Ohio’s 13abc, an ABC affiliate serving southeast Michigan viewers and owned by Gray Media, is now also unavailable to DISH customers, per the station.
The affected stations said “DISH has often disrupted access to local television stations in recent years, but viewers have options through other services,” and advised DISH customers to contact the company requesting the return of the stations.
What is Gray Media?
Gray Media is a multimedia company based in Atlanta, according to its website. The company serves 113 television markets throughout the U.S.
What is DISH Network?
DISH Network is a satellite television company based in Englewood, Colorado serving millions of viewers nationwide, its website says.
Lansing State Journal editor Dan Basso contributed.
Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan TV stations dropped from DISH. What’s happening?
Reporting by Jenna Prestininzi and Dan Basso, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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