UPDATE, 12:07 PM SUNDAY: AT&T announced that it has reached a “a fair distribution agreement with AMC Networks for AMC, IFC, Sundance and WE tv.” The deal reached today will keep AMC Networks available to some 4 million subscribers on U-verse TV. Details were not disclosed. AMC and Dish remain at an impasse and Dish has pulled AMC programming and substituted other content. Here’s AT&T’s statement:
“It was important to us on behalf of our U-verse TV customers to come to a positive resolution as quickly as possible. We appreciate everyone’s willingness to make that happen, working diligently over the weekend, so customers can continue to enjoy the programming they love on U-verse, the fastest growing TV service in the country,” said Jeff Weber, President of Content and Advertising Sales, AT&T.
In a separate statement, AMC Networks took a jab at Dish:
It’s telling that AMC Networks has historically been able to negotiate fair agreements with television providers that reflect the value of our content. Yet DISH, which dropped our networks as of July 1 never engaged with us in any rate discussions. DISH customers have lost some of their favorite shows because of an unrelated lawsuit which has nothing at all to do with our programming, our ratings or our rates.”
PREVIOUSLY 4:40 AM: AMC Networks says that it is in “ongoing discussions with AT&T U-verse about a new agreement” to carry its channels — calling their dispute over pricing “distinctly different” from AMC’s battle with Dish Network. At midnight the satellite company dropped AMC, IFC, WE “because of an unrelated lawsuit which has nothing at all to do with our programming,” AMC says. The company asserts that Dish is pressuring AMC to drop a $2.5B breach of contract suit filed in 2008 after Dish dropped the VOOM suite of HD networks. AMC says that Dish ”has not discussed rates with us at all.” Dish says that it’s looking out for its customers by replacing AMC’s networks with “stronger movie and entertainment content” that’s also less expensive.
PREVIOUS, 10:33 PM: Tonight’s midnight Eastern time deadline for AMC Networks to reach agreements with Dish Network and AT&T’s U-verse came and went, meaning that AMC will lose as many as 18 million AMC subscribers in an instant, almost a fifth of its audience. Deadline previously reported that talks were at a standstill and that a last-minute solution was unlikely. Dish also informed subscribers that AMC was being replaced with HDNet Movies on Channel 130, Style on Channel 128, and HDNet (which is evolving into an entertainment and music channel called AXS.TV) on Channel 131. Bloomberg said AMC, the network behind Breaking Bad — which has its season premiere July 15 — The Walking Dead and Mad Men will have its channels removed by Dish and U-verse at 11:59 p.m. New York time. AMC’s dispute with Dish involves expensive litigation with the satellite provider’s former parent Cablevision, but AT&T was a relatively simple disagreement over carriage fees which might be resolved more easily.
Related: Dish Network Tells Subscribers That AMC, IFC, And WE Will Be Gone Tomorrow


Give Weiner a raise, his show is bringing in the money
Breaking Bad is far superior to Mad Men in every aspect.
Agreed
Girls, girls! You’re both pretty.
Pretty good reason to stick with my DirecTV.
DISH lied to me. When I called to express my concerns about them dropping these channels I was told that was not going to happen. They informed me AMC and the other stations were causing all this hype and DISH was not making any changes. Time to drop dish and go back to cable.
they told me the same thing.They said they were just moving the channels around liars
Plenty of those who can afford $100+ a month for satellite television do so because of the quality programs offered – AMC and IFC among them.
Don’t most of those affected already have HDNET and Style? This is a dick move by Dish that will lose them subscribers.
Your claim that plenty of people subscribe just for those channels is all relative. I wont even get onto IFC, which BARELY rates at all. Look at AMC. Even if you use the Walking Dead (their biggest hit), it got 9 million viewers in one episode. If you go on a percentage basis of dish subscribers versus cable subscribers (for the sake of argument, I am assuming that the number of cable viewers of the show is proportionate to it’s actual subscriber base) then only around 1 million of Dish’s 14 million subscribers watched the show. That means 13 million people are paying for a channel they don’t even watch! Hate to say it but Dish may have a point here.
This is true about IFC. Their current show “Bunk” is one of the lowest rated shows on cable and barely registers. WE rates much higher.
That may be true, but those other 13 million subscribers may in fact watch “Mad Men”, “The Killing” and/or “Breaking Bad”.
Yes, HDNet and Style are already in the available channels at Dish — at least in the higher tiers. For those of us who already had access to those channels, all Dish did was shuffle the SD versions to the deleted IFC and WE berths. The only new channel is HDNet Movies, and that in no way replaces the original content on AMC. (Some of today’s HDNMV offerings are Caddyshack, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Rock Star, and Blazing Saddles. Enough said.)
I, like another poster, had been in contact with Dish over the past month and was always assured that the channels would stay on the grid. With Dish moving the channels in the middle of primetime on Mad Men’s finale, and AMC flashing DirecTV promo cards that blocked video and audio during one of the Killing’s broadcasts, it has not been a good customer service month for either of the companies, and any sympathy I had for either of their positions is well and truly gone.
Network TV is horrific. That’s why I subscribe to a high tier and pay for premium channels. If there’s any truth to the story that Dish is using the dispute as leverage over a lawsuit, does that violate any FCC rules?
Crappy timing with the best show on Earth, BREAKING BAD, about to start its final season. I feel horrible for DISH customers.
Don’t feel bad for us. Quite a few of us are about to learn how to torrent.
Huge AMC fail.
Hate to say it because I’ve been a DISH customer for many years, but this is the SECOND time this kind of dispute has happened with them, and I’m getting tired of it. Just switched to cable for me internet–may be time to switch for TV, too, if this doesn’t get resolved by July 15.
