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AMC Networks shares are up 2.7% in mid-afternoon trading, and Dish Network is down nearly 1%, after New York Supreme Court Judge Richard Lowe III ruled that Dish”s only remaining damages expert can’t testify in AMC’s breach of contract suit involving the now-defunct VOOM networks. Dish wanted Timothy Brooks — a former research exec for Lifetime and USA Networks – to take the stand and refute the plaintiffs’ claim that they’re entitled to more than $2.4B following Dish’s 2008 decision to drop the VOOM suite of HD channels. But Lowe says that Brooks is not qualified to rebut the plaintiff’s expert, Susquehanna Financial Group’s Thomas Claps says. Since Brooks is not an economist, he doesn’t have the expertise needed to challenge the assumptions and models from the expert for AMC and its former parent, Cablevision: consulting firm Compass Lexecon’s Senior Managing Director Jonathan Orszag (who also happens to be the brother of the Obama administration’s former Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag). Lowe now has disqualified all three of the damages witnesses Dish wanted to call. Claps says this is “another significant blow to Dish” following a series of run-ins with Lowe, who found that satellite company improperly destroyed evidence, and hid emails that supported the plaintiffs’ case.
Judge In VOOM Trial Delivers Yet Another Blow To Dish Network
Newly Discovered Emails Boost AMC Networks Over Dish Network In VOOM Case
The emails were discovered over the weekend and disclosed in court today — and they’re “hurting [Dish Network] in a big way,” according to an account from George Reed-Dellinger of advisory firm Washington Analysis. Susquehanna Financial Group’s Thomas Claps, who’s also monitoring the case, calls it “the most damaging evidence to date” against Dish in AMC‘s $2.5B breach of contract suit involving the satellite company’s 2008 decision to drop the now-defunct VOOM HD channels. It’s so important that Claps says Dish “may re-think its strategy” to have Chairman Charlie Ergen testify — and might be more motivated to negotiate a settlement with AMC that would return its channels to the No. 2 satellite provider before the end of the month when the jury is expected to reach its verdict. Dish dropped AMC in June. Read More »
Deadline Big Media With David Lieberman, Episode 5
Listen to Episode 5 of our weekly podcast Deadline Big Media With David Lieberman. This week, Lieberman and host David Bloom discuss Wall Street’s growing worries over weak initial ratings for the fall TV season and what that means for the media companies that own the Big 4 broadcast networks; the boom in Internet advertising through the first half of the year, and which companies are benefitting most; and, finally in a courtroom, the $2.5 billion lawsuit by AMC Networks against Dish Network over closure of Voom Networks. Meanwhile, Lieberman discusses whether Dish-using fans of The Walking Dead are likely to be mollified by free scary movies as their beloved show debuts during Dish’s continuing blackout of AMC channels.
Deadline Big Media Episode 5 (MP3 format)
Deadline Big Media Episode 5 (M4A format)
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Dish Network Faces Setbacks In VOOM Trial
New York Supreme Court Judge Richard Lowe III continues to hammer Dish Network as it prepares to mount a defense in AMC Networks’ $2.5B breach of contract suit involving the now-defunct VOOM HD networks. The judge said today that Dish must allow investigators to examine internal information, according to an account of the proceedings from Susquehanna Financial Group’s Thomas Claps. Dish “has no credibility” with the court, Lowe said following rulings in which he charged that the satellite distributor destroyed evidence and tried to delay the current case long enough to create a mistrial. Read More »
Turn Over Documents Or Else, Judge In VOOM Case Warns Dish Network
New York Supreme Court Judge Richard Lowe III was visibly angry with Dish Network today, thumping his desk as he accused the company of disrespecting the court, according to an account of the VOOM case proceedings from Andrew Harms of advisory firm Washington Analysis. “I don’t care how much money you got,” Lowe’s quoted as saying to Dish lawyers after the company failed to comply with his order to turn over documents that he said were not privileged. If Dish doesn’t give him electronic copies of the material, he said, then he might rule in favor of AMC Networks in its $2.5B breach of contract suit before Dish even presents its case — leaving it to the jury to just decide on the size of the damages. Read More »
Dish Network Tells ‘Walking Dead’ Fans They Can Watch “Scary Movies” Instead
I laughed out loud when I saw the satellite company’s Facebook message to its subscribers who won’t be able to catch the third-season premiere of AMC’s The Walking Dead this Sunday — because … Read More »
Is Dish Network Trying To Short-Circuit The AMC Networks-VOOM Trial?
