Dish Has to Pay For Disney HD Channels

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Dish Has to Pay For Disney HD Channels
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (October 26, 2011) -- Dish Network has taken some heat for removing four Disney HD channels last year and now it's going to have to pay a price -- literally.

The New York Law Journal reports that a Manhattan Supreme Court jury ruled last Friday that Walt Disney Co properly collected about $56 million in programming fees from Dish between 2007 and 2010. The fees were required for Dish to carry four Disney-owned HD channels -- Disney Channel HD, Disney XD HD, ABC Family HD and ESPNews HD

However, Dish contended that it did not have to pay the fees because it had already paid Disney to carry the four channels' standard-definition editions. Disney said a separate fee was required for the HD channels.

When the two sides could not reconcile that difference, Dish dropped the four high-def editions and went to court to get its past fees back.

But The New York Law Journal writes that the jury voted 5-1 in favor of Disney after seven hours of deliberation.

It's unclear if Dish will appeal the decision.

What do you think? Offer your comments below!

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Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com or at 703-505-3064.

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