ESPN sued DISH Network in the southern New York area Thursday, accusing Dish of violating its license terms through its new Day Pass service.
ESPN is violating Allen W. Burton (Allen W.
The complaint says Dish has a limited super digital license to distribute ESPN programming as part of the DISH sling TV service. Slings provide consumers with linear TV networks and on-demand content with a monthly subscription. ESPN said Dish decided to offer ESPN network and other licensed content in a part of the day pass without consulting ESPN or getting blessings. The network said it only learned a day through “by articles from trade publishers” and one of them Deadline Quote.
The new service is known as allowing viewing of ESPN's “no subscription” every day or longer. ESPN complains that this means that day pass users can watch live sports on ESPN without a subscription, which is “fundamentally inconsistent with the OTT license, completely unauthorized and constitutes material and persistent license violations”.
Along these lines, the complaint target is an August 12 press release to announce a one-day pass. ESPN aims to press the ad “24-hour football priced at $4.99” and access ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and Disney Channels.
ESPN also asserted that “unauthorized access” devalued its programming and “threatening to severely undermine “long-term” contract and business relationships with distribution partners.
Additionally, the complaint stressed that ESPN's programming decisions “depending on the monthly subscription model.” To illustrate, the complaint cites how ESPN gains rights to the U.S. Open based on the packaged multi-week event. This arrangement does not allow the selection and selection of our open events for broadcast. Furthermore, the economics of “subscribers will pay for at least a full month’s access fee through ESPN” is described as the basis for “subscribers will pay for at least a full month’s access fee”. In contrast, the dish that “provides one-time access with one-day pass on a transaction basis” is described as reflecting “a very different economic and strategic outlook.”
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Allen Sabramanians.
In a statement shared with it Sporticoa spokesperson for the sling said on sling TV that “everything we have to do” is “related to our customers.” The statement praised the one-day pass and other products, “to redefine streaming, give viewers more flexibility, choose more, and have more control over how they watch live TV.” Regarding the lawsuit, the spokesperson said it was “useful” and the company will “vigorously defend our right to bring customers the viewing experience that suits their lives, scheduled and terms.”
The dish lawyer will answer the complaint in the next few weeks and deny wrongdoing. Dish is expected to insist that its issuance is consistent with its license or other agreement. The ESPN-DISH contractual relationship may also be “a complaint that goes back decades” and requires arbitration or mediation before complaint is filed.