Dish Network responded to Tegna’s cross-complaint — and its response to Dish’s earlier legal action — as “meritless and riddled with mischaracterizations and falsehoods.”
Satellite-TV provider Dish and Tegna are locked in a retransmission consent battle that has left millions of Dish subscribers without access to the programming on Tegna’s stations since Oct. 6.
Dish filed a suit charging that Tegna was violating the Federal Communications Commission’s “good faith” rules on Oct. 18. Tegna responded Friday and filed its own suit.
In a statement, Dish claims that Tegna failed to include key information about its own conduct. It said Tegna chose not to provide a response to Dish’s economic proposal for nearly six weeks.
“When Tegna did respond, it proposed rates that were significantly out of line with competitive marketplace considerations,” Dish said.
“We are disappointed that Tegna continues to turn its back on its public interest obligations and refuses to engage in good faith retransmission consent negotiations with Dish. Tegna’s conduct only serves to harm consumers,” Dish said.
In its statement, Dish said it will respond to Tegna’s answer and cross-complaint at the FCC in the coming weeks.
