Dish Network and Sling TV dropped several Fox channels this afternoon, including Fox’ owned-and-operated broadcast stations, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network and Fox Deportes. The move, coming early in the college football and NFL seasons and just before the MLB playoffs, is a risky one for the satellite distributor. Fox said in a statement: “Dish/Sling is at it again, choosing to drop leading programming as a negotiating tactic regardless of the impact on its own customers. Dish/Sling elected to drop Fox networks in an effort to coerce us to agree to outrageous demands. While we regret this is Dish/Sling’s preferred approach to negotiating, we remind our loyal viewers that the Fox services are widely available through every other major television provider.”
Dish said Fox was charging a "double-digit percentage rate increase for continued carriage of its local channels." Dish Senior VP/Programming Andy LeCuyer: “Fox' actions are profoundly anti-consumer. Fox is raising prices and turning its back on its public obligation to provide channels to consumers for free. It’s clear that Fox cares more about padding its bottom line than serving its viewers. To add insult to injury, Fox pulled its channels right as viewers head into the heart of the NFL and college football season.”
