The ABC and Fox affiliates in the Charleston-Huntington market are no longer available on Dish Network.
WCHS and WVAH are owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, which did not reach an agreement with the satellite provider Dish Network. The stations were no longer available on Dish as of late Tuesday evening.
153 Sinclair Broadcasting stations in 79 markets have been blacked out on Dish Network because they failed to reach a new, long-term deal on broadcast retransmission licensing..
“Despite our offer to extend contract negotiations without impacting our loyal customers, Sinclair has chosen to reject the extension and block their programming from some Dish customers,” said a Dish statement on its Facebook page. “We apologize for the inconvenience and want our customers to know that we are doing all we can to reach a fair agreement to restore your programming.”
Dish is sending customers to DishPromise.com.
Several Sinclair-owned stations are blaming Dish for removing their station from its lineup.