Dish Files FCC Complaint On Sinclair Broadcast

(RTTNews) - DISH Network (DISH) said Saturday that it filed a Verified Retransmission Complaint asserting that in direct violation of Federal Communications Commission or FCC rules mandated by the STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014 or STELAR, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. (SBGI) is refusing to negotiate with DISH for retransmission consent for Sinclair's stations unless DISH also agrees to allow Sinclair to negotiate for 32 stations that Sinclair does not control and are in the same markets as Sinclair stations.

The retransmission consent contract between DISH and Sinclair expires tonight at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

DISH also charged that in violation of FCC regulation, Sinclair has assumed a unilateral stance to its negotiations, including the refusal of a contract extension so the parties can explore alternative paths toward an agreement.

DISH and Sinclair have been making steady progress in their recent negotiations, and DISH was hopeful that mutual agreement would be reached to renew carriage of the Sinclair local stations in due course.

In that spirit, DISH said it offered a short-term contract extension to Sinclair that would include a retroactive "true-up" when new rates were agreed upon, and would preserve the ability of DISH customers to access the Sinclair local stations while negotiations continued. The "true-up" would ensure that Sinclair was made whole at the new rates for the period of the contract extension.

Instead of accepting DISH's good faith offer, Sinclair is threatening the largest local channel blackout in retransmission consent history, which would block DISH customers' access to 153 local channels in 79 markets. Rather than negotiating in good faith as required by law, it is clear from these actions that Sinclair is seeking to intentionally harm and exploit millions of innocent consumers to gain negotiating leverage, DISH said.

DISH asked the FCC to immediately grant preliminary injunctive relief while the Commission considers the complaint, and to require Sinclair to negotiate in good faith for the stations for which it has control under FCC rules.