When Kim Menzer of Edmonds turned on the television for her child’s favorite show Tuesday, she found her satellite TV provider no longer offered the channel she wanted.
In fact, DISH Network’s parent company on Tuesday pulled the plug on all Viacom Inc. programming across the nation, including popular channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon and VH1. The action came amid an escalating fee dispute between Viacom and EchoStar Communications Corp.
Noggin, a commercial-free channel with educational programming for children, also was affected. That’s what Menzer, the mother of two, was trying to tune in for her 4-year-old when she found it was missing.
"It took me quite a while to find an explanation," said Menzer, who learned about the fee dispute when she tuned to DISH Network’s customer service channel.
The loss of Viacom-owned channels from DISH Network affects as many as 9 million customers nationwide. The disruption is the largest since 2000, when a similar dispute between Time Warner cable and ABC blacked out service to 3.5 million cable customers.
In more than a dozen cities, Viacom-owned CBS isn’t available, either, particularly irking basketball fans and sports bars that may not be able to watch the upcoming NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
"We have customers who are calling and asking, `Where’s my CBS?’" spokesman Mark Lumpkin said from EchoStar’s headquarters in Littleton, Colo.
It wasn’t clear whether customers who pay extra to receive local channels through DISH Network could still get KIRO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Seattle.
Viacom and EchoStar began sparring after a contract for DISH Network to broadcast Viacom channels expired Dec. 31. The contract was extended at least three times, with the latest court order expiring late Monday.
EchoStar said New York-based Viacom sought rate increases up to 40 percent over the length of the contract, which would total potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.
Viacom officials said EchoStar was fighting over what amounted to 6 cents more per customer per month. They also pointed out that the terms they wanted DISH Network to agree to already had been accepted during the past six months in new deals with Comcast Corp., Cox Communications and DirecTV.
"They’re talking about a 40-percent increase. That number is overblown," Viacom spokeswoman Susan Duffy said.
EchoStar said it planned to give $1 monthly credits to customers who lose Viacom channels such as Nickelodeon and MTV, and another $1 to those who lose CBS programming.
Menzer said that until the dispute is resolved, her family will have to get used to going without the Viacom-owned channels. She feels there’s not another choice.
"I looked on the Internet under CBS and it suggests people go to other providers, but you have to pay to do that," she said.
In the Menzers’ case, they could have to pay $360 to get out of their two-year contract with DISH Network.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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