Dish Network May Drop Some Local Channels at Midnight

With a looming deadline, WSJ reports that Dish Network and Gannett Co are in last minute talks to settle a retransmission dispute by midnight this evening.

Gannett is owner of 22 nationwide local affiliates, and if an agreement were reached, it would avert a black out which could affect more than 2 million Dish Network subscribers in 19 cities.

Retransmission disputes are becoming more prevalent as pay-TV companies such as Dish and DirecTV tangle with TV broadcasters over financial terms.

Gannett has voiced its concern specifically over Dish Network's new "Hopper" DVR, which has the ability to AutoHop (automatically skip) commercials for customers. A feature which Gannett is asking Dish to disable, as well as pay a 300 percent increase in fees.

The following local affiliates may be taken off-air if an agreement isn't reached by 10-8-12:

Atlanta
— WATL-TV
— WXIA-TV

Maine
— WLBZ-TV
— WCSH-TV

New York
— WGRZ-TV

Ohio
— WKYC-TV

South Carolina
— WLTX-TV

Colorado
— KTVD-TV
— KUSA-TV

Michigan
— WZZM-TV

North Carolina
— WFMY-TV

Florida
— WTLV-TV
— WJXX-TV
— WTSP-TV

Tennessee
— WBIR-TV

Arkansas
KTHV-TV

Georgia
— WMAZ-TV

Minnesota
— KARE-TV

Arizona
— KPNX-TV

California
— KXTV-TV

Missouri
— KSDK-TV

Washington, D.C.
— WUSA-TV