On Monday, it became known that 19-year veteran news anchor and reporter Emily Matson had died, with national media the next day sharing the additional news that Matson had taken her own life.
For viewers of “Erie News Now” who have been relying on Dish to deliver the broadcasts provided by Lilly Broadcasting‘s stations in the DMA, they received a warning of possible disruption. That’s because Lilly and Dish on December 9 went to battle over a still unresolved retransmission consent deal.
In a statement appearing on the website for Erie News Now, Lilly explained that its agreement with Dish “is expiring.” This would block Dish, by law, from bringing NBC affiliate WICU-TV, CBS affiliate WSEE-TV and the CW Network’s affiliate in the Northwestern Pennsylvania market to its paying subscribers.
“We are working diligently to come to an agreement and hope DISH shares the same sense of urgency in resolving this matter,” Lilly said in a statement released Saturday morning. “It is our hope DISH Network will realize the value we bring to the local community, and together we can quickly reach an amicable agreement.”
The Lilly dispute arrives one month after Hearst Television quietly reaching a fresh retransmission consent deal with Dish; a nearly two-month “blackout” of Hearst stations commenced in early September after a fresh accord could not be agreed to.
