Dish Network and LIN Media announced Sunday that they reached a retransmission consent agreement to restore local TV channels in 17 markets, after a standoff that resulted in an eight-day blackout for the satellite provider's customers.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The stations went dark March 5 after LIN and the No. 2 satellite TV provider failed to reach a deal.
"We are pleased that our negotiations with Dish Network resulted in a fair resolution and a new retransmission consent agreement," LIN president and CEO Vincent Sadusky said in a statement. "We thank our viewers and our advertisers for their tremendous support."
In its own statement Dish said, "Dish Network is pleased to have reached a deal with LIN Media that restored local TV channels to customers in 17 markets. We sincerely appreciate the patience our customers have shown during this time. We will continue to work hard to offer more choices and the lowest everyday prices in the industry."
The spat flared up after the Federal Communications Commission's unanimous March 3 vote proposing changes to retrans-consent oversight rules that, among other things, would provide more guidance on good-faith negotiation requirements.
The stations covered under the deal are: KASA and KRQE (Albuquerque, N.M.); KXAN and KNVA (Austin, Tex.); WIVB and WNLO (Buffalo, N.Y.); WWHO (Columbus, Ohio); WDTN and WBDT (Dayton, Ohio); WANE (Ft. Wayne, Ind.); WOOD and WOTV (Grand Rapids, Mich.); WLUK (Green Bay, Wis.); WISH and WNDY (Indianapolis); WLFI (Lafayette, La.); WALA and WFNA (Mobile, Ala.); WTNH and WCTX (Hartford-New Haven, Conn.); WAVY and WVBT (Norfolk, Va.); WPRI and WNAC (Providence, R.I.); WWLP (Springfield, Mass.); WTHI (Terre Haute, Ind.); and WUPW (Toledo, Ohio).
The two companies previously reached a retrans deal in 2008. Dish had 14.1 million satellite TV customers as of the end of 2010.
