Dish Files Retrans Complaint on Tegna; Broadcaster Blames Dish
Tegna's proposed retransmission consent agreement with Dish Network is so rife with contradictions that it's "hard or impossible for DISH to ascertain what it is that Tegna demands," the MVPD said in an FCC docket 12-1 complaint Monday alleging violations…
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of good-faith negotiation rules. It said Tegna is engaged in unilateral, take-it-or-leave-it bargaining by not engaging with Dish's offer or correcting the contradictions in its own, and by insisting Dish retransmit and pay for stations not affiliated with the Big Four networks. Tegna said the complaint "is utterly baseless and without merit [and it] welcomes a chance for the FCC to review DISH’s conduct over the course of this negotiation." It said Dish has used "consistently unproductive tactics and public misrepresentations" in its talks, and the MVPD is "short-changing their customers by serially dropping valued stations." Tegna said it made a proposal to Dish months ago and has modified it numerous times, including a rate cut, but Dish "refused to counter." Backing Dish, the American TV Alliance emailed that Tegna and other broadcasters "have been charging customers egregiously high fees for local programming for nearly two decades." The blackout of stations on Dish's lineup in more than 50 markets went into its 12th day Monday (see 2110060038).