WTAE lost DISH Network in latest disagreement

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In the latest re-transmission showdown between a TV station owners group and a subscription carriage service, WTAE-TV on Friday was no longer available to DISH Network subscribers along with Hearst-owned stations in 25 other TV markets.

Channel 4 ran crawls earlier this week about this potential impasse. Hearst says it gave DISH a 48-hour extension that expired Friday when the service disruption began. DISH channels impacted locally are Channel 4, Channel 6477 and Channel 8130.

Although WTAE was not available Friday to DISH customers, the station’s signal continued to be available via other satellite/cable companies and over the air.

A similar issue faced DirecTV customers in January after negotiations passed deadline and WTAE was off DirecTV for about a week. In this latest issue, an agreement could be reached at any time and Dish could return on WTAE.

WTAE and DISH issued dueling statements about the disruption.

“While we had hoped to conclude our negotiations before the extended March 3rd deadline, DISH has continued to insist on including material terms that are less favorable than our current agreement,” stated WTAE general manager Charles W. Wolfertz III. “In addition, Hearst Television has made significant investments to deliver top quality programming to our viewers, and DISH is seeking the right to carry our stations at below market rates, which is neither fair nor reasonable.”

DISH issued a statement saying Hearst was responsible for its stations being removed from the satellite service.

“The broadcaster has used the move to gain deal leverage as it seeks abovemarket rate increases nearly double the current DISH rate, and other unreasonable demands,” the DISH statement reads. “Hearst has also refused DISH’s offer to match the rates paid by other pay-TV providers.”