Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen didn't offer much hope
of a reconciliation with AMC Networks, telling analysts on a conference call
this afternoon that although he may lose some customers for dropping the
channel, most won't notice.
"Our customers are not looking at zombies in New York
City," Ergen said on the call, referring to the AMC hit The Walking Dead.
"They live on farms and ranches."
Dish
dropped AMC Networks, including AMC, IFC, WeTV and Sundance Channel, on
June 30 after it could not reach a carriage agreement with the networks. Ergen
has long complained that AMC Networks is demanding too high a price for
carriage and criticized the channels in the past for making its content
available for free online.
AMC has countered that Dish
dropped the networks in retaliation for a $2.5
billion lawsuit filed by the former Voom HD networks, now housed within
AMC, for breach of contract. That trial is scheduled to begin in September.
