The NFL’s TV channels are back on Dish Network, and now they’re available to Sling subscribers as well.
Dish (DISH) announced Wednesday it had reached a deal with the league to put NFL Network and NFL RedZone back in its satellite TV lineup, ending a brief blackout that began in mid-June after the two parties disputed over distribution fees.
“NFL Network and NFL RedZone elevate our offering in time for the highly anticipated NFL season,” Dish CEO Roger Lynch said on Sling’s TV blog. “This NFL season, Sling TV customers will have access to game coverage spanning across multiple networks.”
In April, Dish reported a loss of 23,000 net pay-TV subscribers for the year’s first quarter as more viewers opted to “cut the cord,” turning to streaming services like Netflix (NFLX) and Hulu.
The NFL also reached an agreement with Twitter (TWTR) in April to live stream select NFL games, according to Reuters. Twitter outbid Amazon (AMZN), Verizon (VZ), and Yahoo (YHOO) to close the deal before securing similar ones with the NBA and MLB as the social media site invests heavily in video streaming to remain competitive with Facebook (FB).
Dish and other cable providers are facing intense deal negotiations with network programmers seeking price increases who are increasingly lured by the rising popularity of streaming services like Netflix (NFLX), Hulu, and Amazon Prime (AMZN). On Tuesday, Time Warner (TWX) said it paid $583 million f or a 10% stake in Hulu.
Dish is still involved in a fee dispute with Tribune Media, which owns WGN and many other local broadcast affiliates.
The NFL did not yet respond to Coins2Day’s calls for comment.
