Disney, Echostar settle Family dispute

By John Eggerton
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

In a multi-year deal with Disney, EchoStar will reinstate ABC Family and
"restore ESPN Classic to its prior level of service on [its] Dish Network by
mid-April," according to both sides.

Legal wrangling had erupted after EchoStar threatened to drop ABC Family from
its Dish Network Jan. 1.

EchoStar contended changes in ABC Family's ownership (it had been Fox Family
Channel) allowed it to terminate its carriage.

Disney countered that EchoStar was trying to obtain lower carriage fees. A
judge granted Disney a temporary restraining order to keep EchoStar from pulling
the channel New Year's Day.

The two also said they have settled their legal dispute over the Satellite
Home Viewer Act and its distant-signals provision, a case that had been pending
in a federal court in Florida.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.