Defiant Dish Could Be Losing Leverage

NHL, NBA Starts Undermine Ergen’s Strategy In Fox Standoff

By Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 10/11/2010 12:01:00 AM

Fox Networks’ carriage dispute with Dish Network entered its seventh day last week with sometimes controversial media analyst Richard Greenfield joining the fray, warning that with the professional hockey and basketball seasons starting soon, the satellite giant’s leverage in negotiations could be quickly eroding.

As Greenfield, of BTIG, said, the National Hockey League was scheduled to begin its season Oct. 7 and the National Basketball Association season tips off Oct. 26. As part of its carriage dispute with Dish, Fox removed 19 regional sports networks, FX and National Geographic Channel from the satellite-TV lineup on Oct. 1.

Greenfield also pointed out a potential source of embarrassment: Dish is the official TV provider of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, whose games are aired over Fox Sports Midwest, a regional network not available on Dish, as part of the dispute.

‘SWITCH. SCORE.’
Adding to the embarrassment is that the Blues have adorned their arena — Scottrade Center in St. Louis — with a banner urging fans to switch to Dish Network. “

Just imagine walking up to the Scottrade Center for the first St. Louis Blues game this Saturday night and seeing the huge Dish ad plastered on the side of the building saying ‘Switch. Save. Score! Dish — The Official TV Provider of the St. Louis Blues’ with Fox Sports Midwest currently unavailable to Dish subs,” Greenfield wrote.

Dish’s sports problems don’t end with Fox. The No. 2 satellite- TV distributor also is feuding with Madison Square Garden Network, which airs New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils NHL games and New York Knicks National Basketball Association games. MSG and MSG Plus have been unavailable to Dish customers since Oct. 1 as well.

So far, Dish has claimed that Fox’s demands for carriage-fee increases are exorbitant (which Fox denies) and says it will not give in to bullying tactics.

“Look, it would be easy for us to cave into Fox demands, but that would result in fewer choices and higher prices for you,” Dish chairman Charlie Ergen said in a video message to subscribers.

During the Fox “lockout,” he said, Dish is making 20 additional channels available to customers at no charge, including NFL Network and NHL Network.

If the Fox dispute continues, Greenfield pointed out, Dish’s sports drought will only get worse next month, when its carriage agreement with Fox broadcasting expires. Fox TV stations in 19 markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia, would be affected. If those stations go off the air, Dish customers risk losing National Football League games and Games 5 through 7 (if necessary) of Major League Baseball’s World Series.

Greenfield seemed puzzled at Dish’s strategy in these negotiations. Ergen’s outfit is struggling to add subscribers in a weak economy and has never carried the New York-based RSN YES Network, owned by baseball’s Yankees.

MONTH OF LOSSES
“While you might say Ergen will have to cave in by the time the local broadcast agreement comes up, what’s the benefit of going dark for four weeks and losing subs, only to ultimately pay Fox what they are demanding,” Greenfield said in a note. “We can only presume he is prepared to be dark for the long haul.”

Fox also had a high-profile skirmish with Time Warner Cable in January. Coming up, retransmission agreements between Fox-owned WNYW (Fox) and WWOR (MyNetworkTV) in the New York metropolitan area with Cablevision Systems expire on Oct. 15.