Voom-EchoStar Trial Delayed Till Monday

By Jon Lafayette
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

The trial between Charlie Ergen's EchoStar and the Dolan
family's shuttered Voom HD service was postponed till Monday.

The court did not have enough potential jurors to begin the
selection process, according to analyst Thomas Claps, of Susquehanna Financial
Group.

Claps says that at the end of the court session, Judge
Richard Lowe III "encouraged the parties to engage in discussions" aimed at
setting the matter.

Voom, now part of AMC Networks, sued EchoStar for $2.4
billion charging that the satellite distributor breached a 15-year contract to
carry the suite of HD channel.

JudgeLowe made several rulings on Wednesday that seemed to go in Voom's favor.

A settlement could include restored carriage for AMC
Networks cable channels, which have been blacked out on Dish Network since
July.  AMC Networks claims that its
channels were pulled by Dish to give it leverage in talks to settle the suit.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.