LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Fox Broadcasting Co. and Dish Network blamed each other for a pricing dispute that prompted Fox to cut several channels out of Dish's programming menu.
Fox shut down feeds of FX, National Geographic Channel and 19 sports channels to Dish, The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
That meant tens of thousands of baseball fans would miss the final Los Angeles Angles and Dodgers baseball game of the season. Dozens of other sports programs were also affected.
Fox network Affiliate Sales and Marketing President Mike Hopkins said, "We think all customer should get access to our programming," rather than divide up the offerings into different prices.
Dish Network Senior Vice President of Programming Dave Shull said, "We can't continue to pass along these huge increases to our customers. We have been paying Fox very health rates for years now."
Industry analyst Derek Baine at SNL Kagen said, "We are seeing these disputes break out everywhere."
Dish Network, which has 14.3 million U.S. customers, "has been trying to keep the cost of their packages low, but cable channels are spending more on programming and they want to be compensated," Baine said.
