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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday August 29 2015, @12:04AM   Printer-friendly
from the probably-a-not-sold-out-NFL-game dept.

Update 8pm ET [August 26, 2015]: The blackout ended today following an emergency meeting, as Dish and Sinclair agreed to put the stations back on the air while they continue to negotiate.

"On behalf of more than 5 million consumers nationwide, I am pleased Dish and Sinclair have agreed to end one of the largest blackouts in history and extend their negotiations," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a statement. "The FCC will remain vigilant while the negotiations continue."

Original story:

Dish Network today said its customers are experiencing "the largest blackout in US television history," all because of a money dispute between Dish and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

129 stations in 36 states and Washington, DC, went dark yesterday afternoon, affecting about 5 million Dish customers. Overall, Sinclair owns or operates 153 stations, with 87 of them being "affiliates of the four major broadcast networks—CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox—meaning customers lost access to local and national news programming as well as sports carried by those stations," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Did the growing trend of cord-cutting spur the emergency meeting, or was it the activity happening outside their windows?


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Saturday August 29 2015, @05:49PM

    by Fnord666 (652) on Saturday August 29 2015, @05:49PM (#229484) Homepage

    where ? ? ?

    Well, as a result of this I terminated my Dish service and added digital TV from my ISP. I reduced my monthly bill by $60US and added a couple dozen channels that Dish didn't carry.I also got a current gen DVR in the bargain with 5X as much storage space. YMMV

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  • (Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Tuesday September 01 2015, @11:32PM

    by art guerrilla (3082) on Tuesday September 01 2015, @11:32PM (#231029)

    i appreciate that *you* (and *some* others, mostly in highly urban areas, *although* i am constantly surprised at how many in those areas don't have -effectively- any choice) have some alternative...

    unless you count using a 2400 baud modem as a viable alternative, we have NONE...

    our ISP, is our phone company and is bundled with Dish...
    i am not even sure if it is possible to 'unbundle' them, but i know if you could, it would be prohibitively expensive...

    oh, did i mention we are in the middle of the three closest cell towers and have virtually no cell service ? (outside of using the wifi)
    (frankly, i don't really care about cellyphone svc here, even though we are not *that* far out in the country...)