Judge Grants Echostar Restraing order against Viacom

[Scott Greczkowski]

EchoStar Statement on Ruling in Case against Viacom; Request for Temporary Restraining Order Granted

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2004--EchoStar Communication Corp.'s DISH Network issued the following statement in response to the decision today by the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to grant EchoStar's request for a temporary restraining order allowing DISH Network to continue broadcasting Viacom and CBS channels.

"We are pleased that the court recognizes that the interest of the public is served by this temporary restraining order against Viacom and CBS; but we are especially pleased that the American TV viewer will have uninterrupted access to the public airwaves."

About EchoStar Communications

EchoStar Communications Corporation (NasdaqISH) serves over 9 million satellite TV customers through its DISH Network(TM), and is a leading U.S. provider of advanced digital television services. DISH Network's services include hundreds of video and audio channels, Interactive TV, HDTV, sports and international programming, together with professional installation and 24-hour customer service. DISH Network is the leader in the sale of digital video recorders (DVRs). Visit EchoStar's DISH Network at www.dishnetwork.com or call 800-333-DISH (3474).


CONTACT: EchoStar Communication Corp.
Steve Caulk, 303-723-2010
steve.caulk@echostar.com

SOURCE: EchoStar Communication Corp.

 

[dfergie]

Cool, I hope it lasts thru umm say until survivor all-stars is through.

 

[Tampa8]

Any lawyers out there know if there is a guideline when a Judge makes this decision? What I am wondering is, did Echostar have to show they are making a good faith effort to resolve this? That might give some insight as to what is going on.

 

[mike123abc]

Story on it.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040116/media_echostar_viacom_2.html

Viacom statement
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040116/nyf094_1.html

 

[TheForce]

Frankly, I don't understand what the big deal is. Why is E* so against carriage of Nicktoons? I understand how Viacom wants to bundle Nicktoons as they probably couldn't sell it on it's own. Many channels of low demand are bundled. The referenced press releases didn't mention that there was some huge price increase which is usually E*'s complaint. It just says Viacom wants to add Nicktoons to the bundle. Anybody know the hidden truth to what's going on?

On the TRO- I agree that this was the right decision. Why should the viewers who purchased the Viacom channels and CBS in their subscription contracts suffer while negotiations are ongoing.

 

[Harmon]

Any lawyers out there know if there is a guideline when a Judge makes this decision? What I am wondering is, did Echostar have to show they are making a good faith effort to resolve this? That might give some insight as to what is going on.

Typically to secure a temporary restraining order or injunction you have to show (1) irreparable harm if the order is not granted, and (2) a likelihood of eventual success on the merits of your lawsuit.

 

[BOYCOTT26]

In all reality wouldn't you all rather watch Nicktoons than our brand
new Bingo channel!

 

[Peter Parker]

Sure but that it is not as if we are confronted with that particular choice.

 

[Tampa8]

Typically to secure a temporary restraining order or injunction you have to show (1) irreparable harm if the order is not granted, and (2) a likelihood of eventual success on the merits of your lawsuit.

#2 is what I was wondering about. Viacom knowing this might now be more willing to comprimise abit more.

As to why Dish is fighting this I won't post it all again, but this is a very important moment for cable and dbs. To come up with a new channel and insist it be carried or lose all the other channels is to me way beyond what is good for the public. They are trying more and more to dictate what Dish will carry. It isn't quite as simple as that, but close. You haven't seen rates rise anything like they will if Viacom succeeds, because others will follow. This isn't Charlie just looking out for us, he is a business man and wants the lowest cost for the highest profits. But we will gain in the end with lower prices.

 

[Allamand]

#2 is what I was wondering about. Viacom knowing this might now be more willing to comprimise abit more.

As to why Dish is fighting this I won't post it all again, but this is a very important moment for cable and dbs. To come up with a new channel and insist it be carried or lose all the other channels is to me way beyond what is good for the public. They are trying more and more to dictate what Dish will carry. It isn't quite as simple as that, but close. You haven't seen rates rise anything like they will if Viacom succeeds, because others will follow. This isn't Charlie just looking out for us, he is a business man and wants the lowest cost for the highest profits. But we will gain in the end with lower prices.

Sounds a lot like what Dish does to us though, giving us a lot of channels that are of no value to me! Also, this isn't a new channel, been around for a bit and I would love to have it for my two kids. In the 14 months I've been on Dish I have sen two price increases and no channels added I wanted.

