Dish & Disney Delay FX & Nat Geo Blackout on Dish & Sling TV, As Productive Talks Continue
After seeing Fox Regional Sports networks dropped from both Dish Network and Sling TV earlier this month, Disney-owned Fox channels including FX, FXX, National Geographic, and Nat Geo Wild were at risk to be dropped at 9pm PT. However, the two sides have agreed to a temporary extension, after already extending at the end of July, as talks continue to progress.
The channels are currently part of Sling’s Blue Plan ($25), with FX & National Geographic providing live streams, while FXX & Nat Geo Wild available on-demand.
According to Disney:
“Our contract with Dish for the FX and National Geographic networks is due to expire soon, so we have a responsibility to make our viewers aware of the potential loss of our programming. However, we remain fully committed to reaching a deal and are hopeful we can do so.”
| DTV STREAM | Fubo | Hulu | Philo | Sling TV | YouTube | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Sign Up | Free Trial | Get 50% Off | Sign Up | |||
| $79.99 | $91.99 | $76.99 | $25 | $40 | $40 | $72.99 | ||
| FX | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| FXM | + $40 | + $8 | ✓ | - | - | + $6 | ✓ | |
| FXX | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | + $6 | ✓ | |
| Nat Geo Wild | + $40 | + $8 | ✓ | - | - | + $6 | ✓ | |
| National Geographic | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
The channels which were acquired by Disney as part of their deal for 21st Century Fox. Sling TV and Dish also has expiring deals with channels remaining with Fox Corp. like Fox, Fox News, Fox Business Network and FS1 are also up for renewal.
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. And this month, both Meredith-owned locals were dropped and Fox Regional Sports Networks were dropped by Dish. In both cases, the channels have not yet returned — and for Fox RSNs, according to Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen, “It doesn’t look good that the Regional Sports will be on Dish again.”