Dish Network doesn't seem to mind that it is facing multiple contract issues with its programmers. Last month, CNN and Cartoon dropped off the channel line-up and now they have a possible CBS drop on their hands. But to keep laying it on, the rest of the Turner Networks, TBS and TNT in particular, are also set to be turned off. For Dish subscribers, the loss of a cable network is a nuisance, the loss of a broadcaster is a headache.
With carriage of pro football games, rating dominant prime time programs, and more, CBS can create a major headache for Dish just as it did in its negotiations with Time Warner Cable in Los Angeles. That drop caused a large number of subscribers to drop their cable service for another provider. Could a CBS drop on Dish cause the same significant subscriber loss?
Yes, these programmer - cable distributor boxing matches seem to happen every year. A network's contract expires, the signal goes dark on the line-up, consumers complain, and eventually, after a PR blitz, the service is restored, and the cycle starts again for another programmer. A sorrowful process that continues to repeat. As for the subscriber, we become numb in the process and eventually figure out that no matter where we end up, the same type of fight will emerge on that distributor. Another reason consumers are dropping their cable cord altogether and seeking content over the top.
