Cordillera Communications, the parent company of local ABC affiliate KATC TV3, just can’t seem to get square with the satellite providers. The nation’s No. 2 satellite company, Dish Network, announced Thursday that Cordillera stations across the country have gone dark on Dish. The two companies are squabbling over re-transmission fees — the fee cable and satellite providers pay to local stations to transmit their signals. Cordillera wants more; Dish doesn’t want to pay. Something had to give, so for the time being Dish subscribers in Acadiana will not be getting their Rob Perillo fix at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
KATC had been running ads urging its viewers who are Dish subscribers to contact the satellite company and demand that KATC remain on the air — to no avail.
This isn’t KATC’s first vanishing act from satellite. A year ago the station disappeared for more than a week from DirecTV after Cordillera demanded an increase in the re-transmission fee. The two sides hammered out an undisclosed agreement and the station was back on the air by Jan. 10 following a 10-day blackout.
Read about last year’s standoff here.