Lack of Local content is the only reason I don't go Dishin'...
Making Its Own Rules: EchoStar Goes Local
01/09/98
CABLEFAX
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Cable will lose one of its best competitive advantages over satellite this month if EchoStar [DISH] is allowed to go forward with a plan to offer local network signals to the top DMAs east of the Missisippi. On Mon, EchoStar said it will start offering ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX signals to affiliates in the New York, Boston, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas markets. The announcement, a carefully- worded release from the CES show in Las Vegas, maintained that chmn/CEO Charlie Ergen's plan is protected by SHVA and the '34 Communications Act. While must-carry laws require cable to carry every broadcast signal, EchoStar argues it can legally select to carry only the Big 4. "I think they believe that the government is so adamantly looking for any competition to cable that they'll roll over and see that satellite has a product that truly is competitive," Janco Partners analyst Ted Henderson told sister pub Satellite News yesterday. NAB yesterday said it wouldn't respond officially to EchoStar's plan until its board reviews the proposal at its board meeting next week. But NAB opposes Ergen's plan unless he agrees to carry every local signal in a particular DMA, sources told us earlier. Prepare for a long battle on Capitol Hill. One win for cable could come if legislators agree to loosen cable's must-carry obligations in exchange for allowing satellite to pick-and-choose the broadcast nets they'll transmit. "We are not opposed to our competitors offering the same services we offer so long as both have the same obligation [must carry] with regard to that offering," CATA pres/CEO Steve Effros says. |
