WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Satellite television provider EchoStar Communications
Corp. (DISH) suffered a setback Wednesday as a House subcommittee rebuffed key
legislative priorities pushed by the company.
The House Commerce Committee's Telecommunications subcommittee approved a
bill Wednesday that would force EchoStar to deliver all local television
programming to a single satellite dish. Members complained that EchoStar had
relegated religious, Spanish and other niche market stations to reception over
a second dish and only installed those dishes reluctantly.
EchoStar had warned that the requirement would slow its plans to roll out
carriage of local television service in 40 additional markets next year. The
company also said some customers could be inconvenienced and temporarily lose
signals during the transition.
EchoStar says it may have to install second dishes in up to 30 markets to
accommodate national programming that is knocked off the primary dish by the
additional local channels. EchoStar currently carries local stations in 118
markets.
(MORE) Dow Jones Newswires
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The bill would require EchoStar to move the local signals to a single dish in
one year. Congress must pass the law this year to renew satellite television's
statutory license to carry broadcast signals.
The committee also rebuffed EchoStar's effort to win a provision that would
give it the right to carry high-definition television signals from distant
stations when a local station can't deliver high-definition to a viewer. The
proposal was vigorously opposed by the National Association of Broadcasters,
which said the measure would slow the rollout of digital television.
Broadcasters were also doubtful that EchoStar would drop the distant
high-definition signal once a local signal was available.
EchoStar had been fighting an uphill battle on both provisions with a
committee where broadcasters have a strong following. EchoStar's use of two
dishes for use of local signals also had been opposed by its satellite
competitor DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV), now a unit of News Corp. (NWS).
DirecTV also didn't join EchoStar's push to carry the distant high-definition
signal, deciding instead to launch negotiations with individual broadcast
stations in the matter.
EchoStar is likely to have more support in the Senate from Senate Commerce
Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. But it's unclear whether the
Senate will be willing to include the controversial high-definition provision
in a presidential election year where there are relatively few legislative days
remaining.
The provision would give EchoStar more bargaining power with broadcasters.
The company most recently tangled with Viacom Inc. (VIA, VIAB) over program
pricing in a dispute that interrupted carriage on EchoStar of Viacom's CBS
network.