Dish Network Chairman Fires Back at AMC’s Zombie Experiment NYC Campaign
Steve Barton
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Deadline
http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/dish-network-amc-dispute-carriage/
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A couple of weeks ago AMC put together a hilarious campaign in New York City to send a message to Dish Network that people want their zombies on TV and not wandering the streets. Unfortunately the humor and message was lost on Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen.
According to Deadline Ergen warned analysts in a conference call today that his company will lose some customers — or have trouble attracting new ones — since it dropped AMC, IFC, WEtv, and Sundance in late June. But he says the decision was a “no-brainer” that will pay off for Dish in the long run.
“Our customers are not looking at zombies in New York City”, he said referring to AMC’s hit “The Walking Dead.” “They live on farms and ranches”. Ergen added that he might have renewed AMC, but bucked at the company’s requirement that Dish also carry the other networks.
“There hasn’t been a time when anyone in our family has watched one second of those channels”. He was also dismissive of AMC which has acclaimed series including “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.” “They’re critically acclaimed but not viewed as much by our audience”, he says. “And our customers can go to iTunes and get Mad Men the same time it’s on. We could pay the entire iTunes bill and it would be cheaper than carrying the AMC Networks channels.” Indeed, Ergen says that by not carrying the AMC channels Dish will be “several dollars cheaper than our competition that’s carrying those channels”.
So people who live on farms and ranches aren’t hip enough to watch shows like “The Walking Dead” or check out quality independent programming from IFC or Sundance? Sounds pretty condescending to us. Glad he can make that decision for the millions of Dish customers who by his estimation obviously want nothing more than to watch “Hee Haw” reruns and fishing shows.
If I were a Dish subscriber I’d leave just because the guy who’s running the show comes off as an absolute tool!
“The Walking Dead” returns for a third season on October 14th.
To stay up-to-the-minute on all things walker related, follow @WalkingDead_AMC on Twitter and visit “The Walking Dead” on Facebook. For more be sure to hit up the official “The Walking Dead” page on AMC.com.
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