Dish Looks To Get Out From Under ESPN Fees Due To No Live Sports

Dish Network is "picking a fight with Disney over the millions of dollars it pays for ESPN programming at a time when there are no sporting events," according to Josh Kosman of the N.Y. POST. A source said that Dish "wants to wiggle out" of the $80-100M fees it is "supposed to pay ESPN for April broadcasting rights." The source added that the fees are "due at the end of the month and Dish has told ESPN that it plans to use that money instead to lower the monthly bills of its roughly 12 million subscribers." A source said that ESPN has "rebuffed the request ... but it’s unclear whether it will be able to enforce the payment." Disney already has "furloughed tens of thousands of park workers and implemented pay cuts for executives," while ESPN has "cut executive pay by 20 to 30 percent and has asked 100 of its highest-paid commentators to accept 15 percent pay cuts over the next three months" (N.Y. POST, 4/29).