Dish has say in ABC Family dispute

Dish Network has issued a statement in regards to ABC Family and ESPN Classic

biz.yahoo.com/bw/020102/20189_1.html (http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020102/20189_1.html)

Scott

Ok now let me comment on this, first off I have NO PROBLEM with them dropping ESPN Classic its contract was up and the price they wanted was to much.

But here are some quotes from the above article. that I do have a problem with.

``The fact of the matter is that ABC Family is not the channel we bargained for in 1995, when it was controlled by Pat Robertson. Since then, it has changed hands twice, first to Fox and now to Disney,'' said Michael Schwimmer, vice president of Programming at EchoStar.

``We strongly believe we have the right to determine who we do business with and the general makeup of the content. In 1995, we did not bargain for repurposed programming from ABC that we would pay twice for and which our viewers may have already seen on another Disney-owned channel. When it comes to protecting our customers, we refuse to be bullied.''

Here is where I have a problem. its this whining about the channel. As we all know things change and the Family Channel has changed, but it was Dish network who signed this 10 year contract for the Family Channel. I am sure Pat Robinson did not hold a gun to Charlies head to make him sign the deal! Charlie signed the dotted line and now he should have to wait the time!

Again ever since they announced that they were dropping the channel each time they talked about it to the public of the press there was a different reason on why they are dropping it.

We heard they were dropping it because of:
a) Poor Ratings (Its the 13th ranked Cable Network!)
b) The Cost (the price of this channel was not going up)
c) To make room for must carry stations (Boy dropping one channel would have freed up a lot of bandwidth (not!)
d) And now they are saying they dont like the content!

And then Michael Schwimmer makes this comment which totaly goes against much of their premium channel sales tactics!!!

"we did not bargain for repurposed programming from ABC that we would pay twice for and which our viewers may have already seen on another Disney-owned channel."

Give me a break, isn't this the selling point for the HBO multiplex? 8 Channels all showing the same movies just at different times? I realize that some of these channels have themes but still they are all showing the same re runs! The same goes for Showtime.

I myself like the idea that if I missed a show on the ABC network I have the chance to see it again on ABC family.

Many folks this past New Years day tuned in and saw Alais on ABC family, most have never heard or saw this show before but now they love it!

I am just guessing here but maybe the real reason Charlie does not like the Family Channel is because in sticking with the Family theme of the channel he can't run his advertisements for ENER EX or BLUSAUNT.

Is Disney an evil company? Yes they are I have no doubt in saying that however in this instance Dish is trying to get out of something because they thought they could predict the future 10 years down the road. Well they guessed wrong and now they want out.

To Dish Network I say swallow the pill and let ABC Family stay, when its contract renewal time for this channel then have your way. You signed on the dotted line Dish and now you must give Family there time.

Scott

Thanks to Alias being mentioned in here and in the DBSForums, I got to tune in what people were raving about and I love Alias so much that its my #1 Season Pass on my DirecTivo (I have 25 Season Passes total).

Amen Scott! Although I am still hoping that somewhere down the line that the two can come together to once again provide us ESPN Classic.

Unfortunately the E*/ESPN Classic issue may not be resolved and may provide all of us an example of things to come ie the issues between two companies causing subscribers to lose(loss of channels with no replacement or decrease in programming costs). J

Charlie has a 10 year contract with an escape clause and can/should use that clause to control costs or gain leverage. That is why the lawyers put the clause in the contract. Yes he knew what he was getting into when he signed the 10 year contract - a contract that he could escape from if the channel was sold.

I have not seen or heard anything about a true escape clause in this contract.

I am sure if there was one that Dish would be making mention of this as it is a big trump card.

Why are they not playing this card? If they did it would be game over for Disney. Something does not add up here.

Scott

The escape clause gets mentioned in almost every article I read. What disney is saying is that this new channel should be grandfathered under the current Disney contract.
Look at these articles, the clause is mentioned in both:
money.cnn.com/2002/01/01/...hostar_re/ (http://money.cnn.com/2002/01/01/companies/wires/echostar_re/)
biz.yahoo.com/rf/011231/n31298003_3.html (http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/011231/n31298003_3.html)

Instead of starting another thread about ABC Family, Id thought Id share this article with you all here. Its from Slate Magazine.

slate.msn.com/?id=2060308 (http://slate.msn.com/?id=2060308)

This is just like DISH, isn't it? They fail to provide many popular channels because Charlie is greedy (like IFC, We, ESPN Classic, and if Charlie had got his way - ABC Family). What's next to go:

Disney?
ESPN or ESPN2?
Lifetime?
MTV?
Nickelodeon?
CNN?
VH1?
M2?
TV Land?
Noggin?
Toon Disney?
Cartoon Network?
CNN Headline?

Not implying DISH is even thinking about dropping these, just saying that if we don't prevent this from happening, they'll just keep getting worse in the kind of stunts they pull.

Personally I wouldnt mind if Lifetime or LMN went ;)

Steve

biz.yahoo.com/ts/020103/k...20103.html (http://biz.yahoo.com/ts/020103/kansas_020103.html)

Another thing there that I have not seen brought up here on DBStalk.COM (And if it has I am sorry!) is that Dish has taken away from the customer but has not given us anything in return.

I did not recieve a notice in the mail staing that my Everything pack price would go down because I not longer have the channels I once did. Dish should offer a discounted rate or add some channels to make up for the loss.

If Dish is TRUELY doing this for the consumer then why is the consumer the one ultimately getting screwed over?

Scott