WCCO goes dark on Dish

Dish Network has dropped WCCO and all CBS stations from its broadcast lineup in a dispute over the amount of money the satellite TV service pays to CBS.

The move affects 13 million subscribers to Dish and 28 channels in 18 markets, including Minnesota.

“CBS is attempting to tax Dish customers on programming that’s losing viewers, tax Dish customers on programming available for free over the air, and tax Dish customers for content available directly from CBS,” said Warren Schlichting, Dish executive vice president of marketing, programming and media sales, in a statement.

“This particular dispute is yet another example of the company punishing its subscribers instead of negotiating a fair carriage deal that reflects the current marketplace,” CBS said in its statement.

This is the second time Dish has dropped CBS. In 2014, the network and local stations went dark on the service for a few hours.

WCCO went dark on Dish a little before 2 this morning.

Local viewers can still watch WCCO if they use rabbit ears.

Who’s still got rabbit ears?