*Dish Sues NBC for Contract Breach. Satellite Company Asks For Arbitration in Carriage Negotiations*
*3/15/2016 3:00 PM Eastern By: Mike FarrellMultichannel News* http://www.multichannel.com/news/satellite/dish-sues-nbc-contract-breach/403338 In a sign that its retrans talks with NBC Universal aren’t going as smoothly it would like, Dish Network said it has filed a lawsuit against the programmer, alleging breach of contract. In a statement, Dish said NBC’s public statements over the past 24 hours are in violation of its agreement with the programmer, prompting the suit. "Dish has successfully negotiated agreements representing numerous networks in recent months that benefit all parties, including our viewers,” Dish said in a statement. “Dish’s goal is to reach a mutually beneficial deal with NBC.” Dish said it is also seeking arbitration, which it says would prevent NBC from pulling its signal while negotiations were ongoing. "Under the conditions imposed by the FCC and Department of Justice in approving the Comcast-NBCUniversal merger, NBC is forbidden from blacking out its networks if a pay-TV provider chooses, in its sole discretion, to exercise its right for binding arbitration,” Dish said in a statement. “Regulators implemented these conditions to prevent Comcast and NBC from harming consumers and competition.” "In the event of arbitration, affected programming would remain available during that process, and for the foreseeable future," Dish continued. NBC has been notifying Dish customers that they could lose access to the network’s programming if a carriage deal isn’t reached by its contract deadline of March 20. The negotiations involve 10 NBC and 16 Telemundo owned and operated stations as well as cable networks like USA, Syfy, Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC. A representative from NBC was not immediately available Tuesday, but on Monday said it was surprised about Dish's stance. “We are disappointed that Dish would deny its subscribers access to valuable programming on NBC, Telemundo, USA, Syfy, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC and more," NBC said in a statement Monday. "NBCUniversal has the most-watched portfolio in the U.S. and on Dish systems, including the #1 broadcast network, the #1 cable entertainment network, and NBCUniversal is #1 in news and late night television.”
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