Gray Sues Dish and Files FCC Complaint Over Retransmission Fights
Gray Media is taking retransmission-related complaints against Dish Network to both the FCC and federal court. In an FCC complaint posted Monday in docket 12-1, Gray reported unauthorized retransmission of WVLT-TV Knoxville "and, presumably, other Stations owned by Gray" to hotel guests, multi-dwelling units and other commercial properties in designated market areas served by those stations.
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The litigation, filed Friday with the U.S. District Court for Southern New York (docket 1:26-mc-00157), remained sealed Monday. Gray told us it revolves around Dish's habitually late payments of monthly retrans fees and Gray's request for interest on those late payments. Rob Folliard, Gray's senior vice president of government relations and distribution, told us Monday that the company intends to file similar suits against any other operator that doesn't pay on time.
Dish didn't comment Monday on the FCC complaint or lawsuit.
“It’s the least shocking secret everyone knows, that Dish doesn't pay on time,” Folliard said Sunday at an American Bar Association panel discussion on broadcast regulation (see 2604200001). During the companies' previous three-year contract, Dish didn’t pay Gray on time once, he said. “At certain times, it was 70, 80, 90 days before we would get our check. I know we're not alone. Dish doesn't pay anyone on time.” Folliard added that by delaying payment, Dish has cost Gray and likely other companies “several million dollars in interest that is just stacking up.”
Folliard’s panel was widely attended by attorneys representing the nation’s largest broadcasters and networks, and he said he hopes other companies will join Gray’s lawsuit. "Honestly, shame on every single person in this room for not doing anything about it. Why should DirectTV pay any of you on time when Dish doesn't?" he asked. “If 50% of our revenue is 60 days past due, 90 days past due, that's a serious problem. It's going to be a serious problem for everyone in here, which is why I think it's incumbent on everyone to actually enforce their contractual rights to get paid on time.”
In its FCC complaint, Gray said that while its retrans agreement with Dish expired March 10, WVLT-TV signals were available to hotels and other commercial locations after that date via Dish's Smartbox commercial service. Gray asked the FCC to order Dish to cease all retransmission of WVLT-TV and other Gray stations. It also asked for a list of Gray stations that have been retransmitted without consent since March 10 and for unspecified fines.