Red Wings and Pistons fans who are subscribers to Dish Network have the World Series to thank for being able to watch their teams again.
Dish and News Corp., the parent company of Fox, ended their month-long blackout last night, restoring regional sports networks to 19 affected regions. Fox Sports Detroit was one of those regional sports networks and was reinstated just in time for the Red Wings' showdown with the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.
Local Fox affilaties such as Fox 2 in Detroit were in danger of being lost to the blackout as well, as Dish and News Corp.'s contract for those stations ran out on Monday. That would have affected Game 5 of the World Series, which is kind of a big deal in the United States. Also coinciding with the deal was the start of the NBA season, which got underway Wednesday night for the Pistons. Fox broadcasts the majority of Red Wings and Pistons regular season games, as well as first and second round match-ups in the playoffs
↵Terms of the deal were not available, but it was described as "long-term." Dish also claimed that it was a "fair deal that reinforces Dish Network's position as the best value in television." Dish's key argument throughout the ordeal was that Fox was demanding outragoues rate increases, so this indicates the deal was favorable to Dish.
↵Either way, hopefully next time Dish and Fox will have enough time to avoid this kind of issue again.
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