UNDATED (WHTC-AM/FM) – Viewers of 164 stations in 115 markets nationwide are being used as pawns in another negotiation conflict among media titans.
On Wednesday evening, Texas-based Nexstar Media Group will pull its television stations, including WOOD in Grand Rapids, out of Colorado-based DISH Network, claiming that the satellite provider has not been bargaining in good faith since July. DISH officials counter that Nexstar “is trying to strong-arm companies … to pay outrageous rates and force unprecedented increases onto customers.”
Ruth Gaudard of AT&T, whose company has had its share of similar programming pricing disputes in the past, says that viewers are caught in the middle. “People do still want their local stations that are affiliated with major networks,” she said on “WHTC Talk of the Town” during a recent appearance. “It’s not a good situation for a network or a provider or a customer when (blackouts) happen, but they do happen. It’s because everybody’s costs are going up, while subscriber counts are going down because people are streaming.”
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