Court Rules OK on DirecTV/NRTC Case

[Gregg Lengling]

The U.S. District Court for Central California ruled that a proposed settlement agreement between DirecTV and a class of members with the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative is fair, and granted final approval of the class action settlement, the satellite TV company said.

The settlement does not resolve related litigation between DirecTV and Pegasus, the company said. The court has set March 23 as the trial date on DirecTV/Pegasus matters.

Under the settlement, DirecTV and the NRTC agreed that the term of their distribution agreement, which entitles NRTC to distribute DirecTV programming, will end on the later of the date - when the DirecTV 1 satellite reaches the end of its contractual life or in June 2008. DirecTV and the NRTC also agreed to a fixed term, to run through June 2011, during which DirecTV, the NRTC and settling class members will continue their relationship on the current terms.

DirecTV and NRTC entered into the settlement in August. The court approval ends the four-year-old litigation for all plaintiffs - except Pegasus - and affiliates that distribute DirecTV programming through the NRTC.