Echostar Communications Corp. and Lifetime Television severed talks to restore two channels to Echostar’s Dish Network satellite service, which the satellite TV provider dropped over a contract dispute, the companies announced Jan. 22.

Echostar dropped Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Network Dec. 31, because Lifetime demanded “an unreasonable” rate increase of 76 percent for the rights to broadcast the networks, Lifetime countered that Dish Network “unilaterally refused to negotiate a reasonable carriage agreement, even dismissing Lifetime’s generous offer of a temporary contract extension.”

Talks between the two sides have not helped resolve the dispute. “We have been unable to reach an agreement, even though we offered a number of options which were ultimately rejected by Lifetime,” Michael Neuman, president of Echostar, said in a Jan. 22 statement.

In a separate announcement, Lifetime Entertainment Services said no agreement had been reach after Dish Network had sought “draconian cut in rates.” Lifetime denied that it is seeking a 76 percent increase in its fees, calling its demand “a modest increase of a few pennies per month in its fees for the two networks combined.” Lifetime remains “open to an agreement with Dish that is fair to us, to our viewers and to other providers,” said Betty Cohen, president and CEO of Lifetime Entertainment Services.