Dish Says It Will Drop ‘Mad Men’ Network in AMC Dispute

Dish Network Corp. (DISH), the second-largest U.S. satellite-TV provider, says it will drop AMC Networks Inc. (AMCX) channels including AMC, WE tv, IFC and Sundance Channel from all packages, citing poor viewership.

Dish, based in Englewood, Colorado, will no longer carry the networks because AMC is demanding a “high renewal cost when compared to their low viewership,” the company said today in an e-mailed statement.

AMC broadcasts TV shows including “Mad Men,” “The Walking Dead” and “Breaking Bad.” Dish subscribers can see AMC’s “very limited” programming through outlets including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc.’s iTunes and Netflix Inc. (NFLX), the satellite-television provider said in the statement.

AMC said Dish was dropping the networks as a response to a court ruling last month that denied the satellite-TV company the right to appeal an outstanding lawsuit, according to a separate statement today. In 2008, when AMC was a Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) unit, it filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Dish seeking $2.5 billion over the collapse of Voom, a collection of high-definition stations.

A judge ruled that Dish had destroyed evidence relating to Voom and denied Dish the right to further appeal the decision, leaving the case to be set for trial, AMC said in the statement. Dish informed AMC days later of its intention to drop the network, AMC said.

Dish says the litigation is a separate matter and not related to its decision to drop AMC Networks.

AMC fell 3.2 percent to $43.12 at the close in New York. Dish slipped 4 percent to $31.31. Dish is scheduled to report earnings May 7.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net

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Dish Says It Will Drop ‘Mad Men’ Network in Dispute With AMC

Ron Jaffe/AMC

Jon Hamm, Jessica Pare, Charlie Hofheimer and Elisabeth Moss in "Mad Men."

Jon Hamm, Jessica Pare, Charlie Hofheimer and Elisabeth Moss in "Mad Men." Photographer: Ron Jaffe/AMC