Minutes after Dish Network pleaded with Hearst Television to end its two-week retransmission consent squabble by giving it the same deal as a larger competitor, the broadcaster announced a radio and print ad campaign to set the record straight, complete with a countdown clock on its websites for those customers who have forgotten the duration of the impasse.
Hearst Television pulled the signal of its 33 broadcast stations in 26 markets from Dish customers on March 3 after the two could not reach a retransmission consent deal. The blackout has entered its second week, a milestone that Dish acknowledged earlier Friday with its own plea to resolve the dispute by giving the satellite TV service provider the same deal as rival DirecTV.
On the same day, Hearst announced that it has begun radio and newspaper campaigns in select markets -- with plans to roll out radio advertising in additional markets -- and has launched a “countdown clock” on its stations’ websites to track the expanding duration of the impasse.
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