Washington, D.C. (August 14, 2012) -- Dish Network could lose more than 70 local stations owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcasting unless the two companies can reach a new carriage agreement by Wednesday at midnight.

"Although Sinclair is continuing to negotiate with Dish over the terms of a new agreement, Sinclair believes significant doubt exists as to whether or not a new agreement will be reached with Dish. In this event, Dish will discontinue carriage of these stations beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, August 16, 2012," Sinclair said in a statement released last night.

The broadcasting company owns or operates 74 stations in 45 markets, including 21 Fox stations, 19 My Network stations, 15 CW affiliates, 11 ABC stations, 11 CBS stations, 3 NBC stations, one independent station and 1 Azteca station.

The stations are based in such markets as Des Moines, Iowa, St. Petersburg/Tampa, Florida, Baltimore, Las Vegas, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and San Antonio.

Dish responded yesterday that "we carry more than 1,800 local broadcast stations nationwide. Sinclair is asking for more than any other station anywhere in the country. This goes beyond pure corporate greed -- it’s profoundly insensitive to the needs of the public."

The satcaster is already involved in a six-week long fee fight with AMC Networks, which has denied its viewers access to AMC and its two sister channels, We TV and IFC.

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