CNN Anchors United?

Most of the coverage of the Amazon/Hachette situation seems to imply that contractual disputes between companies are unique.

They are not.

Currently, Dish Network is involved in a similar dispute with Turner Broadcasting.

Turner Broadcasting, which licenses the channels for distribution to subscription services, pulled the channels from Dish’s lineup upon the expiration of its current deal with the satellite service after the two companies were unable to negotiate renewed distribution terms. Other channels removed from Dish include Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN en Espanol, Headline News, and truTV.

Dish, which has about 14 million subscribers, said the channels were removed after Turner refused to extend the current agreement.

“In the past year, Dish has successfully renewed agreements with many large content providers,” Warren Schlichting, Dish senior vice president of programming, said in a statement. “As a result, we are confident that we have offered a deal to Turner that reflects an appropriate value for our customers.” See the full story here.

 

Sound familiar? The same basic situation occurred between The Weather Channel and DirecTV.

The Weather Channel had earlier indicated that it was seeking a 1 cent per-subscriber increase in fees. The channel currently receives an average of 13 cents per subscriber per month from pay TV distributors, according to data from market research firm SNL Kagan.

However, the Weather Channel agreed to reduce the amount of reality TV programming it carries, an issue cited by the satellite TV provider when it pulled the channel from its lineup in January.  See the full story here.

Imagine what would happen if Amazon attempted to control the content of Hachette books! I think it would look something like this:  Frustration

Businesses negotiate and renegotiate deals all the time. The Amazon/Hachette debate is not abnormal. Let’s keep some perspective.