Affiliates Oppose Dish Signal Cutoff Extension Request
Broadcast network affiliates don’t want EchoStar to get an extension of its deadline to stop carrying their stations’ distant signals. The affiliates are preparing to file Mon. to ask the U.S. Dist. Court, Miami, to keep the DBS provider from getting an extension of several months of the Dec. 1 deadline (CD Nov 8 p11), said their lawyer, Wade Hargrove: “EchoStar has had more than enough time to prepare its customers for this transition.” In requiring the shutdown, U.S. Dist. Judge William Dimitrouleas rejected a $100 million settlement between Dish and ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates.
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Prospects seem low for a new settlement between EchoStar and affiliates. “Negotiations appear to be over,” Hargrove said. Industry lawyers consider a new deal crucial for EchoStar to win its appeal of Dimitrouleas’s permanent injunction against importing distant signals. “The position of the affiliates is, we have negotiated in good faith a settlement to help compensate for the harm that the copyright infringement had inflicted on local stations,” Hargrove said: “The trial court, for its own reasons, declined to approve the settlement, and therefore the affiliates believe the judgment of the court should be implemented on schedule on Dec. 1.” EchoStar couldn’t be reached for comment by our deadline.
EchoStar is trying to avoid a signal cut-off by lobbying members of Congress and pursuing an appeal filed 2 weeks ago in 11th U.S. Appeals Court, Miami. This week, it asked the 11th Circuit for an emergency stay of the injunction, criticizing the lower court for nullifying deals it made as long as 5 years ago in litigation dating to 1998. “Unless the permanent injunction is stayed, EchoStar, its over 850,000 innocent subscribers, and all of the plaintiffs who have settled with EchoStar will be irreparably harmed,” said the injunction request, referring to customers who get distant signals. “If subscribers prematurely lose their network programming, many of EchoStar’s subscribers are likely to cancel their remaining satellite services.”
A cut-off won’t hurt customers, DirecTV said. Its sister company, Fox, opposed the affiliate deal. “The majority of its distant network customers will be able to watch their local network channels without interruption,” DirecTV said Mon. on the case, CBS v. EchoStar. “Virtually every customer impacted by this injunction will still be able to choose between satellite companies like DirecTV, as well as their local cable company,” it said. Hargrove said: “No viewers will be deprived of access to broadcast network programming.”