Local satellite customers without CBS, WYOU

Robert Tomkavage, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·1 min read

Jan. 9—DISH Network subscribers lost access to WYOU, the region's CBS affiliate, on Friday due to an ongoing contract dispute with Texas-based Mission Broadcasting.

The blackout comes as customers of DISH competitor DirecTV has been without WYOU since October.

Mission Broadcasting is operated by Nexstar Media Group.

"Broadcasters like Mission often block customer access as they negotiate for higher rates," said Brian Neylon, group president, DISH TV. "We will continue to fight on behalf of DISH customers to keep prices as low as possible. We hope Mission will continue to negotiate with us in good faith so we can minimize the disruption to our customers."

Local DirecTV customers lost access to CBS and WYOU programming Oct. 21 when the contract between Mission Broadcasting and DirecTV expired.

"We are extremely disappointed to have failed to reach an agreement with DirecTV," said Dennis Thatcher, president of Mission Broadcasting Inc. "We are merely seeking the same fair agreement that we have come to with other cable, satellite, and telco providers for the high-quality programming we provide."

— ROBERT TOMKAVAGE