This is the second time in “MANY YEARS” and you’re tired of it? WOW!! Hope your spouse doesn’t burn the toast more than 2 times.
“Dish says that it’s looking out for its customers by replacing AMC’s networks with “stronger movie and entertainment content” that’s also less expensive.”
REALLY? There are shows in existence I don’t know about that are completely interchangeable with Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead?
Don’t keep us in suspense, Dish. Tell us the names of these amazing and heretofore unheard of series!
*crickets*
I am thankful I get to enjoy the last season of BREAKING BAD on my DIRECTV service.
Either the cable company gives in and rates go up, or they fight it with hopes of the network giving in. However, invariably the cable company gives up and rates continue to go up. Is it really necessary to see Breaking Bad as soon as it’s on AMC? I’ve seen four seasons via Netflix and don’t feel like I’ve missed anything.
I think only 3 seasons of Breaking Bad are available via Netflix. Regardless, I largely agree…if they don’t try to rein in these carriage fees, there’s no telling how much higher rates will go. That, incidentally, will only lead more and more people to cut the cord, which isn’t good for either side.
I will say, though, that if it’s true Dish hasn’t engaged in discussions over rates then this less about a principled stand and more about pressuring AMC over the litigation issue.
I switched from DirecTV to Uverse last years specifically because they didn’t have AMC in HD(along with TCM in HD).(A few months later DirecTV did add AMC in HD.)
But really, if you’re not on a contract with DISH, it’s so easy just to cancel and get DirecTV or other services installed. I mean Uverse they have no contract and they totally bribe you every six month. DirecTV they do make you sign a 24 month contract, but the first 12 months are really low, and they usually throw in Sunday Ticket.
Why is DISH playing hardball so close to football season when it’s so easy to replace their service?
Yeah, it’s easy to get shows you want ‘online’ legal or otherwise, but when you’re playing $100 a month or so you don’t except to be inconvenienced like that. I would cancel DISH just for the principle of the matter.
Caddy hack is a very good movie, one of the funniest I’ve seen.
I agree. All I am saying is, based on the weekend offerings by the new channel, the movie mix is not “improved” as Dish claims, but remains relatively the same in quality as compared to AMC’s lineup.
Any chance this new deal includes IFC HD…?
I still support Dish. I watch AMC a lot but don’t want to pay any more. Dish is better priced than all of their competitors because they play hardball. If AMC doesn’t give in then I’ll wait and watch their shows on Netflix.
Slightly surprised ABC/CBS/Fox/NBC aren’t jumping in to announce they won’t renew their cable agreements when they’re up due to the Hopper at a time when Dish are weak. They could kill Dish in one fell swoop.
I’m in Colorado. I’ve been a Dish customer for years. I’m unhappy about Breaking Bad, but assume they will get it together before the 15th. I’m even more unhappy about the late lamented VOOM, which in had some very good content (classical music, ‘art’ films) in very high-quality HD. I have the 722 model DVR, with which I’m very happy. Their customer service has been outstanding. My alternatives are Comcast (which is generally loathed) – which costs more for a comparable package – especially if I include Tivo charger – and Direct and I won’t can’t subscribe to a Murdock carrier.
If I had a cost-effective alternative to dish at comparable quality of service, I’d consider it. Any suggestions?
Incidentally, complete absence of high-brow HD programming is a real shame.
Murdock sold his stake in DirecTV circa 2008. Usually if you live in a reasonably populated area you’ll have four choices. DISH/DIRECTV, a cable company and a FIOS company like Verizon or ATT Uverse.
I’ve decided to drop cable (Comcast) and just Netflix everything via Roku. This means I only spend $8/month for streaming, or $16 if I want to get DVDs of stuff that Netflix doesn’t stream (HBO for instance). Either way, it’s dirt cheap. Between streaming and DVDs, Netflix has everything I want.
I don’t give a flip about live TV, so this works for me. Not interested in sports, very limited interest in news. TV news is such garbage, it’s all celebrities, scandals and obsession over election minutae. I could watch news via Roku if I wanted, but mainly I like the ad-free Netflix experience.
At least DISH waited until after the MAD MEN season finale to drop AMC…but yeah, DISH sucks – I’m in an apt and have NO CHOICE but to use DISH, my landlord insists there is no other alternative as they’ve made a “deal” with DISH…
Wrong. There was a FCC ruling in the late 90s that said apartment renters can hook a satellite dish on their balcony if it’s not a common area. Of course if you don’t have a line of sight view of the sat location(or a balcony/patio) then you may only get what cable/satellite provider your landlord offers. But don’t ever buy the BS that your landlord says that a sat dish is not allowed.
If you think Dish is bad then think twice because Directv is dropping 27 channels tonight (July 10th). DTV refuses to renew the Viacom contract which includes most if not all of the kids channels and many of the ones we watch.
I will be dropping DTV and will be looking for other alternatives.
If I had dish, I’d cancel. Not sure about anyone else, but AMC has the best shows on TV, period. I was about to cancel AT&T if they didn’t come to an agreement.
I love breaking bad, also walking dead, other then that I’ve seen every movie on amc, tons of times my nephew is recording those two shows on dvd for me, then I will watch 3 or 4 in a row AWESOME!!!!I’d rather pay less, then pay more for those channels, last season for breaking bad anyway
My husband and I miss AMC. Coming up I believe this Sunday Aug. 12 2012. Is the show “Hell on Wheels”. We will miss that show….
Maybe they will reach a agreement soon.