Dish and Sinclair Reach Deal For Local Affiliates & Tennis Channel, But Bally Sports RSNs Not Included

After multiple short-term temporary extensions, Dish and Sinclair have reached a multi-year deal that will keep Sinclair-owned CBS, FOX, NBC, and ABC affiliates and Tennis Channel on the satellite service. The two sides had previously agreed to multiple short-term extensions dating to late August as negotiations between the two sides have gone on.

The deal includes 144 local stations across 86 markets, which will remain on Dish, as well as the Tennis Channel which will remain on Dish and Sling TV.

There was speculation that the two sides had were working on a deal to include Bally Sports RSNs in the carriage agreement, but the new deal does not include them. After Sinclair purchased the former Fox Sports regional sports networks in mid-2019, Dish and Sling TV dropped the RSNs from their lineups, and to date, have not returned them.

Currently, the only way to stream Bally Sports RSNs without cable is with a subscription to DIRECTV STREAM “Choice Plan” ($84.99 a month). They are also not on Hulu, YouTube TV, or fuboTV.

“We are pleased to have reached a multi-year agreement with Sinclair after months of negotiations,” said Brian Neylon, group president, DISH TV. “Sinclair has been a good long-term partner to work with. Both sides have been committed to keeping our customers top of mind and not putting them in the middle of our negotiations. After several contract extensions, we have arrived at a fair agreement that benefits all parties, especially our customers.”

William Bell, Sinclair’s Head of Distribution & Network Relations commented, “Our agreement with DISH reflects the continued importance that distributors place on local and national broadcast content. We look forward to continuing to provide DISH viewers with the high-quality and highly-desired entertainment, and timely local news that they depend on every day.”

Following the conclusion of the negotiations with Dish, Sinclair officials will then turn their attention to negotiations on a new deal for Charter’s Spectrum. The current deal between those two entities expires in March 2022.

Dish customers have been dealing with the removal of 64 Tegna-owned television stations around the nation in connection with ongoing negotiations over a new carriage deal. On Monday, Dish filed a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, alleging ‘bad faith’ negotiations by Tegna in connection with those talks. In a response to The Streamable, Tegna called Dish’s charges “utterly baseless and without merit.”

Late last year, Dish customers were without Nexstar locals in 120 markets during a dispute with that company. The channels returned after a three-week blackout.

In September 2019, AT&T and Sinclair had a prolonged multi-month carriage dispute – but the channels were never officially dropped from DirecTV. Instead, the two sides continued to reach temporary extensions while they negotiated a new deal to carry Sinclair locals and Fox Sports RSNs.

Full List of Sinclair-owned Network Affiliates