In January 2020, they tangled as a retransmission consent dispute led to a “blackout” of its stations. Three years later, in January 2023, a reprise was seen in a new battle between the TV station owner and the MVPD over what justified a fair carriage agreement.
Now, Mission Broadcasting, the licensee with a cozy relationship to the nation’s No. 1 owner of broadcast television stations, has finally reached a new accord — for now — with direct broadcast satellite service Dish.
In a statement released late Tuesday by the broadcast TV company, Mission Broadcasting President Dennis Thatcher said, “We are delighted to have reached a new distribution agreement with DISH Network, and we look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship.”
Mission describes the agreement as a “comprehensive, multi-year distribution” deal, covering 27 Mission television stations across 25 markets. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed, which is typical of such negotiations.
“Mission regrets the inconvenience experienced by its viewers and thanks them for their patience,” the company said.
Mission Broadcasting was founded by the late David Smith. He died on March 28, 2011 at the age of 55, of a massive heart attack while attending a friend’s wedding.
Ownership control transferred to his wife, Nancie Smith. She continues to lead Mission today. However, all of Mission’s stations are operated by Nexstar, via a joint sales agreement and shared services agreement. Mission’s stations, while operated by Nexstar, are ultimately under Mission control.
Among the Mission stations now back on Dish is WPIX-11 in New York, the market’s home for The CW Network. A full list of stations can be found here.
The agreement does not include two White Knight Broadcasting stations: NBC affiliate WVLA-TV in Baton Rouge and FOX affiliate KFXK-TV in Tyler-Longview-Lufkin, Tex.
