Sports programmer One World Sports said it’s not going to extend its five-year carriage agreement with Dish Network and Sling TV.
The decision, the Stamford, Conn.-based multi-platform programmer said, is “largely driven by Dish’s desire for certain (most favored nations) provisions, which limit a network’s ability to expand in a rapidly changing marketplace.
“Regrettably,” One World Sports added in its statement, “Dish declined an extension, and we were forced to make the difficult decision to discontinue carriage with Dish at this time.”
One World said it wants carriage in a domestic sports package and in HD across all of its platforms, “rather than continue to be packaged as an ethnic channel, and in SD.”
Responding to Deadline Hollywood, the satellite operator said it blacked out One World, not the other way around.
“Dish constantly evaluates the content we carry and we work to provide channels that our customers’ demand,” Dish said in a statement. “As a result, sometimes channels are removed based on a combination of customer interest and business terms to carry the channels. For these reasons, One World Sports was removed from the Dish platform.”
Dish recently carved out a new deal with the NFL to carry the NFL Network and RedZone on its traditional and IP-based platforms. But the company remains mired in a protracted standoff with Tribune Media. And skirmishes with smaller program suppliers like One World Sports keep popping up.
After Dish reported losses of 281,000 customers in the second quarter, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said the operator’s “steady stream” of retrans battles and carriage wars has resulted in the loss of 7.5 percent of its subscriber base in just one year.
"Leaving aside the merits of either side's arguments about right and wrong, what is clear is that Dish's steady stream of programming disputes are having an increasingly obvious impact on the subscriber metrics of the core satellite business," Moffett said in an investor memo, shortly after Dish reported its second-quarter earnings.
For more:
Related articles:
Dish ends blackout with NFL Network with multi-year carriage deal
Dish uses Senate hearings to blast broadcasters over blackouts
Dish's 'steady stream' of carriage wars has reduced customer base by 7.5% in 1 year, analyst says