Dish agrees to pay a cash settlement of $700 million to AMC Networks and Cablevision, and enters into a new multi-year agreement to carry AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel and WE tv.
- Oct 22, 2012
AceShowbiz - Dish's subscribers can now breathe a sigh of relief for their favorite AMC shows will return. After months of black out, the satellite broadcaster has reached a settlement with AMC Networks and Cablevision by agreeing to pay both cable channels $700 million.
Under the agreement, Dish also enters into a new multi-year agreement to air the channels comprising of AMC Networks, including AMC, IFC, Sundance and WE tv. $80 million of the cash settlement is intended for the purchase of Cablevision's multichannel video and data distribution service (MVDDS) licenses in 45 cities in the U.S.
Dave Shull, senior vice president of programming at Dish, states, "We are glad to have settled the case and reestablished our long-term relationships with AMC Networks and Cablevision." He adds, "This multi-year deal delivers a fair value for both parties and includes digital expansion opportunities for AMC Networks' programming."
Dish says it will resume airing AMC channel Sunday, October 21, just in time for the second episode of "The Walking Dead" season 3. Other AMC Networks programming and The Madison Square Garden Company's music-oriented Fuse channel will begin broadcast November 1.
The lawsuit was filed by Voom HD Networks, a subsidiary of Cablevision, after Dish stopped distributing the channels in 2008. Dish blacked out AMC's networks starting in July, with AMC claiming that Dish dropped its channels to gain negotiating leverage in the Voom case. Dish, however, stated that the black out was due to an increasing licensing fee that AMC was seeking.
