Some Dish Network customers in Colorado and around the country could see their broadcast channels go dark, following a U.S. District Court ruling in Florida.
After nine years of litigation, Douglas County-based EchoStar Communications Corp. – operator of Dish Network – must shut off its out-of- market feeds of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox on Dec. 1.
That’s based on an injunction issued Friday by U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas in Florida.
“If they turn off distant-network feeds, customers will be irate and angry. There’s going to be an uprising on Dec. 2 when the channels go black,” said Don Bendell, co-owner of Durango-based Louisa’s Movie House and Electronics. “We deal with this on a daily basis. It’s a complete hassle.”
Dimitrouleas upheld a May appellate court ruling stating that EchoStar violated copyright law by beaming network programs broadcast from cities such as New York and Los Angeles to households ineligible to receive those signals.
EchoStar in August had reached a $100 million settlement on the issue with independently owned and operated affiliates of NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox. Only 25 local Fox stations directly owned by Fox rejected the settlement. Fox parent News Corp. controls DirecTV, EchoStar’s satellite TV competitor
Dimitrouleas denied the settlement agreement and EchoStar’s request for a hearing. EchoStar is expected to appeal the decision.
“EchoStar will continue to do everything possible to prevent consumers from losing their distant-network channels,” said the company in a statement Monday. “We will ask Congress to clarify the statutory language, and ask the courts to re-consider their decision.”
About 800,000 of EchoStar’s 12.5 million subscribers receive distant-network signals.
The ruling does not affect Dish Network customers who receive local broadcast channels via satellite. In order to qualify for distant-network access, customers must typically be unable to receive local broadcast programming over the air.
In Durango, a large majority of Dish Network customers receive distant-network signals, in order to watch local news and sports programming originating from Denver.
The city falls within Albuquerque’s local TV market, so in order to view local programming from Denver, customers must qualify and pay for distant-network signals – about $1.50 per local channel, per month.
For Brian Olson of Highlands Ranch, distant-network signals from the CBS station in New York City has allowed him to view the network’s programming in high-definition for more than two years. He said he will keep his Dish Network service.
“I doubt many subscribers will give up their Dish Network,” he said. “It (distant-network signals) was a nice thing while it lasted.”
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-954-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