That’s what New York Supreme Court Judge Richard Lowe III and AMC Networks charged in court today according to Susquehanna Financial Group’s Thomas Claps. The judge became “extremely animated” and accused Dish of “blatant misconduct and attempts to delay” AMC’s $2.5B breach of contract suit, Claps reports. It seems that Dish yesterday appealed Lowe’s ruling requiring the satellite company to turn over documents that it considered privileged — but didn’t give the Appellate Division a copy of the documents, preventing it from reaching a quick decision. Claps says that Lowe characterized that as “further evidence of Dish’s ongoing, inappropriate conduct in this case” and accused the company of “attempting to ‘spin its wheels’ and delay the proceedings so that the current trial schedule could be jeopardized — and possibly result in a mistrial.” (Earlier the judge found that Dish inappropriately wiped out emails that might have supported AMC’s case.) Read More »
AMC Networks CEO Tells Court He Didn’t Hide VOOM Budget From Dish Network
AMC chief Josh Sapan was under the gun today as Day 3 of the VOOM trial focused on a key question: Did AMC and its former parent, Cablevision, hide from Dish a budget that would have … Read More »
AMC Networks Charges Dish Network With “Bad Faith” In Day 1 Of VOOM Trial
Not only do they finally have a jury, lawyers presented opening arguments today in AMC Networks’ $2.5B breech of contract suit against Dish Network. And lawyers representing AMC seemed to draw blood by ”repeatedly highlighting Dish’s systematic, bad … Read More »
Yet Another Delay In AMC Networks Vs Dish Network Trial
There’s still no jury for AMC Networks’ $2.5B breach of contract suit against Dish Network — and the New York State Supreme Court won’t reconvene until Thursday. The jury was supposed to have been picked … Read More »
Dish-AMC Trial Delayed To Monday As Judge Urges Companies To Talk
It seems there were only 16 prospective jurors available today, not enough to begin the selection process, Susquehanna Financial Group’s Thomas Claps reports. So New York Supreme Court Judge Richard Lowe III apologized, and put AMC Networks‘ … Read More »
Dish Network Suffers Setback In Court And Appears To Weigh Deal With AMC Networks
It looked today like the companies were talking about a deal that might resolve AMC Networks’ $2.5B breach of contract suit against Dish Network — and possibly return AMC‘s channels to the No. 2 satellite company … Read More »
Dish Network And AMC Networks Refuse To Blink As Voom Dispute Heads To Court
Get ready to pony up if you bet that there’d be a settlement before AMC Networks’ $2.5B breech of contract suit against Dish Network goes to trial. Lawyers are scheduled to pick jurors tomorrow in a case that AMC says motivated Dish to drop the company’s channels in June. (Dish says AMC’s channels cost too much.) Beginning Thursday jurors will see a parade of media big shots explain whether Dish had a right in 2008 to terminate its 15-year deal to air the Voom Networks suite of HD channels. They were launched by Cablevision, but the Voom business entity was included with AMC last year when the cable company spun off its former networks unit. Cablevision founder Chuck Dolan is due up on Thursday followed by AMC chief Josh Sapan and, on Monday, Cablevision CEO Jim Dolan. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen is expected to testify around October 3 when the defense presents its case. Read More »
AMC Networks Reports Big Stock Sale By Charles Dolan
UPDATE, 10:48 AM: I don’t know why AMC didn’t mention this in its release. But it seems that Executive Chairman Charles Dolan exchanged some of his super-vote Class B shares for Class A ones — reducing his family’s … Read More »
AMC Networks CEO: Trial Will Set Pace For Channels’ Return To Dish Network
AMC chief Josh Sapan didn’t make colorful references to “zombies in New York City,” or compare himself to the Godfather, the way Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen did yesterday to justify decisions that have left Dish’s 14.1M … Read More »
AMC Networks Tops Q2 Earnings Forecasts But Warns Of Dish Network Damage
This may be the key line in AMC Networks’ report this morning: Dish Network’s decision to drop AMC, IFC, WEtv, and Sundance Channel has cut the programmer’s total subscribers by 13% — but if the dispute isn’t resolved then the impact on cash flow and operating income “will be materially higher.” (Yesterday Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen was still talking tough, saying that his customers aren’t interested in AMC’s channels.) Yet the Q2 numbers, from the period before the fight with Dish broke open, aren’t bad. AMC generated $41.5M in net income, +52.9% vs the same period last year, on revenues of $327.6M, +12.2%. The revenue figure exceeds forecasts of $324.5M. And earnings at 58 cents a share beat the Street’s expectations by a penny. The domestic networks carried the ball with revenues +14.4% to $305.2M and operating income +21.6% to $111.3M. Ad sales grew 13.4% to $130M, while payments from cable and satellite companies were +15.2% to $176M. Read More »
Dish Network Chairman Slams AMC Networks’ “Zombies In New York City”
Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen warned analysts in a conference call today that his company will lose some customers — or have trouble attracting new ones — since it dropped AMC, IFC, WEtv, and Sundance in late June. But he says the decision was a “no-brainer” that will pay off for Dish in the long run. “Our customers are not looking at zombies in New York City”, he said referring to AMC’s hit The Walking Dead. “They live on farms and ranches”. Ergen added that he might have renewed AMC, but bucked at the company’s requirement that Dish also carry the other networks. “There hasn’t been a time when anyone in our family has watched one second of those channels”. He was also dismissive of AMC which has acclaimed series including Mad Men and Breaking Bad. “They’re critically acclaimed but not viewed as much by our audience”, he says. “And our customers can go to iTunes and get Mad Men the same time it’s on. We could pay the entire iTunes bill and it would be cheaper” than carrying the AMC Networks channels. Indeed, Ergen says that by not carrying the AMC channels Dish will be “several dollars cheaper than our competition that’s carrying those channels”.
Related: Dish Network Q2 Earnings Miss Wall Street’s Targets As Profits Fall Read More »
“Hey Dish, Where’s My AMC” Video Contest Launched
AMC has launched a “Hey Dish, Where’s My AMC?” viral video contest for the satcaster’s subscribers (non-subscribers can enter too) who are unhappy that Dish dropped all AMC Networks channels at midnight June 30 … Read More »
AMC’s Zombies Remind New Yorkers About Dish Dispute: Video
There’s been no movement in the Dish Network-AMC Networks dispute since June 30, which the companies carriage contract expired and AMC, IFC and WE TV were kicked off the Dish lineup. But AMC and one of its impacted shows, The Walking Dead, has taken to the Manhattan streets … Read More »
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