• Multichannel News, Monday, October 4, 2010 12:21 AM

Fox pulled a number of cable channels and regional sports networks from Dish Network Oct. 1 as the deadline passed without a carriage agreement, possibly setting the tone for a much nastier retransmission consent fight for Fox broadcasting stations next month. As expected, Fox pulled FX, National Geographic Channel and 19 regional sports networks from Dish subscribers.

The main impasse, per usual carriage fights, appears to be over rates. Dish claims that Fox is asking for a more than 50% increase in carriage fees for the networks (which Fox disputes), a boost that the satellite carrier believes is unwarranted. Meantime, Dish is making the various channels available to its customers at no additional charge while the dispute lasts, including: HD Net Movies, HD Theater, NBA TV, New England Sports Network, NFL Network, NHL Network, Altitude Sports, Big Ten Network, Comcast SportsNets and ESPN Classic.

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