CBS Corp. said Tuesday its channels could be taken off the air for Dish Network customers in some large markets if the companies can’t agree on a new contract by Thursday evening. The companies have been negotiating for six months for a new carriage contract, which spells out how much Dish pays for the rights to carry CBS channels and the terms of streaming and other digital rights.
The contract technically expired in late November. But Dish, which offers satellite pay-TV service to 14 million customers nationwide, has been carrying CBS channels in the affected markets after they’ve agreed to two extensions. The second extension, which covered the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, “was the final one,” CBS said. “We would very much like to avoid going dark,” CBS said in a statement. “Unless agreements are reached, however, our viewers should be prepared to lose CBS from their Dish systems on Thursday evening at 7:00 PM/ET.”
To be sure, customers in many Dish markets will continue to get CBS in their channel lineup regardless of the negotiation outcome. The CBS-Dish contract talks affect 14 CBS stations that are owned or operated by CBS Corp., seven CW Network stations and five independent stations. These stations collectively cover 16 markets, including Los Angeles and New York. Showtime and CBS Sports Network also could go dark in some markets, CBS said. CBS Corp. and Warner Bros. Entertainment jointly own the CW Network. CBS Corp. also owns or operates 29 local TV stations. The CBS affiliate stations that are owned by other media companies aren’t affected by the CBS-Dish contract talks.