Gray, Dish locked in retransmission battle with both sides calling foul

Gray Media stations are currently unavailable to Dish subscribers after the two companies were unable to reach a retransmission agreement.

The blackout affects 226 channels in 113 markets. Viewers in those markets will be unable to watch locally-produced or syndicated programming or network-level content stations may air. 

As usual, both sides are pointing fingers at the other. Gray says that Dish is making unreasonable demands and violating the legal requirement that it negotiate in good faith. Instead, Gray alleges, Dish is requiring it to agree to a provision that is “unlike any provision in any distribution agreement with Gray’s roughly 400 other distribution partners.”

The company did not provide more details about the alleged provision, and specific information about retransmission agreements is typically kept confidential.

“Gray’s track record for fair and reasonable distribution negotiations is undisputed in the industry. Gray has never had its signals dropped by a satellite operator, and its last multimarket cable system dispute lasted just a few days over a decade ago,” the company said in a statement. 

Gray’s statement also claims that Dish has been “publicizing false and defamatory allegations about this dispute” but did not provide details. 

Dish, on the other hand, asserts that Gray is using its “market dominance” to request fees that are “disconnected from the reality of declining viewership and the availability of free and low-cost streaming alternatives.”

“It is deeply disappointing that Gray Media is using its viewers as bargaining chips,” said Kevin Covell, senior vice president of Dish Video Services, in a statement. “We offered a fair agreement to keep these stations on the air, but Gray Media walked away. Gray Media chose to black out their own viewers, rather than reasonably negotiate, in an attempt to extract significantly higher fees.”

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Dish’s statement notes the company remains willing to negotiate and that it is “fighting to keep monthly costs stable by resisting significant rate increases for content that is often available for free elsewhere.”