Following DirecTV’s announcement that it would give subscribers a discount if they decide they don’t want their local TV stations as part of their pay-TV package, Dish Network said it has been offering consumers the same option for seven years.
The offers come at a time when satellite providers are losing subscribers to cord-cutting. In looking for ways to offer a more consumer-friendly price. Dish and DirecTV said subscribers who opt out of receiving their local stations would save $12 a month. Dish offers a 50-plus-channel base tier called a Flex Pack for $62.99 that can be supplemented with other packs of channels, including a local-stations package for $12.
DirecTV publicized its “no locals” offer in response to often contentious retransmission-consent negotiations that can lead to blackouts that anger customers. In January, Tegna stations returned to DirecTV lineups after a six-week absence because of a contract impasse.
Subscribers opting out of network-affiliated stations would also lose satellite access to national programming from ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.
“In light of recent news regarding DirecTV's introduction of its new opt-out feature for local channels, it's important to highlight that Dish has been offering this capability to customers for the last seven years,“ Dish said. ”Dish firmly believes in empowering its subscribers with the ability to customize their viewing experience according to their preferences.”
Viewers also can add their own over-the-air antenna to the Hopper digital video recorder and record local or network shows using the program guide, Dish noted.
DirecTV’s announcement left some people who follow the TV business scratching their heads to see how they could make such an offer without violating the law or their contracts with programmers.
One industry source noted that while Dish has offered an opt-out to subscribers for years, there has been a lack of demand and it has had minimal impact on the distribution of local stations.
While customers can opt out, some broadcasters have clauses in their contract guaranteeing a certain level of penetration, which means that at a certain point, even if subscribers no longer receive the stations, the satellite operator still has to pay retransmission consent fees.
Without the stations, DirecTV and Dish cannot distribute network programming, but some network programming is available outside the satellite platform via streaming apps.
