DISH Loses Must Carry Battle at FCC

[Gregg Lengling]

EchoStar lost a must-carry battle involving a broadcaster serving the Albuquerque area at the Federal Communications Commission, a move that will force the satellite TV company to carry's the station's signal.

The dispute surrounds KTFQ in Albuquerque, which was acquired from Paxson by Telefutura in May 2003. Before and after the acquisition, the station was not being carried by EchoStar's DISH Network.

EchoStar argued before the FCC's Media Bureau that Telefutura couldn't enforce carriage rights that were bargained away in 2001 by the station's previous owner. EchoStar also argued the only way Telefutura might assert carriage is on a belief that KTFQ qualifies as a new station due to the change in ownership. And even if the FCC determined that Telefutura could request carriage by satellite TV, the commission should conclude that the demand for carriage was not made in a timely fashion, the company said.

In its ruling, the FCC Media Bureau said Paxson, the station's previous owner, made a timely carriage request to EchoStar in June 2001, and that election carries over to Telefutura as the new owner of the station. The FCC also ruled KTFQ is entitled to carriage by EchoStar's DISH Network in the Albuquerque area within 75 days.

EchoStar said it anticipates that it will appeal the decision.