(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Two US senators have asked the US Senate Judiciary Committee to look into an escalating dispute involving the nation's two dominant satellite television companies.
Sen. Wayne Allard, a Republican, and Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, asked the committee in a letter to examine whether The DirecTV Group, controlled by global media giant News Corp., 'has engaged in behavior that would threaten the viability of the satellite TV market.'
Colorado is home to EchoStar Communications and its competing satellite television provider DISH Network.
A Judiciary Committee aide said the committee was 'looking into the situation and urging all parties to settle this matter to ensure uninterrupted service to consumers.'
The dispute involves a long-running legal battle over the re-transmission of 'distant network' channels.
The networks filed a lawsuit in 1998 accusing satellite companies of offering distant network signals to customers in areas that were not supposed to get them.
Last week, EchoStar and affiliates of ABC, NBC and CBS, as well as affiliates of the Fox Network, agreed to a $100-million settlement that would allow the company to continue transmitting their signals.