Overview
- Dish filed antitrust and breach-of-contract counterclaims on Jan. 2 in the Southern District of New York after Disney sued over Sling’s short-term streaming passes.
- Dish alleges an illegal tie by conditioning access to must-have ESPN networks on carriage of low-value channels, which it says inflates costs and blocks flexible packaging.
- Dish claims Disney violated most-favored-nation provisions by granting rivals better terms, citing YouTube TV’s 20-minute free preview as one example.
- Requested remedies include monetary damages and a court order to unwind Disney’s Fubo acquisition as well as the ESPN–Fox One bundle.
- In November, a federal judge denied Disney’s request to block Sling Passes, and Disney has not issued a substantive response to the new counterclaims.