WICHITA FALLS, Texas—Dish subscribers in 21 markets lost access to Mission Broadcasting television stations over the weekend when the contract between Dish and Mission expired on Sept. 11.

In addition to the loss of local news, weather and traffic provided by these stations, the removal came just as the NFL season was about to kick-off in full swing, in addition to the NBA and NHL playoffs and the college football season.

Mission Broadcasting President Dennis Thatcher says that Dish is taking advantage of its subscribers, putting them in the middle of a contract dispute.

“All we are asking for is the same fair agreement we have come to with each of our cable, satellite and telco providers,” said Thatcher. “Mission has a long track record of negotiating fairly and avoiding service interruptions in our markets. That’s simply not the case with Dish.”

Dish has said that it remains open to reaching an agreement with Mission that is fair to its customers.

This is the second instance of a retrans dispute between Dish and Mission in 2020, following an instance in January when 18 stations went dark. They were brought back on air in March as a result of temporary deals at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; the deals were eventually extended as the pandemic worsened.

Here are the stations that are impacted by this current black out:

•  KLJB, Davenport-Rock Island-Moline, Iowa; 
•  KPEJ (Fox), Odessa-Midland, Texas; 
•  KMSS (Fox), Shreveport, La.; 
•  KRBC (NBC), Abilene-Sweetwater, Texas; 
•  KCIT (Fox), Amarillo, Texas; 
•  KCPN (MNT), Amarillo, Texas; 
•  WVNY (ABC), Bennington County, Vt.; 
•  KHMT (Fox), Billings, Mont.; 
•  WVNY (ABC), Burlington, Vt.-Plattsburg, N.Y.; 
•  WFXP (Fox), Erie, Pa.; 
•  WTVW (CW), Evansville, Ind.; 
•  KFQX (Fox) Grand Junction-Montrose, Colo.; 
•  KODE (ABC), Joplin, Mo.-Pittsburg, Kan.; 
•  KASN (CW), Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Ark.; 
•  KLRT (Fox), Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Ark.; 
•  KAMC (ABC), Lubbock, Texas; 
•  KTVE (NBC) Monroe, La.-El Dorado, Ark.; 
•  WTVO (ABC) Rockford, Ill.; 
•  KASN (NBC), San Angelo, Texas; 
•  KOLR (CBS), Springfield, Mo.; 
•  WAWV (ABC), Terre Haute, Ind.; 
•  WUTR (ABC), Utica, N.Y.; 
•  KJBO (MNT), Wichita Falls-Lawton, Texas; 
•  KJTL (Fox), Wichita Falls-Lawston, Texas; 
•  WYOU (CBS), Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa.; 
•  WVNY (ABC), Windham County, Vt.  

LAS VEGAS—On the first day of CES, Tuesday, a record 1.33 inches of rain fell, the wettest one-day downpour since the Weather Service began keeping records in 1937.

On the second day of CES, at about 11:15 am, the lights flickered and went out in the massive Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center where the sprawling booths of Samsung, LG, Sony, Intel and hundreds more exhibits went dark. Thousands of visitors pulled out mobile handsets, hit the “flashlight” app, and edged out of the building; authorities said there were no injuries. Parts of the connector between Central and South Halls were also affected.

Initial reports indicated that Tuesday’s downpour affected the LVCC transformers and also the back-up generators; officials continue to investigate the cause for the blackout. Others shrugged at the streak of bad luck in Vegas—rain and a blackout—wondering what might happen next.

Many attendees admitted immediately that when the lights went off with a small pop, their first thought was terrorism, while others discussed the irony of a high-tech exposition knocked low by fundamental electrical technology. A few wise-guys conjectured that it happened because someone said, “Alexa, turn off the lights.”

By the time, power returned at about 1 p.m., the crowds jamming the building’s periphery exploded in applause. But some exhibitors—such as Samsung—barricaded their booths for at least another hour while they rebooted devices (rather than have visitors see non-working products).