NFL Network and NFL RedZone have been dropped from Dish’s lineup. The contact between the NFL and the satellite television provider expired at 7 p.m. ET Thursday, at which time Dish customers were no longer able to access the league’s channels.Currently sources say that talks between the two groups on a new deal remain ongoing.
Dish provides television to roughly 14 million subscribers. NFL Network had, prior to the blackout, been available to only 7 million of those customers. It also has not been included in Sling TV, Dish’s low-cost digital bundle of channels.
“As of Thursday evening, June 16 at 7 p.m. ET NFL Network and NFL RedZone have been dropped by Dish Network’s satellite distribution system,” the league said in a statement. “This represents the first time in NFL Network’s 13 year history that one of its service providers has not continued to offer the network to its subscribers.”
The NFL has also set up a website, http://www.iwantnflnetwork.com, that directs users to other television providers that carry the league’s channels.
“Our contract with NFL Network has expired,” Dish said in a statement. “We remain open to a fair offer that allows us to carry this content at an appropriate value to our customers.”
Dish is also at an impasse with Tribune Media, whose channels were blacked out on Dish beginning Sunday evening, when the agreement between those two companies expired.
