We work hard to keep you connected to your favorite content. You expect the best for your entertainment dollar and we’re here to help deliver the value and quality you deserve.
We know that you have a lot of choices when it comes to TV service, so we work hard to provide the best experience at a great value. Network costs are the largest part of your TV bill, so we negotiate with Networks to get the channels you want at a fair price – to keep your bill as low as possible. So, what exactly goes into doing this?
We hope you stay because we negotiate on your behalf to give you the Networks you want at
a fair price. Even on those rare occasions when Networks do pull their signal, they’re usually dark for only a short period of time.
Networks do this to try to get you to switch providers and get us to agree to their demands,
and they do this with every TV provider: there were 8 blackouts in 2010 and that number jumped to over 100 in 2021*.
When disputes happen, it can be frustrating but know that we’re always fighting hard to keep your costs at a reasonable price.
*Includes digital subchannels. © 2022 American Television Alliance. All rights reserved.
January 2022
Block Communications pulled 7 stations from DISH when they couldn’t come to an agreement on rising costs.
December 2021
DISH dropped NESN because, “The current Regional Sports Network model is fundamentally broken…and we no longer think it makes sense to include them in our TV lineup.”
December 2021
18 Disney-owned channels such as ESPN and ABC were removed from YouTube TV because they wouldn’t agree to high fees.
December 2021
Tegna cut the signal to Verizon customers when Verizon wouldn’t agree to an, “unacceptable rate increase of almost 50%…”
October 2021
TEGNA withheld the signals to 64 stations from DISH’s customers for 4 months when they couldn’t come to an agreement over a rate increase.
October 2021
DISH lost the AT&T RSNs for over 3 months, blaming the ‘broken’ RSN model that forces all customers to pay for RSNs when only a small number actually watch them.
December 2020
Sinclair pulled the signals to 23 CBS stations for over two months when Hulu wouldn’t agree to a large rate increase.
October 2020
Hulu dropped YES and all of the FOX RSNs after the end of the MLB season due to very high fees.
October 2020
Due to the, “rising cost of sports content”, YouTube stopped carrying YES and all of the FOX RSNs.
We know that you have a lot of choices when it comes to TV service, so we work hard to provide the best TV experience at a great value. Network costs are the largest part of your TV bill, so we negotiate with Networks to get the channels you want at a fair price – to keep your bill as low as possible. So, what exactly goes into doing this?
A large part of your bill is the ever-increasing fees that the Networks demand to allow you to view their channels, and each channel charges a monthly fee per customer. We negotiate dozens of contracts each year, most of which go smoothly. But sometimes a Network will demand a big increase in its fees, which we think is unfair to you. In these cases, it’s our responsibility to take a stand to help protect you from excessive increases in your monthly bill. This is typically when a Network will black out its channel to try to get you to force us to pay more.
When disputes happen, it can be frustrating but know that we’re always fighting hard to keep your costs at a reasonable price.