DISH Fights Talk of HD Must Carry

[Gregg Lengling]

EchoStar urged the Federal Communications Commission to not require satellite TV services to carry the high-def signal of local broadcast stations in high def format.

Instead, EchoStar said satellite carriers should only be required to carry HD broadcast signals in a down-converted format. Also, the company said requiring HD must-carry would likely be unconstitutional.

In a letter explaining its position, EchoStar said, "Congress has signaled that the commission should interpret the satellite carriage requirements flexibly in the circumstances presented by satellite bandwidth constraints, and should therefore allow satellite carriers to use 'reasonable compression, reformatting, or similar technologies.'"

The letter detailed meetings EchoStar representatives had with members of the FCC's the Media Bureau last week.