Dish and Time Warner’s relationship has been pretty rocky these past few months but it appears as though the two have reached an accord. Both companies have signed a new distribution deal that will not only keep popular Time Warner-owned channels such as TBS and TNT available to Dish customers, it might open the door to adding HBO to Dish’s own streaming service, Sling TV.
Time Warner Inc. and satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp. have come to terms on a new distribution pact that includes an online offering of HBO, according to people familiar with the matter. The two companies negotiated through Tuesday evening, past the deadline of their current short-term agreement, to wrap up a deal that will keep Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting channels such as TBS, TNT and truTV in Dish customers’ homes. The deal includes a way to subscribe to HBO through Sling TV, Dish’s Web TV service. A person familiar with the matter said Dish is unlikely to be a distributor at the launch of HBO Now, the standalone app, although Dish does have the right to do so as part of the deal. Last fall, several of Turner’s channels went dark on Dish’s service after talks collapsed on the new contract, which meant Cartoon Network, CNN, HLN and other channels weren’t accessible in about 14 million U.S. homes. The two sides then reached a temporary accord that restored the channels.