Many Dish Network subscribers will notice some programming changes beginning Dec. 1, 2006.
Dish Network was found to have violated Federal Copyright Law in a court ruling handed down earlier this year, and lost the rights to provide any distant feeds of network programming. Dish Network's parent company, Echostar, recently lost another appeal to continue to carry distant feeds of network programming, such as CBS and FOX.
WBOC has tried for years to get Echostar/Dish Network to carry our local stations on satellite. Every year we make numerous requests, and every year we are denied.
We have had Sen. Tom Carper personally write the owner of Echostar/Dish Network requesting carriage of your local stations. His request was turned down. We have offered to provide floor space for the Dish Network-owned equipment necessary to uplink local channels to Echostar/Dish Network's satellite rent-free.
If Echostar/Dish Network informs you that the local stations will not cooperate with them for carriage, challenge them to conference call you with me personally. I have done this in the past, and without fail, after insisting on speaking with and actually talking to higher levels of management within the company, we arrive at the truth: DishNetwork has no plans to carry your local stations, and they have not contacted your local stations to even begin discussions of carriage.
WBOC and FOX21 eagerly desire the carriage by DishNetwork, and I have personally been working to accomplish that goal now for more than seven years.
Below is a copy of a news release reporting the most recent actions in this case. The news release also provides some background as to why Echostar now finds itself in this position.
Regards,
Rick Jordan
VP/GM
WBOC and FOX21
(410) 749-1111, ext. 452
A federal judge in Florida ruled Monday that Dec. 1 will remain the date on which EchoStar Communications has to cease providing distant feeds of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox programming to 850,000 customers.
EchoStar, citing various business-operations concerns, had asked U.S. Judge William Dimitrouleas to move the date of his injunction from Dec. 1 to April 16.
Noting that EchoStar has known since May 23 that a permanent nationwide injunction was likely, Dimitrouleas rejected the idea that the direct-broadcast satellite provider didn't have sufficient time to cope with a shutoff.
"The time to prepare for such an outcome was months ago, when EchoStar first learned of the likelihood of entry of a nationwide injunction, not weeks before the injunction would take effect," Dimitrouleas said in a three-page opinion.
Distant network signals originate outside the home market of subscribers. Subscribers who can view local network affiliates with antennas are barred from buying distant signals. EchoStar was found to have violated federal copyright law by selling distant network signals to hundreds of thousands of legally ineligible customers.
In the opinion, Dimitrouleas said he had already accommodated EchoStar to some degree by not imposing the injunction immediately Oct. 20.
"Therefore, no further extension of time is warranted. Any unfortunate interruption of service to EchoStar's clients continues to be the responsibility of EchoStar," Dimitrouleas added.
This is CABL.com posting #179976. Tiny Link: cabl.co/mUY0
