WISN-TV, other Hearst stations back on DISH service after nearly eight weeks

WISN-TV (Channel 12) and other TV stations owned by Hearst Television were back on the Dish Network Wednesday night, almost eight weeks after the stations' signals were pulled from the satellite service in a feud over retransmission fees.

“We are grateful to once again have Hearst Television stations providing DISH customers the quality local and national programming which we invest so heavily to offer our local communities,” Hearst Television President Jordan Wertlieb said in a state issued by Milwaukee ABC affiliate WISN-TV.

WISN and Hearst's other 25 stations have been unavailable to DISH subscribers since March 2, the day after a deadline for a new agreement on the fee that DISN would pay Hearst to carry its stations' programming.

In recent years, as the traditional advertising model for television has been challenged by the proliferation of streaming and other alternative content-delivery systems, broadcasters have sought fee increases that the cable and satellite systems have balked at.