Dish Network and the cable industry are joining forces to oppose the start date of the NAB’s proposed retransmission-consent “quiet period” around the digital TV transition, Multichannel News reports. Dish and cable operators are concerned about the Feb. 4 start date for the quiet period because many retransmission-consent carriage deals expire Dec. 31, the newspaper says. This has caused worry that disputes that extend past Feb. 3 would not be suspended under the quiet period, resulting in distributors not having the rights to bring back TV stations that are withholding their signals come Feb. 4, the newspaper notes.
—Vlada Gelman