WTHR-TV removed from DISH Network

Customers of the direct-broadcast satellite service provider DISH will no longer be able to tune in to WTHR-TV Channel 13, as the news station's media group has blocked access to DISH viewers because of failed contract negotiations.

In a statement, DISH Network officials said, despite the company's offer to extend contract negotiations, Dispatch Broadcast Group (the media company who owns WTHR-TV) blocked DISH customers' access to the NBC affiliate.

According to WTHR-TV, the current contract with DISH Network expired at 2 p.m. Monday.

"Dispatch's decision to cut ties with DISH customers is a prime example of why Washington needs to stand up for consumers and end local channel blackouts," DISH's executive vice president and general counsel R. Stanton Doge said in a statement. "Broadcasters like Dispatch use their in-market monopoly power to put profits ahead of the public interests they are supposed to serve."

WTHR-TV posted an alert on its website that said the station and its media company will continue to work toward an agreement with DISH Network.

In the DISH Network statement, the service provider said it attempted to offer a short-term contract extension that would preserve the channel as the two parties continue to negotiate, but the offer was allegedly rejected.

"Dispatch Broadcasting has been working 24/7 to reach a fair agreement with DISH Network and hope WTHR will be returned to Dish Network's channel lineup as soon as possible," Larry Delia, president and general manager of WTHR, told The Indianapolis Star. "Dispatch reached out to Dish Network two and a half months ago and have been available every day since to come to a quick and equitable conclusion. As of today, after we offered an extension to Dish, they still have not agreed to a fair market value for WTHR."

Call Star reporter Michael Anthony Adams at (317) 444-6123. Follow him on Twitter: @MichaelAdams317.