KCRG may be pulled from Dish Network after disagreement on broadcast negotiations

Some KCRG-TV9 viewers are likely to see a disruption in programming starting Tuesday evening as the ABC affiliate is in yet another dispute with a satellite company, Dish Network.

The channel and all other stations owned by Atlanta-based Gray Television, KCRG's parent company, will go dark if negotiations are not settled by 6 p.m.

Gray offered Dish an extension that would have continued beyond the deadline, KCRG said, but Dish didn't accept.

Distributors of broadcast stations such as Dish pay broadcasters for the right to carry the signal, then resell the signals to their subscribers.

'It is unfortunate that Dish does not see the same value in our programming as every other operator,” said a statement from Thom Pritz, KCRG's vice president and general manager.

Dish said in a statement that Gray isn't telling the full story.

'Dish has successfully negotiated agreements representing hundreds of stations in recent months that benefit all parties, including our viewers. Gray is simply trying to use consumers as pawns in an effort to gain leverage for their own economic benefit,” the company stated.

It said that even with Tuesday's deadline, 'ample time remains for parties to reach an agreement or extension, and Dish is actively working to reach a deal before the contract expires.”

For DirecTV and Dish subscribers in the Corridor, these types of disputes are not unfamiliar.

KCRG had disagreements with DirecTV in early 2015 that resulted in DirecTV customers going without the network nearly three months.

In August 2015, Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns the KGAN-TV2 CBS affiliate in Cedar Rapids, and Dish had a dispute that put the CBS affiliate off the air for one day.