For those of you threatening to switch to Dish Network...

[Hellstorm1]

... go ahead, but you might want to read this first.

From: http://www.thewrap.com/television/article/fox-sports-networks-pulled-dish-network-dispute-21367

Fox Pulls FX, Nat Geo, Sports Nets Off Dish in Dispute

As the deadline to renegotiate carriage passed without a deal in place, Fox pulled FX, National Geographic and 19 regional sports networks from Dish Network at midnight Friday in a dispute over fees.

In a harshly worded statement, Dish termed Fox's rate increase demands "unprecedented," and the company's senior vice president of programming, Dave Shull, is quoted in the release as saying "Fox has a long history of trying to shake down pay TV providers."

"DISH Network is not going to allow Fox or any programmer to bully our customers into paying such an unconscionable price increase," said Shull.

The move by Fox does not affect Fox News, Fox Business or local stations -- at least for now. Fox's deals with Dish for its broadcast stations expire Nov. 1.

"At midnight on Sept. 30, Dish Network decided to no longer carry Fox Networks cable programming," Fox said in a statement. "The proposal we've offered Dish is fair and in line with the tremendous value we provide. We regret the inconvenience to our viewers, but Dish has asserted its subscribers do not value our channels and has made a decision to go forward without them."

For more information, visit Fox's website at http://getwhatipaidfor.com/

[spacedebris]

Yeah, Fox has been doing that to all providers when it comes time to re-negotiate their contracts. Last year Time Warner had the same issue, and earlier this year Comcast nearly had the same problem. Verizon will be unaffected for a few more years, at least until their current contract expires. Then I expect Fox to do the same to them.

[retiredme]

I was subscribed to Dish some years back when a similar contract dispute happened with CBS. I believe that one made national news. There have been other negotiation miscues as well, but nearly all providers will encounter such instances at some point or other. Dish, I think, may just be particularly stubborn as I remember several "Charlie Chats" (subscriber only, dedicated channel info show put on monthly by CEO Charlie Ergen) in which they explained their reluctance to raise premiums by capitulating to the increases. I may be naive, but I took him at his word that every effort was taken to hold down costs. Eventually a compromise was reached and the CBS family of channels returned in a few days.  Thank you.