Dish, Raycom Media Blame Each Other for Channel Blackouts

Since Aug. 1 Dish subscribers have been unable to watch Charleston CBS affiliate WCSC while Dish and WCSC parent company Raycom Media continue to bicker over retransmission rates.

The channel blackout began when the two companies failed to extend or renegotiate their contract allowing Dish to retransmit WCSC's signal. The blackout affects local broadcast channels in more than three dozen cities, mostly in the southeast but including areas a far flung as Ohio and Hawaii, the Columbus (Ohio) Ledger-Enquirer reports.

Dish executives said on Aug. 1 when the previous deal expired that the company had offered to pay Raycom the same rates its competitors pay, and accused Raycom of stonewalling the negotiations, the Denver Business Journal reports.

Raycom disputes the Dish version of events, and issued its own statement Aug. 1 claiming Dish has refused to enter into an agreement with Raycom.

Dish fired back Thursday, issuing a statement calling on Congress to update local TV carriage rules and accusing Raycom of using viewers as pawns while it plays cable and satellite providers against each other, including telling viewers to switch carriers.