Attention DISH customers:
Call 1-800-333-3474 and demand that they bring back WHIO-TV

The agreement between WHIO-TV and DISH expired on Monday, November 28, 2022 and you will no longer be able to access critical local news, emergency weather and traffic information, popular sports and other local and national network programming. Local news is more important today than ever. Call DISH at 1-800-333-3474 and demand that DISH bring back WHIO-TV.

DISH chooses to black out all Cox Media Group TV stations across the country

DAYTON - Today DISH unilaterally chose to black out all Cox Media Group (CMG) TV stations across the country, including WHIO-TV, after deploying its well-worn anti-consumer drop tactic. With this move, DISH has once again punished its own customers and WHIO-TV′s consumers by depriving them of access to critical local news, emergency weather and traffic information, popular sports and other local and national network programming.

“DISH is infamously unreasonable and difficult to deal with in retransmission consent and all other content negotiations. In their latest example, DISH has refused to make any meaningful offer to continue carriage of CMG’s award-winning local news, investigative journalism, popular sports and entertainment content. This has undercut both local broadcasting and its own customers,” said Paul Curran, EVP of Television, Cox Media Group. “Let me be clear – despite their numerous false claims, it was solely DISH’s decision to remove CMG’s best-in-class TV stations from its service. To keep our stations on the DISH platform, we offered DISH an extension of our current agreement with no strings attached, but DISH refused. We’re simply asking DISH to agree to a fair-market deal that is consistent to what their competitors have agreed without any interruption of service to consumers.”

CMG has repeatedly asked DISH to continue carrying the stations while CMG negotiates in good faith toward a fair-market deal. DISH has refused to negotiate in good faith and declined to keep the stations on air while working towards a deal. DISH has now delivered on its obvious goal from the outset to black out CMG’s stations from its lineup.

DISH has a long history of harming its customers by using blackouts against local broadcasters and other content providers. DISH is responsible for the highest blackout rates among distributors of local broadcast stations and other content. DISH’s latest drop comes just two years after it blacked out CMG stations for eight months, as well as numerous other content drops by DISH since then.

“Despite DISH’s many false claims, we remain willing to negotiate in good faith,” Curran said. “We once again call on DISH to stop its tired anti-consumer approach and get serious about reaching a fair agreement for CMG TV stations. It’s time for DISH to restore our critical news, information, sports and entertainment programming to the viewers in the communities we serve who subscribe to DISH for CMG’s valuable content.”

DISH customers who are disappointed and frustrated by DISH’s latest stunt to deprive them of vital programming should switch TV providers now. All CMG stations are available on all other major TV providers. They should also contact DISH to make their voices heard by calling DISH at 1-800-333-3474 and urging them to restore the stations now and engage with CMG in good faith for ongoing carriage of CMG’s vital programming.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is happening?
By law, WHIO-TV must negotiate carriage agreements with satellite companies like DISH. Usually, these deals are reached without any disruption to your service. In fact, our company has negotiated dozens of agreements with only the rarest of disruptions. Unfortunately, so far, DISH has – as they often do - refused to agree to a fair market deal with CMG for the WHIO-TV’s programming and services that customers value. Unfortunately, DISH is notorious for its failure to reach agreements with its stations and for willingly forcing channel blackouts. Because WHIO-TV has yet to secure a deal with DISH, you will lose live access to the shows, sports and local news on WHIO-TV, which you rely on and are paying for. We are hopeful DISH will abandon its well-worn path of blacking out TV stations and come to the negotiating table with CMG.

As a DISH customer, what can I do to continue to watch my favorite shows on WHIO-TV?
The best thing viewers can do is Call DISH at 1-800-333-3474. Tell DISH that you pay them a lot of money to watch your favorite shows on WHIO-TV, including News Center 7 local news, NCIS, FBI, Blue Bloods, Young Sheldon and NFL games.

Why does WHIO-TV charge cable and satellite operators a fee to carry their programming?
Despite what you may have heard, this dispute is not about WHIO-TV seeking large fees. WHIO-TV is among the highest rated channels on DISH. Producing and broadcasting high rated, top-quality programming is very expensive. We invest millions of dollars in our local news, weather, emergency programming and entertainment content. To keep doing that, we need a fair deal from DISH and all our distributors. We have carriage agreements with every other major cable and satellite company that is carrying WHIO-TV and are seeking to be treated fairly by DISH.

Won’t rates to subscribers go up if DISH has to pay WHIO-TV?
Whether rates go up depends on decisions made by DISH. Like all cable and satellite companies, DISH is already charging you to receive WHIO-TV as part of your monthly bill. We do not control how much DISH pays to other channels or how it manages its business. DISH should stop over-paying for channels its customers watch less and prioritize channels like WHIO-TV, that its subscribers turn to every day. We have and will continue to negotiate with DISH in good faith in an effort to successfully complete a deal with them.

Since DISH stopped carrying WHIO-TV, will I get a refund on my bill?
It is up to DISH to resolve such questions with its customers. But you could call DISH at 1-800-333-3474 about a refund and let them know you are no longer getting what you pay for – your favorite newscasts and programming from WHIO-TV.

Is there anything the public can do to help make sure that WHIO-TV is back on DISH?
The best way for you to encourage a resolution is to register your support of how important it is for them to carry WHIO-TV by calling DISH at 800-333-3474. You pay DISH a lot of money. It will listen to your voices. You can also view WHIO-TV Over the Air with an over the air antenna available at retail. Or you can contact and easily switch to any number of other providers that are committed to providing you with all the programming you watch every day. See list above. Regardless, we will continue to work hard to try and get a successful outcome to this negotiation so that you regain live access to your favorite programming, but the ball remains in DISH’s court to step-up like its competitors and peers have done.