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Ergen calls dispute with AT&T's premium net a 'pure anti-competitive play'
DISH NETWORK CHAIRMAN Charlie Ergen has turned up the rhetoric in the satellite company's high-profile carriage battles with Spanish-language broadcaster Univision and premium channel HBO, calling the latter dispute a "pure anti-competitive play" by the network's parent - telco AT&T.
That was a nod to the ongoing federal appeal of AT&T's $108.7 billion purchase of HBO parent Time Warner Inc. in June, a merger to which Dish was vocally opposed. And it prompted a quick response from HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler.
"The notion that AT&T had anything to do with our inability to reach a reasonable deal with Dish is simply not true," Plepler said in a statement.
The HBO dispute and, to an extent, the Univision impasse have the potential to become economic barometers for carriage deals for years to come. Dish has been no stranger to blackouts, as according to the American Television Alliance Dish customers have at some point lost access to 68 broadcasters alone since 2010. Now it's...