NBA/WGN Blackout Continues

The Chicago Bulls games will continue to be blacked out on WGN as a result of the six-year legal ordeal with the NBA over distribution of the Bulls games on WGN. A Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily barred any national satellite feeds of the Bulls games. The case is now in federal court where it has continuously rejected the NBA ongoing attempts to limit telecasts. WGN is confident of a favorable decision in their case, and will continue to pursue all legal aspects. Until approval, WGN will pre-empt the games with other programming.


Sports Packages

ESPN Enterprises is hoping to expand its coverage by offering its "Full Court" out-of-market subscription package. Cost for the package will range from $69, before Dec. 27, to $79 afterwards for over 450 Division I College Basketball games from the conferences. DirecTv will offering the package exclusively on satellite TV, and ESPN is hoping to acquire more cable companies to sign up, including those from last year.
DirecTv Inc. has also announced that they will be offering a Seattle Supersonics package and the Portland Trail Blazers package. The Supersonics will distribute 31 PPV games via DirecTv within a 100-mile radius of the city, including 11 home games and 20 away games distributed by other regional sports networks. This package will cost consumer $159. The Trail Blazers BlazerVision PPV package will include 25-games to its subscribers living within a 150-mile radius of Portland. Cost of the package is $189. Both these teams were distributed previously under cable-exclusive PPV rights. Call 1-800-DIRECTV for more information..
NFL Enterprises is offering satellite TV customers a new angle to its out-of-market subscription package for pro football by giving them an opportunity to sign up for the last six weeks of this season and the entire 1997 season for $179, which is about $20 more than a full-season subscription.
Meanwhile, DirecTv is offering first-time DBS buyers the last six weeks of the 1996 season (Nov. 17-Dec. 22) free-of-charge. Current DirecTv customers will receive 71 regular season games at no additional charge.

Another Sports Network

On December 12th , CNN together with Sports Illustrated, will launch its newest network CNN/SI. The 24-hour sports news network will utilize CNN's newsgathering sources of 21 international and 9 domestic bureaus and hundreds of broadcast affiliates to report sports news pertaining the country and around the world. They will have bureaus dedicated to sports news in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas and Chicago, staffed by a reporter and producer. Tentatively it will be located on G1/15 for cable distribution and S3/6 for TVRO use.

Changes in Sky

If you haven't noticed, GE-1 (W-1 at 103 deg. W) is now up and running. Here's a recent update on C-band channel locations: SportsChannel Ohio (4); WNBC [NBC] (6); WPCB-Cornerstone TV (7) and remain analog; SportsChannel Chicago (8); SportsSouth (9); WJLA [ABC] (10); SportsChannel New England (14); SportsChannel Pacific (16); SportsChannel Alternate (17); NET (19); and WRAL [CBS] (24). GE-1 Ku-band channel location for NBC Pacific feed is at transponder 7; the Mountain feed is on 9 and the East feed is on 3.

DISH Lowers Price On Second Receiver

EchoStar's Charlie Ergen began his venture into the DBS market by saying "A Dish In Every Home" and was the first to offer consumers a low-cost DBS system at a price of $199. Now it seems Ergen is going for Two in Every Home by offering a second receiver for $199. For a limited time, customers who purchase a $299 DISH Network Premium UHF system and a $300 programming package can purchase the second receiver for $199. The second receiver would give the customer the same programming choice for a monthly access fee of $4.99.

Class Action Lawsuit In The Works?

A class action lawsuit may be in the works according to reports coming out of California. In Imperial County, a legal team working under the name Consumer Defense League, is seeking out Hispanic C-band dishowners with financed C-band systems in El Centro and Calexico. According to reports, dishowners are told about the fact that they can get out of their contracts by contending that they do not speak English well enough to understand the contract terms.

Adult Programming Update

Fantasy Cafe, a new adult service airs 2 hours of live uncensored interactive adult programming including a movie every Friday and Saturday night from 12:30 a.m.-3:30 a.m. ET on T4/12. Call 1-888-416-2233 for more information; Eurotica has moved to T4/16; and on T4/6 you can find a new adult service called X!.

Satellite Updates

The Fox News Channel is located on G7/20; ESPNews is now on G9/21, running in the clear the first 30 days and is expected to be available through subscription only; Able Telecommunications has moved to G4/21 through Dec. 29 for its Sunday 10 a.m. broadcasts; Rainbow Programming will launch Romance Classics on G7/21 on Jan. 1 featuring romantic film and television programming and will be available to dish owners. It is expected to use VCII Plus encryption; The Family Channel's West Feed is no longer available to dish owners since it switched to digital compression, their east feed will remain analog on G5; News Talk TV will be airing reruns on G7/22 and will cease operation Jan. 1. MEU, now known as Knowledge TV, remains on G5/21; Fox Sports Midwest (FSM) is now on C1/17 while Fox Sports Rocky Mountain (FSR) is on C1/18.