The Graham Media Group stations continue to air for Dish subscribers past the July 22 deadline as the two parties aim to hash out a new deal. The Graham website savemychannel.com reads, “Good News! A deal is near–stay tuned for updates.”
The Graham stations are KPRC Houston, WDIV Detroit, KSAT San Antonio, WKMG Orlando and WJXT Jacksonville. WPLG Miami is also part of the retrans negotiations, though it had been sold by Graham.
Emily Barr, president and CEO of the Graham Media Group stations, was optimistic in a conversation with B&C.
"We hope that we will have the remaining issues settled in a matter of days," she said. "We've been working real hard."
Barr noted that Graham, as the former Post-Newsweek stations are known, has never been shut down due to a retrans conflict.
The WDIV site has a quote from Marla Drutz, VP and general manager, posted on the evening of July 22:
“We are very pleased to announce that today we have made substantial progress in our negotiations with Dish, and because of that, we will continue to work diligently toward a final agreement. In the meantime, if you are a current Dish subscriber, you will continue to see all of your favorite news and entertainment shows airing on Local 4 and NBC.”
A Dish spokesperson did not comment.
