HBO and Cinemax are not available on Dish Network because of a dispute

The Battle of Distribution is the first for a Time Warner property since AT & T finalized the acquisition of the entertainment giant in June.

In a statement, HBO said Dish had been "extremely difficult" in the negotiations by "responding to our attempts in good faith with unreasonable terms".

Dish countered by saying that the new owner of HBO, AT & T, is the one who poses heavy demands and seeks to harm the distributors in order to favor his own services, including his rival DirecTV.

"It seems like AT & T is implementing a new strategy to remove content recently acquired by other distributors," said Andy LeCuyer, Dish's executive vice president of programming. He added that the acquisition of Time Warner Inc. by AT & T has given it "considerable power over consumers".

A senior HBO executive challenged Dish's claim that the fight was tied to AT & T, now the channel's owner, and said the proposed terms were superior to Dish's current deal.

The issue is the subscribers' guarantee that HBO is seeking Dish's hesitation. Generally, pay channels like HBO and

CBS
Body

Showtime has set a benchmark for subscribers to reach for distributors. If the distributor can not reach that mark, it's time to catch up. If it exceeds the mark, it retains a larger share of the subscriber's revenue.

Dish has shown in the past that he was not afraid to drop chains in contractual disputes. In recent years, networks abandoned by Dish include Fox News, CBS and the owners of local TV channels.

Sinclair Broadcast Group
Inc.

and

Tribune Media
Co.

All have finally reached new agreements with Dish.

Write to Joe Flint at [email protected]