Dish Network and its virtual MVPD Sling TV have proposed a pricing model where customers can choose only the regional sports networks they want.
Under current models, RSNs are added to existing programming packages and often carry additional fees for all subscribers. Dish’s à la carte proposal – which comes during the satellite provider’s latest channel blackout – would potentially upend that model by letting customers decide and letting RSNs set the rates.
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and NBC RSNs were removed from Dish TV and Sling TV last night, which affects subscribers in 10 states and Washington D.C. Dish TV customers will no longer have access to MASN, and Dish TV and Sling TV customers will no longer have access to NBC Sports Washington, NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California.
Dish said it pitched its revised RSN model to MASN and NBC Sports but they were unwilling to accept.
RELATED: Dish teams with DraftKings to enable sports betting on Hopper STBs
"The current RSN model is fundamentally broken," said Brian Neylon, group president for Dish TV, in a statement. "This model requires nearly all customers to pay for RSNs when only a small percentage of customers actually watch them. As the cost of these channels continues to escalate, we no longer think it makes sense to include them in our TV lineup."
A spokesperson for the NBC Regional Sports Networks said the channels were offered for continued distribution on fair market terms but that Dish and Sling declined those terms and dropped the networks.
The standoff between Dish, Sling, MASN and NBC unfolds as Sinclair’s Marquee Sports Network – the television home for the Chicago Cubs – reached a new distribution agreement with vMVPD fuboTV. The service said that after the channel is added in the coming weeks, customers in certain areas will be subject to a regional sports fee of up to $6 per month.