Judge's refusal means sat subs will lose nets
CBS, Fox signals to be cut for over 2 mil subs
More than 2 million satellite subs will lose their Eye web and Fox signals under a two-stage plan. The remaining subscribers are scheduled to lose their signals on April 30.
CBS and Fox successfully sued the satcaster last year in Miami federal court, forcing the shutdown. The networks alleged that PrimeTime 24 was illegally providing signals from distant markets to customers who could receive the same network programming from their local stations.
Current law bars satcasters from selling network programming to customers who can receive network signals from their local stations. Broadcasters took satcasters to court when the explosive growth of the DBS industry began siphoning off local TV stations' highest income viewers.
Congress hopes to remedy the situation, at least partially, by rewriting current copyright law to allow satcasters to offer local television channels. Even that legislation would leave millions of potential customers without network signals, however, because satcasters do not have the capacity to uplink every one of the more than 1,600 station signals.
