Dish Network and Tribune Media said they have ended their months-long retransmission consent dispute, with 42 stations in 33 markets and cable network WGN America returning to Dish customers Saturday.
Tribune pulled the signals for the stations on June 13. Dish had complained that Tribune was asking for exorbitant rate increases and was forcing the satellite TV service provider to carry WGN America across its footprint. Tribune claimed it was merely asking for fair compensation for its content.
In a joint statement, Dish and Tribune said: “We want to thank our viewers and customers for their patience and support as we worked through this lengthy process. We’re pleased to move forward and again be able to provide the content of Tribune’s local stations and WGN America for years to come.”
Both WGN America and Tribune’s local stations are expected to again be available to Dish customers later today (Sept. 3). Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
In a memo to employees, Tribune Media CEO Peter Liguori thanked is staff for their hard work in hammering out a deal.
“While the specifics of the agreement are confidential, we’re pleased with its terms and believe we achieved everything we had hoped to, including broad distribution for WGN America,” Liguori said in the memo. “The timing is great, too, with college and NFL football about to get the regular season underway, new fall prime-time programming set to debut in a few weeks, and “Salem” returning for its third season on WGN America.
