CBS negotiations with Dish could spark TV blackout

With negotiations going down to the wire, CBS is warning of a potential blackout of its TV stations – which air some of the ion’s most popular programs – for millions of customers of satellite giant Dish Network.

Dish’s current distribution contract with CBS expires Thursday, which could lead to a blackout of CBS’ signal in 14 markets, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, New York, Dallas, Denver and other cities where CBS owns a station.

The two sides are in negotiations, but CBS appears to be playing hard ball – using its strong prime-time lineup and coverage of the NFL and college football as leverage to extract an increase in the fees it charges for the retransmission of signals from CBS’ television stations.

Home Builders’ optimism up on single-family market

Single-family home builders are increasingly optimistic heading into the holidays, as more potential buyers stroll through their model homes.

The National Association of Home Builders said Tuesday that its gauge of builder confidence rose four points to 58 this month. Any number higher than 50 indicates more builders see the market for new single-family homes as good rather than poor.

“Growing confidence among consumers is what’s fueling this optimism,” NAHB Chairman Kevin Kelly said in a statement.

Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ fined for sanctions violations

New York regulators say Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ will pay $315 million and some employees are being sanctioned for misleading the state about bank transactions that violated U.S. economic sanctions against several countries, including Iran, Sudan and Myanmar.

The state’s Department of Financial Services says bank employees pressured a consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to remove warnings to regulators in a report the bank submitted about the extent of illicit conduct.

In June 2013, Bank of Tokyo agreed to pay $250 million and have a year of special monitoring over how it handled about 28,000 U.S. dollar transactions totaling about $100 billion.

Calls to the bank were not immediately returned.