When will Dish customers regain local CBS, NBC and FOX channels as blackout drags on?
Local TV giant Nexstar pulled dozens of local TV stations from Dish Network customers three weeks ago amid a battle between the two companies.
The blackout, one of the largest in history, includes 12 stations in the Carolinas. With the holidays quickly approaching, many people will be spending more time at home, probably indoors, watching TV. College football playoff season is just around the corner, as well.
But all is not lost, there are other ways to make sure you don’t miss the big game or your favorite TV show.
Here’s what channels are affected.
South Carolina
- WCBD (NBC), Charleston
- WCBDD (CW), Charleston
- WSPA (CBS), Greenville-Spartanburg
- WYCW (CW), Greenville-Spartanburg
- WBTW (CBS), Myrtle Beach
North Carolina
- WJZY (FOX), Charlotte
- WMYT (MNT), Charlotte
- WNCT (CBS), Greenville
- WNCTD (CW), Greenville
- WGHP (FOX), Greensboro
- WNCN (CBS), Raleigh-Durham
In the land before time (i.e., before major TV providers existed), Americans useantennas to get their local channels. Well, congrats, they still work! Some TVs come with them built in, but they can also be easily found at electronics stores (or online, but ordering anything this week may be tough).
Antennas run anywhere from $20 to more than $100, depending on the quality and the range you are looking for. Before buying one, look up where your local stations broadcast from and buy an antenna fitting that range. For example, if the broadcast is 60 miles away, it’s probably best to get an 80-100 mile range antenna. (Note, the location of the broadcast and the address of the station building are not always the same.)
Why were the channels taken down?
Nexstar is in a dispute with Dish Network over fees it wants to charge for providing access to the local TV stations it owns around the country.
The contract between the two companies expired Dec. 2. That day, Nexstar pulled 164 channels across 42 states from Dish Network, affecting more than 5 million Dish customers.
“Nexstar is demanding more than $1 billion in fees for its television channels. This shocking increase is the highest we’ve ever seen,” Dish TV President Brian Neylon said in a news release on Thanksgiving. “Nexstar is intentionally turning its back on its public interest obligation and instead demanding consumers pay significantly more for the channels they could receive for free over-the-air.”
Nexstar is no stranger to local TV blackouts. It fought AT&T last summer, resulting in an eight-week blackout for DirecTV, U-verse and AT&T TV customers.
Dish also regularly ends up in contract disputes with local TV companies and earlier this year battled Cox Media, which owns WSOC (ABC) in Charlotte. The Cox Media blackout for Dish customers lasted four months before being resolved last week, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported.
“Dish is refusing to reach a new distribution agreement allowing the satellite television behemoth the right to continue airing Nexstar’s highly-rated programming,” Nexstar said in a statement on Dec. 2.
Nexstar became the largest local TV owner in the country in 2019.
“Dish continues to propose rates that are less than fair market value for the broadcast network and local market programming content carried by Nexstar’s television stations,” Nexstar said of its decision to pull its stations.
When will the blackout end?
TV blackouts can last anywhere from a few days to several months.
Other than lost revenue and pressure from customers, there’s nothing forcing the two companies to come to an agreement.
However, Dish recently began sending letters directly to individual Nexstar stations asking if they would consider going around their parent company and granting Dish permission to begin broadcasting again.
Dish sent one such letter WBTW-CBS in Myrtle Beach, on Friday. WBTW is the oldest station in the Pee Dee region.
“As someone who undoubtedly shares our passion for serving consumers, I understand how frustrating it is that we have yet to come to terms on our retransmission agreement with WBTW,” wrote Andy LeCuyer, a senior vice president for Dish Network. “We want to provide WBTW to our customers in your area and would do so today if we could. But as you likely know, by law, we cannot without consent from your station.”
LeCuyer mentioned how if the blackout did not end, Myrtle Beach and Florence viewers would be unable to two NFL games currently scheduled to air on WBTW that Sunday. The channel has yet to come back online.
Dish spokeswoman Carolina Krause said the company also sent letters WCBD, NBC in Charleston, and WSPA, CBS in Greenville.
“Unfortunately, they have not responded, and Nexstar continues to slow their negotiations by delaying responses to our proposals,” Krause said in an email. “They’re doing this around the holidays when, more than ever, Americans need access to local news, sports and entertainment. We hope Nexstar will return to the negotiation table. We are ready to work day and night to reach an agreement that is fair for all parties, but most importantly, for our customers.”
Both sides have accused the other of putting roadblocks in contract negotiations by being slow to respond to the other companies proposals.
Nexstar said it has not yet heard from any of its stations about being contacted individually by Dish.
WBTW has not yet provided separate access to Dish outside of an agreement to Nexstar.
“Our negotiations aren’t going as quickly as we would like, due largely to Dish’s inability to respond quickly to the multiple proposals we have made during the last two-plus weeks, including one on Saturday,” Nexstar’s chief communications officer Gary Weitman said in an email. “Dish is fully aware that retransmission negotiations are handled by Nexstar’s distribution team ... not the individual General Managers of our local TV stations. Rather than engaging in public relations stunts, Dish would better serve its subscribers by engaging in meaningful negotiations to restore our local stations to their programming line-up.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comment from Dish Network.
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 12:01 PM.
