Sat provider sued by ABC's N.C. affil

By CHRISTOPHER STERN

WASHINGTON --- The ABC affiliate in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday alleging that DBS provider PrimeTime 24 is illegally selling distant network signals to local subscribers.

WTVD Raleigh-Durham becomes the third station to file a lawsuit against the DBS provider for allegedly signing up satellite subscribers for a service that provides network signals from another market. NBC's affiliate in Amar-illo, Texas, and CBS' affiliate WCPX Miami, Fla., have filed similar suits.

All three stations complain that PrimeTime 24 is violating the Satellite Home Viewers Act, which bars DBS serv-ices from selling subscribers a signal from a distant market if a local affiliate is available. In the case of WTVD, the station alleges that PrimeTime 24 is illegally providing an ABC network signal from WJLA in Washington, D.C., and also from KOMO in Seattle, Wash.