Dish, Schurz Avoid Blackout

Retrans agreement covers stations in six cities

By Mike Farrell, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/21/2012 10:10:53 AM

Dish Network and Schurz Communications avoided a blackout of the broadcasters' stations in six cities, reaching a retransmission consent agreement just minutes before their old pact was set to expire.

Schurz stations KTUU (NBC) in Anchorage, Alaska; KY3 (NBC), KCZ (The CW) and KSPR (ABC) in Springfield, Mo.; WDBJ (CBS) in Roanoke, Va,; WSBT (CBS) in South Bend, Ind.; WAGT (NBC) in Augusta, Ga.; and KWCH (CBS) and KSCW (The CW) in Wichita, Kan., were scheduled to go dark at midnight on Dec. 21. Earlier, Dish had said Schurz was demanding a five-fold rate increase and a surcharge for its ad-skipping DVR service Auto Hop.

Schurz said on its corporate website that "terms of the agreement are still being hammered out, but both sides have agreed to keep stations on Dish to avoid any disruption to consumers."

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