Maybe they should have a POLL on there site and let the people decide by voting, that would be my idea if they really cared!

 

[MikeD-C05]

IF Dish is fighting to save us money with Turner and Viacom then why are we getting a price increase next month? How do they justify one ? Or is this a price increase because Dish is going to cave to Viacom and pay the increase anyway? I would love to hear what Charlie would say to this one.

 

[mkm4]

IF Dish is fighting to save us money with Turner and Viacom then why are we getting a price increase next month? How do they justify one ? Or is this a price increase because Dish is going to cave to Viacom and pay the increase anyway? I would love to hear what Charlie would say to this one.

Dish doesn't just carry channels from Turner and Viacom. Other channels have already raised their rates. The cost is being passed on to you.

 

[MikeD-C05]

If that is true then why not tell us what provider charged more money. They certainly have no problem telling us about Turner and Viacom and their problems .

 

[Bobby]

If that is true then why not tell us what provider charged more money. They certainly have no problem telling us about Turner and Viacom and their problems .

They have been very upfront about ESPN costing 20% more this year. They always talk about the ones that they have negotiating problems with. This is nothing new, we've been there many times over the years.

 

[Peter Parker]

C'mon Mike. In most cases those details can't be revealed and few of us would want it. The E negotiating position is that tehese increases are unjustified.

 

[Alan Gordon]

I was looking at the public area of the Echostar's retailer site today, and noticed they have new sheets with the new package names and prices, not to mention the new DHA plan and so forth. In the sheet that showed their programming packages, they still had the Viacom channels. If I was a business and worried that certain channels might be on, I'd make sure these new sheets are not available until I was sure I'd have them.


~Alan<~~~~~~~~Who REALLY wants to know what's up with Pegasus.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I agree they are unjustified but why tell us of the terrible things that Turner and Viacom are doing to keep from having a price increase but say nothing about ESPN and just cave to their demands? So we are paying more money because of ESPN. They need to push these channels into an ala cart teir that we don't have to sub to if we don't want to. I for one do not care at all for sports channels and I am getting tired of paying for the ones who do. Maybe something we could hope for with Shiva is to hope they will allow more ala cart choices for the consumers. I know there has been talk about this option with cable, so why not satellite.

 

[James Long]

I agree they are unjustified but why tell us of the terrible things that Turner and Viacom are doing to keep from having a price increase but say nothing about ESPN and just cave to their demands? So we are paying more money because of ESPN.

Look at the cost difference between AT50/60 and AT50/60 Plus: $5 for your local RSNs. If you pay $5 more than AT60 Plus you can have AT120, with 28 more video chanels and 32 DishCD channels.

Just for grins, assume ESPN wants $2 for their channel and have it in the AT50/60 package. $18 Million collected for permission to use their channel. If they were not in AT50/60 they would still want "their" $18 Million (perhaps more, sinse they don't have the eyeballs to sell). Just for grins, assume $3.

If E* passes the savings on, they would cut AT60 by $2 and raise AT120 and above by another $1. The only way to turn it into a real savings is to make it a la carte, like the porn channels. ESPN will still want "their" $18 million, so don't expect ESPN to come cheap!

Everyone who likes sports and watches ESPN and the RSNs should thank those who do not for helping them pay for the channels. And the same goes for other non-mainstream channels. Imagine how much CNN and FoxNews would be if they wasn't paid for, in part, by people who only watch the other network.

Maybe something we could hope for with Shiva is to hope they will allow more ala cart choices for the consumers. I know there has been talk about this option with cable, so why not satellite.

SHVIA (Sat Home View Improvement Act) currently deals with broadcast stations, not dedicated program feeds. That doesn't mean it cannot be addressed.

JL

 

[Stargazer]

So what is Dish going to do? Give us another price increase if they keep the Viacom channels and add the new NickToons channel? There are plenty of NickToons on two Nickelodeon channels in the daytime anyways but some may like it for night time as well although thats when the kids should be in bed.

Basically they are trying to raise prices based on price increases of the programmers they are expecting them to want but trying to prevent from paying much more to keep the money themselves anyways in my opinion. Operating costs do increase though in addition to the programming provider price increases.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I imagine that the recent announced price increase includes the price for the new Nicktoons. Dish is trying to get the cheapest price they can with this lawsuit and pocket the rest of the increase for themselves for more profit. Even a dollar extra on every customer would be a nice bit of money for Dish and their profit margins ( 9. million/ 9 million subs)