Black mayors support EchoStar merger

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

The National Conference of Black Mayors has agreed to support EchoStar
Communications Corp.'s proposed purchase of Hughes Electronics Corp. and its subsidiary, DirecTV
Inc.

The mayors believe the merger would help to bring high-speed Internet access to
rural and underserved urban areas, according to a resolution passed by the
organization.

Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, president of the organization of 500
black mayors, made the announcement Wednesday.

The NCBM held its annual conference at the end of April, when its members voted
on the resolution.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.