ONE Network Contract Not Renewed
Dish Network and Sling subscribers will lose their access to ONE World Sports as Dish failed to renew their contract with the network recently. Reports suggest that Dish Network demanded for “most favored nation” status in their five-year carriage deal, but the demand was unacceptable for ONE World Sports. This disagreement between the two companies resulted in the blackout of the sports channel, and Dish and Sling Subscribers will not be able to access ONE World Sports from today onward.
ONE World stated that the reason why the object against MFN provisions is because they “limit a network’s ability to expand in a rapidly changing marketplace. With an insistence on MFN terms that were imbalanced relative to the network’s carriage, our preference was to provide another in a series of short-term extensions while we worked through a new agreement reflecting our limited availability to Dish subscribers. Regrettably, Dish declined an extension.”
In reply to that, Dish Network stated, “We constantly evaluate the content we carry and we work to provide channels that our customers’ demand. As a result, sometimes channels are removed based on a combination of customer interest and business terms to carry the channels. For these reasons, One World Sports was removed from the Dish platform.”
ONE World Sports Unavailable
Reports also reveal that ONE World wanted different terms in the renewal agreement. They wanted to include their domestic sports package in HD instead of standard versions on all Dish and Sling platforms. Analysts suggest that this might also be the reason for dispute between the two companies.
In another statement, ONE World said, “It is our desire for the network to have carriage on Dish with packaging consistent with, and in a format, where fans look for live sports content. While we know this is the best business decision for our network, we deeply regret how this may impact our viewers and their ability to watch all the exciting programming slated for September.”
The exclusive coverage of college football games is scheduled to start from Sept 17 on ONE World Sports. In addition to this, North American Soccer League (NASL) games are also broadcasted on this channel. So, if Dish fails to come to terms soon, subscribers would end up with not getting the telecast.
