The battle between Dish Network and Spanish-language programmer Univision has escalated quickly.
A day after Univision accused Dish of ignoring its request for a short-term extension to their program licensing deal, Dish put out a statement trashing the programmer’s ratings.
More than 60 Univision owned and operated stations, as well as cable channels including Galavision, went dark on the Dish-owned pay TV platforms.
Dish put out a spreadsheet today indicating that despite Univision’s claims that its flagship network is the third most watched channel in any language, the operator’s set-top data actually shows that it’s the 12th most watched channel.
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“Univision continues to demand rate increases of roughly 75 percent despite ratings declines of approximately 30 percent,” Dish said in a statement today. “The ball remains in Univision’s court. Univision walked away from the negotiation table June 29 and has not countered DISH’s latest proposal. Univision blocked DISH, DishLATINO and Sling TV customers June 30.”
As is typical in these kinds of programming disputes, Univision said it was Dish that broke off talks.
“This blackout was unnecessary, and Dish’s refusal to consider a short-term extension is unacceptable,” said Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, Univision’s executive VP, government and corporate affairs, in a statement. “We offered an extension to ensure negotiations did not interfere with our service of the Hispanic communities that rely on critical news from Univision. Dish apparently did not share our concern and chose not to put its Hispanic customers first.”