AMC Networks Renews AT&T Carriage, Gets Dropped by DISH

NEW YORK/DALLAS: AMC Networks was able to reach a new carriage agreement with AT&T, though it has not been able to negotiate a deal with DISH, which has now dropped AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel and WE tv from its lineup.

AMC Networks and AT&T settled their agreement yesterday, the details of which were not disclosed. The AMC Networks channels will remain on the U-verse platform.

"It was important to us on behalf of our U-verse TV customers to come to a positive resolution as quickly as possible," said Jeff Weber, the president of content and advertising sales at AT&T. "We appreciate everyone’s willingness to make that happen, working diligently over the weekend, so customers can continue to enjoy the programming they love on U-verse, the fastest growing TV service in the country."

AMC Networks released a statement that read: "We have reached a long-term agreement with AT&T that appropriately recognizes the value of our networks and our award-winning and high-quality programming. We respect AT&T as a partner that has a genuine interest in working with us to ensure their customers continue to enjoy our programming, which includes the upcoming July 15 premiere of AMC’s Breaking Bad.

"It’s telling that AMC Networks has historically been able to negotiate fair agreements with television providers that reflect the value of our content," the statement continued. "Yet DISH, which dropped our networks as of July 1, never engaged with us in any rate discussions. DISH customers have lost some of their favorite shows because of an unrelated lawsuit which has nothing at all to do with our programming, our ratings or our rates."

DISH dropped AMC Networks’ bouquet due to a unrelated lawsuit. The satellite TV provider and network are in a spat over fees and were not able to negotiate new terms before their contract expired, on June 30.

"DISH claims to put its customers first yet they’ve taken away DISH viewers’ favorite scripted drama series, AMC’s The Walking Dead," read a separate statement from AMC Networks. "DISH dropped our networks not because of ratings or rates. In fact, DISH has not discussed rates with us at all. DISH customers have lost some of their favorite shows because of an unrelated lawsuit which has nothing at all to do with our programming. DISH customers will not be able to watch the new season of AMC’s Breaking Bad, premiering July 15, or upcoming seasons of The Walking Dead, Mad Men, or any of our other popular shows. We urge DISH customers who want to have access to our programming to call 1-855-KEEP-AMC or visit www.keepamc.com."