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Dish Dumps Disney Nets in Carriage Conflict

Jun 22, 2010  •  Post A Comment

Disney Channel HD, Disney XD HD, ABC Family HD and ESPNews HD have been dropped by the Dish Network in a conflict with parent company Disney over carriage fees, reports Multichannel News. Dish contends that Disney has requested significant fees for those four HD channels.

According to the article, Dish Network media relations said, in a statement, "Dish Network offers all customers ‘HD Free for Life,’ which is possible because we are committed to negotiating fair contracts that allow us to keep our prices low. That is why we could not agree to the significant fees requested by Disney and ESPN Networks for the HD feeds of Disney East, Disney XD, ESPNews and ABC Family."

In response, Disney issued this statement, the article said: "The recent New York State Court ruling confirms our position that Dish Network is not entitled to carry ABC Family HD, Disney Channel HD, Disney XD HD and ESPNews HD without paying compensation. We hope that Dish will work with us to reach an agreement so that we can make these HD networks available to their customers." 

12 Comments

  1. Except for ESPNews HD, 95%+ of the content on all of those channels is SD anyway.
    Amazingly, even when other pay networks such as Starz! show Disney movies in HD, Disney Channel HD will still show a 4:3 pan & scan version.
    Aside from HD Gilmore Girls repeats on ABC Family HD, there’s no great loss here.

  2. I hope DISH sticks to their guns. The Bigger cable nets have been pushing the cable providers around for quite sometime now. With exception of the kids programming, you may not see much of a fuss from those that pay their bills. Besides, most kids will just flip over to NICK to be entertained.

  3. Not true, Bill…at least for Disney. All of their Playhouse Disney (educational programming suitable for the 4-and-under crowd, of which I have two) is in 1080i glory, as is much of their afternoon offering. I canceled Dish over this move. It’s not the first time they’ve played games with my channels, but it’s the first time they’ve played the game with my kids’ channels. That won’t stand. I’ve never had as many issues with any other utility provider…ever…nor has any other customer service been as horrid as the Dish Network. I’ll happily pay an extra $30/month to my local cable provider.

  4. TVaholic – Nick programming is neither wholesome, nor educational, as Disney’s ‘Playhouse Disney’ lineup is. As I mentioned to Bill, too, it’s about more than just this one move. I’ve suffered thru multiple channel blackouts over the last year with Dish, and this time I’m done. I honestly hope more people follow.

  5. I have the TurboHD Bronze package (now called Dish America). Disney was the #1 channel that my family uses as I have 3 children under 4 years of age. Now I am left without any good kids programming short of PBS. Since I have Dish America, I do not receive the SD version of Disney so I am dead in the water and quite upset. How can a company rob a channel (actually 2 channels in my case) from my lineup and not compensate me for it?!

  6. While I am not a huge fan of satalite providers (I work for a cable company)I think is good that they are standing up to Disney and Espn. The networks charge a very heafty for us (cable or satalite) to be able to carry them. The companies then need to pass that charge on to you. Call Disney and Espn and tell them you are tired of them raising your rates, they are the ones making the most money off of you (us).

  7. Zune and iPod: Most people compare the Zune to the Touch, but after seeing how slim and surprisingly small and light it is, I consider it to be a rather unique hybrid that combines qualities of both the Touch and the Nano. It’s very colorful and lovely OLED screen is slightly smaller than the touch screen, but the player itself feels quite a bit smaller and lighter. It weighs about 2/3 as much, and is noticeably smaller in width and height, while being just a hair thicker.

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  10. Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.

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