Pay TV battle turning bitter; no agreement reached

[March 05, 2011]  PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- No agreement has been reached in the battle over pay TV fees that Dish Network would pay TV station owner Lin TV Corp. to retransmit signals of 27 stations.

The deadline came and went at 2 a.m. EST Saturday without a resolution.

Dish Network Corp.'s Dave Shull, senior vice president of programming, said in a statement afterward that Lin pulled its channels down at midnight, "holding viewers in 17 markets ... hostage" as a way to coerce Dish to submit to Lin's demands. He said Lin did not try to reach an agreement in the final hours.

But Lin CEO Vincent Sadusky said the company only wants what is fair to its stations. He said Lin would continue to negotiate to reach an agreement.

Neither side has said how many subscribers would be affected. Lin stations are affiliates of CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC and the CW in 17 cities including Indianapolis, Providence, R.I., and Buffalo, N.Y.

Lin is based in Providence. Dish Network Corp. is headquartered in Englewood, Colo.

[Associated Press]

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