MASN and NBC Regional Sports Networks removed from DISH TV, SLING TV

MASN and NBC Regional Sports Networks removed from DISH TV, SLING TV | Dish

-- DISH proposes new model that is fair to both customers and station owners

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., April 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MASN and NBC Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) were removed from DISH TV and SLING TV last night, affecting access in 10 states and Washington D.C. With this removal, DISH TV customers will no longer have access to the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), and DISH TV and SLING TV customers will no longer have access to NBC Sports Washington, NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California.

"The current RSN model is fundamentally broken," said Brian Neylon, Group President, DISH TV. "This model requires nearly all customers to pay for RSNs when only a small percentage of customers actually watch them. As the cost of these channels continues to escalate, we no longer think it makes sense to include them in our TV lineup."

MASN and NBC RSNs are demanding rates that would be passed on to nearly every customer, whether they watch RSNs or not. This inequitable model has become antiquated due to the rise of a la carte viewing options and specialized streaming services.

"Our proposal to offer sports fans access to RSNs is simple, and provides choice and value to all of our customers," added Neylon. "It would allow DISH TV and SLING TV customers to choose to subscribe to the RSN channels they want — such as the regional MASN and NBC sports networks — on an a la carte basis, similar to premium subscription channels. With this updated RSN model, no customer would be forced to pay for content they don't watch, and the RSNs would determine the price customers would pay for their channels."

DISH has made this consumer-friendly proposal to MASN and NBC, but they have been unwilling to accept, choosing instead to continue with the old, broken model. DISH continues to remain open to working with the RSNs to offer sports content in a way that provides choice and value to all customers.

DISH customers can visit DISHPromise.com for more information.

About DISH
DISH Network Corporation is a connectivity company. Since 1980, it has served as a disruptive force, driving innovation and value on behalf of consumers. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides television entertainment and award-winning technology to millions of customers with its satellite DISH TV and streaming SLING TV services. In 2020, the company became a nationwide U.S. wireless carrier through the acquisition of Boost Mobile. DISH continues to innovate in wireless, building the nation's first cloud-native, Open RAN-based 5G broadband network. DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) is a Fortune 250 company.

 

DISH has taken that stand against non-RSNs. While RSNs affect 5-10% of subscribers the other groups affect more subscribers.

 

Getting to the point of allowing a long term outage (and not accepting whatever offer the content provider makes to avoid losing channels) *IS* taking a stand. DISH has done that with many content providers leaving the channels off for as long as it takes to get a mutually acceptable deal. Not counting resolved disputes ignores a long history of seeking a better deal.

The majority of recent disputes are with station groups, Sinclair, Wiegel, etc that own many local TV stations across the country. Those stations cannot be sold a la carte - if carried they must be sold as a package with the other local TV stations in each market. (DISH and DIRECTV cannot sell local stations with Sinclair stations separately from local stations without Sinclair. The end subscriber never has the choice of dropping individual expensive locals in their market. But DISH does give the option to drop ALL local stations.)

DISH's introduction of the "Flex Packs" a few years ago allows customers to opt in and out of groups of channels without buying every tier below the channel they want. There are also several channels that are available in higher tiers that can be purchased separately from the tier (a version of a la carte). It is a good answer for content providers who want their channels moved from AT250 to AT200 (gaining more subscribers) where DISH doesn't want to force their AT200 subscribers to pay for those channels. Those who want the channel can pay for it a la carte without buying all channels in the higher tier.

As for HBO ... DISH agreed to the price AT&T offered but did not agree with AT&T's demand for a minimum number of subscribers. So DISH let that group go. While HBO and Cinemax were a la carte for most subscribers (included in America's Everything Package) the demand by AT&T for a minimum number of subscribers would have led to DISH paying for subscribers who did not want the content.

Most content less popular than RSNs has left DISH. Cheap channels have managed to find a home regardless of popularity. RSNs are in a position where they are low in popularity and high in price. If they return to DISH it will be in conjunction with more popular programming. ALL carriage agreements are a compromise with each party getting the best deal they can not the deal they want.

 

DISH has a package that is "locals only" for $15 ... but it is not sold separately. It is sold as a core package for people who want add ons / a la carte without subscribing to a regular package. With locals sold for $12 per month the $15 locals only core isn't going to pay for their infrastructure costs. $20 might.

Per channel a la carte is a good fit for an RSN. With Altitude DISH made the offer for Altitude to set a price and DISH would simply pass through the payments without markup for a la carte. Altitude declined. Charging for subscribers who don't watch is a major part of the RSN pricing scheme. It is also a major part of non-RSN channel pricing but at a lower per subscriber cost for most channels.

 

I was thinking that the "Locals Only (Core)" was used as a base for the Internationals packages when people wanted International channels but not a regular AT package. Thank you for the correction.