Dish Network May Lose Two Major Disney-Owned Channels

Dish Network-owned Blockbuster Video may have made an appearance in the Disney-distributed mega-hit Captain Marvel, but that does not mean everything is hunky-dory between the two companies. According to a Deadline report, both FX and the National Geographic channel, recently acquired by Disney as part of their acquisition of 20th Century Fox assets, may be blacked out for Dish subscribers as part of a dispute over pricing between the two entertainment giants.

The existing contract between Dish and the two former Fox properties ended in July, but Dish and Disney worked out an extension that ends at midnight ET/9 p.m. PT today. Going public with these disputes typically puts the carrier at a disadvantage, as users are more likely to have loyalty to the content creator who is responsible for the shows they love, rather than a cable company — since even the best of them don’t enjoy huge popularity with their customers. Both the conflict itself and the content provider’s decision to appeal to the fans directly is nothing new.

“Our contract with Dish for the FX and National Geographic networks is due to expire soon, so we have a responsibility to make our viewers aware of the potential loss of our programming. However, we remain fully committed to reaching a deal and are hopeful we can do so,” Disney informed fans in a statement.

“Our goal is to keep these channels available to our customers,” Dish and Sling TV responded in a statement of their own. “Disney, the new owner of these channels, decided to involve customers in the contract negotiation process at a point when there is still time for the two parties to reach a mutually beneficial deal.”

The Sinclair Broadcast Group and Dish have been embroiled in a feud for some time, with Sinclair networks (including The CW, home to various DC Comics TV series, in some markets) blacked out on Dish. Both Univision and HBO have gone dark on Dish for extended periods of time during similar disputes. In 2017, fans were enraged by The Walking Dead — then at the height of its popularity — being yanked from Dish when the carrier could not come to a deal with AMC. The network successfully pinned the blame on Dish with fans, partially through a series of viral ads, and ultimately the outage was short-lived.

Market disruptions like the advent of Dish-owned Sling as well as Hulu TV and YouTube TV have weakened cable carriers’ positions in negotiation since there are numerous alternate routes to monetizing content for networks that didn’t used to exist.

This is the latest aggressive move by Disney, including the purchases of Fox and Hulu and their decision to sever ties with Sony following a dispuate over the Spider-Man license.