The blackout comes amid a contentious fee dispute between satellite TV provider Dish Network and CBS Corp., which owns the television stations. “Dish subscribers are in jeopardy of being without CBS over the Thanksgiving holiday, which would mean they would miss CBS Sports’ NFL and SEC football coverage,” CBS said in a statement. That’s when the companies’ previous carriage contract expired, leaving Dish without authorization to retransmit the signals of CBS stations. The satellite TV provider also promised to reduce subscribers’ bills by $10 per month if they agreed to drop the local TV stations from their lineup. Dish, in its statement, added: “Those desired increases come as Dish customers are watching less CBS.” According to Dish, average viewership for CBS is down 20% over the last three years.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 21, 2017 14:15 UTC