EchoStar flouts court order, broadcasters say

EchoStar Communications Corp. is skirting a federal court order by allowing a separate programmer to offer network signals to 900,000 of its satellite TV customers, television broadcasters claimed in a legal filing.

EchoStar will lease space on its Dish Network to National Programming Service, Indianapolis-based NPS said in a letter to members of Congress. The decision sparked a challenge by affiliates of the CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox networks, which filed an emergency motion to stop it.

The arrangement with NPS, scheduled to start today, would allow Dish customers to keep receiving local stations from distant markets. EchoStar was given a Dec. 1 deadline to shut down the transmissions because they violate copyright laws.