In a lawsuit shrouded in secrecy, CNN's parent company and Dish Network are fighting over contractual obligations.

Sometime in the next week, CNN's parent company Turner will be filing court papers providing evidence for how it has allegedly been cheated by Dish Network out of license payments for the cable news network. The case has remained under the radar for more than a year since it was initially filed under seal. Dish has acknowledged what's happening very broadly in securities filings, yet thanks in large part to television executives treating their contractual terms like the secret ingredients for a more destructive nuclear bomb, the matter has been pursued under a veil of intense secrecy and commanded little press notice. In fact, the dispute is about people watching CNN on airplanes — and there’s an estimated $100 million at stake. The case has been discussed in public just once. That came last spring during the Justice Department's lawsuit over the $85 billion merger between AT&T and Time Warner. The courtroom was full of reporters and analysts, but everyone seemed to overlook one notable moment when Dish executive Warren Schlichting was on the witness stand.

Schlichting addressed whether CNN was truly a "must-have" network in this politically obsessed age. He wanted to push the point that the merger would be bad for AT&T’s rivals in the television distribution space, as CNN’s parent company could potentially jack up the fees for the right to carry the news network. Then came cross-examination. “In fact, you’re in litigation with Turner right now over CNN, correct?” asked AT&T’s lawyer. “That’s true.”