Dish loses HBO channels in AT&T dispute
Dish Network customers, including those who subscribe to SlingTV, have lost access to HBO channels and Cinemax — months after AT&T gained control of HBO’s parent company — in the television industry’s latest escalation of hardball negotiations over carriage fees.
The dispute marks the first blackout of HBO channels. HBO, which includes such programs as “Game of Thrones” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” has long maintained amicable relations with its distribution partners because it relies on them to help market its channels, including Cinemax.
The channels were pulled early Thursday when the carriage contract expired.
Dish Network, based in Englewood, Colo., blamed the blackout on AT&T’s takeover of HBO and other Time Warner properties, which was completed in June. HBO, meanwhile, accused Dish of offering unreasonable proposals, saying that has become a “negotiating tactic” for the satellite TV provider.
AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner in a $85 billion merger transformed the Dallas-based phone company into one of the world’s largest entertainment firms. AT&T also owns DirecTV, which is Dish’s largest competitor. The U.S. Justice Department tried to block the AT&T-Time Warner merger — a deal President Donald Trump also opposed. During a trial, Dish executives testified against AT&T, saying the merger would be anti-competitive.
But in June, a federal judge in Washington ruled in AT&T’s favor, allowing the merger to proceed. Two months later, the Justice Department appealed the ruling. The blackout could give the government ammunition against AT&T.
Programmers have long grumbled about DirecTV’s negotiating style.