U.S. Representatives weigh in on weeks-long Dish-Univision spat
U.S. Representatives are now weighing in on the programming rights fee battle between Dish Network Corp. and Univision.
Univision programming was pulled from the Douglas County company's (Nasdaq: DISH) satellite offerings, and its Sling TV service, two weeks ago, as the two companies wrangle over Univision's rights fees.
Now, two Hispanic U.S. Representatives have weighed in on the tiff on Univision's behalf.
U.S. Representatives are now weighing in on the programming rights fee battle between Dish Network Corp. and Univision.
Univision programming was pulled from the Douglas County company's (Nasdaq: DISH) satellite offerings, and its Sling TV service, two weeks ago, as the two companies wrangle over Univision's rights fees.
Now, two Hispanic U.S. Representatives have weighed in on the tiff on Univision's behalf.
"Univision channels were blocked from Dish, which is needed programming for the Spanish-speaking communities in my District. An agreement must be made to protect diversity in television," said Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y., in a statement.
"I encourage Dish and Univision to continue to negotiate and come to an agreement. The Hispanic community in South Texas, and across the country, rely on Univision for news, weather, and day-to-day information," said Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, in a statement.
"The community has not been silent about the need to get Univision networks back on Dish services. Leaders and advocates for Hispanic America are speaking out on Dish rejecting our extension offer and taking our networks off its platforms," Univision officials said.
Not surprisingly, Dish officials put the blame on the dispute clearly in Univision's court.
"Univision walked away from the negotiation table June 29 and has not countered Dish's latest proposal. ... Univision continues to demand rate increases of roughly 75 percent despite ratings declines of approximately 30 percent. Proposed Univision rate hikes would cover years of mismanagement, layoffs and failure to invest in top programming ... Over the past two years, Univision has aggressively blocked more Latino viewers from news, sports and information than any other Spanish-language programmer in its disputes with AT&T, Verizon, Charter and now Dish," Dish officials said in a statement.
The latest Dish programming tiff was back in November, when CBS programming was yanked from Dish customers for three days.
And Dish had a much longer programming fee fight back in 2016, when it was involved in a rights fee battle that kept Tribune Broadcasting Co. programming off of Dish for almost three months.