Both sides of the programming carriage skirmish between EchoStar and Viacom apparently are still talking about a deal. But documents - recently sent to the California federal court considering EchoStar's request for a restraining order to prevent Viacom from taking away its content - revealed some of negotiation's background.
According to a statement filed with the court from Michael Schwimmer, EchoStar's vice president of programming, the satellite TV company wanted to negotiate carriage of Viacom's broadcast stations and cable programming separately. EchoStar did not want to talk about carriage of a new programming service - Nicktoons - a network Viacom apparently wanted to place on DISH Network, the filing said.
Also, Viacom reportedly wanted a three-year extension of the current term for three networks - TVLand, CMT and Spike TV - from the current end date in 2005, the filing said.
The statement from Schwimmer said Viacom used its exclusive broadcast rights to the upcoming Super Bowl to pressure EchoStar to acquiesce to its demands. "EchoStar's inability to provide its subscribers with the Super Bowl would exacerbate even further the grave injury that EchoStar would sustain by not being able to carry CBS's stations at any other time of the year," the statement said.
On Monday, EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen sounded upbeat on the talks. The extended deadline for negotiations expires tonight.
hancox said:Oh boy, Swimmer's on it - should have known this would get ugly
LER said:Has anyone heard any news (good or bad) on this?
LER
Yes, he is. But like most real people he proved less than 100% accurate, and he reacted poorly to anyone who questioned his knowledge. You got to roll with the punches.gpflepsen said:Tasydra was real.
Cancel when you owe a cancellation fee and it will turn up as a bad debt of your credit report -- unless you pay the fee.Stargazer said:And customers are going to tell Dish to shove it and that they dont care if they are in a contract or not that they will not get a cent.
Stargazer said:And customers are going to tell Dish to shove it and that they dont care if they are in a contract or not that they will not get a cent.
There wasn't much more to report concerning discussions between Viacom and EchoStar concerning carriage of Viacom's networks on the DISH Network satellite TV service.
Reportedly, there is a stand still in the discussions set to last through today. According to documents, the parties asked for a court hearing - if it becomes necessary - concerning EchoStar's request for a temporary restraining order preventing the loss of Viacom content. That hearing would take place today in federal court in Oakland, Calif., if needed.
The EchoStar/Viacom talks concern ongoing carriage of key networks - such as MTV and Nickelodeon - and local CBS channels on DISH Network.
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