Dish Network blacks out CNN, Cartoon Network and other Turner Broadcasting channels

"Dish Network has been in a dispute with Turner Broadcasting, owner of channels like CNN and Cartoon Network, over the terms for a renewed contract.

The result: Dish Network dropped the Time Warner affiliate from their list of channels, according to Time.

This battle is just one of many for Dish Network, as they try to alter their traditional pay-TV programming to fit a changing generation.

Variety reports that the pay-TV service is seeing a drastic drop in business, leading them to look into a new service model, one that would allow customers to stream their services to digital devices via the internet. This would bee Dish's way of competing with cheap services like Netflix, which offer college students and young people who don’t live in one place all year long to access the same TV service, no matter their location.

The targeted price for the package, which would only include channels that are most-watched, is to be between $20 and $30.

Dish Network has already signed several contracts under the deal, including one with Disney. The dropped contract with Turner suggests that they might not be on board just yet, but Dish Network is determined to offer their customers a cheaper alternative to the age-old pay-TV.

“In the past year, DISH has successfully renewed agreements with many large content providers,” Dish Network said in a statement. “As a result, we are confident that we have offered a deal to Turner that reflects an appropriate value for our customers.”

Turner Broadcasting does not seem to agree that they are to blame for the black out, however. The company released a statement saying, “Turner has worked diligently for months to come to a fair agreement including multiple extensions and compromises, and it’s unfortunate that Dish is once again operating in a disruptive manner that takes away networks and programming from their customers.”

Despite the current black out, both companies are hopeful to strike a deal that will please both sides and return Turner to Dish Network’s list of offered channels.

image of Ted Turner courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com"

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.