Univision channels blocked from Dish, companies blame each other
The standoff is bad news for Spanish-language viewers.
A standoff between Dish and Univision may last indefinitely, leaving US Spanish-language viewers in the dark.
Over the weekend, Univision networks and stations disappeared from Dish. Both companies blame each other for the outage.
On Monday, New York-based Univision said in a release that Dish dropped most of Univision's networks and stations from its streaming service indefinitely on Saturday. The removal of its channels followed Colorado-based Dish's rejection of a Univision offer to an extend an existing contract, the network said.
Earlier, Dish disputed that account, saying Univision was trying to gain leverage in a contract dispute by withholding its programming.
Univision is attempting to increase the rate it charges Dish by roughly 75 percent, Dish said on Saturday. The Spanish-language network blocked Dish users' access to its flagship Univision network, as well as its Galavision and UniMás channels, Dish said. Univision also blocked Dish's Sling users from accessing all Univision channels, it said.
"Univision's attempted price hikes target Hispanics despite the fact that fewer members of our community are watching Univision," Alfredo Rodríguez Diaz-Marta, vice president of DishLATINO and Sling Latino, said in a release. "We call on Univision to return its signal to Dish, DishLATINO and Sling TV customers as soon as possible."
Univision said additional affected stations include Univision Deportes Network, El Rey Network, TLNovelas and Foro TV.
"Despite the success of our programming with its customers, Dish insists on paying Univision only a fraction of what it pays our English-language peers, including some with far fewer viewers," Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, vice president of corporate affairs at Univision, said in the release.
"We stand by ready to find a path forward when Dish is ready to truly negotiate," said Bobby Amirshahi, senior vice president of corporate communications at Univision, in an email statement.
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