Dish to Rep Eshoo: We Agree Consumers Shouldn't Be Pawns

Not surprisingly, Dish blamed Hearst for the ongoing retransmission consent impasse that kept Hearst stations of the satellite operator. That came in response to a letter from Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) late last week. Rep Eshoo, whose constituents are affected by the impasse, said the failure to reach a new deal--Hearst stations in 26 markets have been off Dish for the past two-plus weeks--was harming viewers. She said she was unhappy that the companies did not take steps to keep Hearst stations on Dish during the impasse.

Rep Eshoo pointed out that the station in her market KSBW, was also off during a Hearst-DirecTV impasse earlier this year. She said she hoped they would resolve the dispute ASAP, and said she would continue to push for making retrans "blackouts" illegal, saying consumers should not be pawns in such disputes.