CBS, Dish Agree to Extension

In what seems to be a sign that the two parties are getting closer to reaching an agreement, CBS has agreed to a short term extension of its current carriage agreement with Dish Network as it continues to try to hammer out a deal.

Neither side would provide details — CBS only issued a terse statement that it has agreed to a short term extension. But according to sources familiar with both companies, CBS’ carriage deal — which also includes cable channels Showtime and CBS Sports Network — was set to expire Thursday night and the extension is until the afternoon/evening of Tuesday, Nov. 25.

CBS fired the first salvo in the negotiations on Nov. 17, telling Dish customers that they might lose access to its popular network programming like The Big Bang Theory and NFL and college football if a deal wasn’t reached. It turned up the heat on Nov. 18, claiming that Dish was “dragging its heels” in negotiations and was willing to drop the networks.

For the full story go to Multichannel.com.