Why amc left dish

Related: The start-up that wants to conquer television. Cablevision, a Long Island, N. Related: Ditching cable made easy. Also returning that day will be the music-oriented network Fuse, which is owned by Madison Square Garden Co. MSG , another former Cablevision unit still controlled by the Dolan family. Fear not, DISH subscribers! Personal Finance. The debate hinges on Dish's motivations.

But Dish representatives said the company chose to stop airing the channels because AMC Networks asked for a fee much higher than its relatively small viewership warrants. Dish executives refused to negotiate or discuss their contract with AMC Networks in the months leading up to the blackout, said Carroll, adding that he had never in his time at AMC seen a TV provider act that way.

To him, the move makes sense only if Dish intended to use its carriage of AMC channels as a legal bargaining chip. But in this case, Dish was very clear that they didn't want to negotiate, because it was all about the lawsuit. The suit will go to trial Sept. Carroll said that he was all but certain Dish would not bring back the AMC channels before the end of the current block of "Breaking Bad" episodes.

He wasn't even sure that service would be restored in time for the Oct. To that end, AMC has launched a multi-pronged advertising campaign over the past month to urge Dish subscribers to cancel their subscriptions. The promotion calls on Dish subscribers to make videos enumerating all the things they miss about the network's TV shows.

The contest follows a big publicity stunt last week, in which AMC released a horde of "Walking Dead"-inspired "zombies" on the streets of New York to raise awareness about the dispute. AMC also has been making its case in subtler ways. Every television commercial for an AMC show concludes with a brief statement reminding viewers that the program is "not available on Dish," and print ads usually include the phrase "Available on cable and satellite -- not available on Dish.

Dish hasn't been responding to AMC's provocations, and its silence looks likely to continue for the foreseeable future.