ENGLEWOOD, COLO. & HUNT VALLEY, MD—Dish and Sinclair Broadcast Group today announced they have reached a new, multi-year carriage agreement, ensuring Sinclair's owned 144 local stations, across 86 markets nationwide, will remain on Dish TV, and the Tennis Channel will remain available on Dish TV and Sling TV.
The satellite operator and station group have been at odds over retrans fees since mid-August and both companies traded barbs in the interim. Sinclair’s stations were made available to Dish viewers via short-term extensions during the period.
"We are pleased to have reached a multi-year agreement with Sinclair after months of negotiations," said Brian Neylon, group president, Dish TV. "Sinclair has been a good long-term partner to work with. Both sides have been committed to keeping our customers top of mind and not putting them in the middle of our negotiations. After several contract extensions, we have arrived at a fair agreement that benefits all parties, especially our customers."
William Bell, Sinclair's Head of Distribution & Network Relations commented, "Our agreement with Dish reflects the continued importance that distributors place on local and national broadcast content. We look forward to continuing to provide DISH viewers with the high-quality and highly-desired entertainment, and timely local news that they depend on every day."
Dish is also currently battling with Tegna over the same issue with DISH dropping Tegna’s stations on Oct. 5.
