Disney & Dish Agree to Temporary Extension For Fox RSNs, YES Network, FX, & Nat Geo to Avoid Blackout

Yesterday we reported that, Dish and their streaming service Sling TV had a number of carriage agreements expiring with Fox channels acquired by Disney as part of their deal for 21st Century Fox.

Most notably Fox Regional Sports Networks — including YES Network were at risk to be dropped from the service starting today. However, it appears that the companies have bought themselves some time for a longer term agreement through a temporary extension.

In a statement by Fox Regional Sports on their website:

The FOX Sports Regional Networks and Dish have reached a temporary extension while we work together towards an agreement for carriage of these networks.

Sling TV and Dish also had expiring deals with other channels now owned by Disney including FX and National Geographic. The channels that remained with Fox Corp. like Fox, Fox News, Fox Business Network and FS1 are also up for renewal.

While those deals don’t look like they’ve been officially renewed, there are reports that the companies continue to negotiate past the deadline with the channels remaining live.

One complicating factor is the acquisition of FOX RSNs, which were acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group by Disney, after netting them as part of their deal for 21st Century Fox, will not officially be completed for a few weeks. Currently, the channels are managed by a separate group that is handling the carriage negotiations. Dish apparently wanted to strike a long-term deal, while the Fox RSNs wanted to wait until the new owner was in place.

FOX Regional Sports Networks broadcasts local telecasts of 14 MLB teams, 17 NBA teams and 13 NHL teams. The channels are available as part of Sling Blue package for $25 a month. While there are other services like Hulu Live TV ($45), PlayStation Vue ($55), fuboTV ($55), YouTube TV ($50) — most are double the price of Sling.

Last June, Dish and Sling TV lost Univision, UniMás, and El Rey in a carriage dispute. After a 9 month holdout, the the channels returned to Dish, but not to streamer Sling TV.

In November, HBO and Cinemax were removed from Sling & Dish in a dispute with AT&T — and have not returned. Just last week, Meredith-owned locals were dropped by Dish.