Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) and Turner Broadcasting announced detent in their bitter carriage standoff that saw CNN disappear from the satellite operator's program guide for a month, and also threatened to pull TNT and TBS from the service.
"Dish Network and Turner Broadcasting announced today that they have mutually decided to restore service of CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, truTV, TCM, HLN, CNN en Espanol and Boomerang, and extend the carriage of TBS and TNT. Dish and Turner will not have any further comment," reads a Turner statement.
Individuals close to the negotiations say the extension will keep the Turner channels on Dish for several more months while a longterm renewal agreement is negotiated.
Turner's extension came just about 18 hours after CBS released its own terse statement, indicating the broadcaster had agreed to temporarily extend its carriage agreement with Dish so that renewal negotiations could continue. Twenty-nine CBS-owned stations in 17 markets, as well as cable channels CBS Sports and Showtime, were set to go dark on Dish Thursday.
Dish is also at impasse with Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) on the carriage renewal of several regional sports networks.
The Turner renewal comes after Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen took out a rhetorical flame-thrower earlier this month during his company's third-quarter earnings call, telling investors he wasn't sure CNN would ever come back to Dish.
"When we take something down, we're prepared to take it down forever," Ergen said. "We would prefer to get a deal done. We have a time frame we look at, but if we don't have a deal, we might make a long-term decision to go another direction."
Related links:
CBS gives 'short term extension' to Dish; satellite operator now in showdown with Comcast Sports, too
Two front war for Dish: TNT and TBS set to go dark Dec. 5
With Ergen, Turner finds out it's better to be lucky than a good longtime programming partner
Turner says it's disappointed, bewildered by Dish assault
Ergen: OTT service on track for this year, Turner channels may not come to Dish