CBS, Dish Reach Short-Term Deal

CBS and Dish Network, engaged in contract negotiations over a deal that was set to end Thursday night, have agree to a short-term extension, avoiding what could have been a blackout, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Neither Dish or CBS are commenting on the negotiations but, beyond price, observers speculate that digital rights and Dish’s Hopper DVR service are sticking points. CBS doesn’t like that the Hopper’s “Auto Hop” feature allows for easily skipping commercials, and Dish doesn’t like that CBS makes its content available to streaming services and recently launched All Access, an over-the-top product whereby a $5.99 monthly subscription fee gets users shows on-demand a day after they air on TV.

Dish is also readying its own OTT service and might be angling for more digital rights to CBS content, including sports, that CBS isn’t willing to give, unless it involves a healthy boost in fees.

Ahead of Thursday’s deadline for a new deal, several industry insiders were sizing up the situation. Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge warned Tuesday, for example, that cable TV providers would not pay top dollar for content that was also available on the Internet.

At the same event, Liberty chairman John Malone said that sports rights are climbing so high that there is little left in budgets to pay for entertainment content.

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