DISH announced on Tuesday that they have decided to file a lawsuit against NBCUniversal for breach of contract as it pertains to the ongoing carriage dispute that the two have been involved in, which was actually mentioned during Monday night's WWE RAW show.
DISH issued the following statement to announce the lawsuit, claiming NBC made public statements that DISH was planning to drop their networks, and that fans should contact DISH to voice their displeasure regarding the situation.
NBC's public statements against DISH over the past 24 hours are in violation of the contract between the two companies," said the statement. "Today, DISH filed a breach of contract lawsuit against NBC to address those violations.
DISH has successfully negotiated agreements representing numerous networks in recent months that benefit all parties, including our viewers. DISH's goal is to reach a mutually beneficial deal with NBC. However, based on NBCU's actions to date, DISH currently expects to file for arbitration, which would prevent NBC from blacking out DISH customers. "Under the conditions imposed by the FCC and Department of Justice in approving the Comcast-NBCUniversal merger, NBC is forbidden from blacking out its networks if a pay-TV provider chooses, in its sole discretion, to exercise its right for binding arbitration. Regulators implemented these conditions to prevent Comcast and NBC from harming consumers and competition. In the event of arbitration, affected programming would remain available during that process, and for the foreseeable future.
Both DISH and NBCUniversal are still working to reach a potential agreement, but if one isn't made, DISH may soon no longer be carrying NBCUniversal channels, such as the USA Network, as early as this weekend.
As seen on Monday's RAW, Michael Cole urged WWE fans to contact DISH about the carriage dispute.
