EchoStar to pick up local network affiliates

The country's No. 2 satellite service is ready to offer local network affiliates to its subscribers in Kansas City. EchoStar, which operates the Dish Network, confirmed that it will begin offering the four major network affiliates: WDAF (Channel 4), KCTV (Channel 5), KMBC (Channel 9) and KSHB (Channel 41). An EchoStar spokesman would not confirm the date when the stations will be made available, but two local retailers of Dish Network equipment said last week that they had been told the launch is set for this Friday. A Web site that tracks communications satellites (www.lyngsat.com) also reported that Kansas City and two other markets had been added to the EchoStar 5 satellite. Not all Dish Network receivers can pull in signals from EchoStar 5, which is used primarily to beam international channels and local TV signals. However, the spokesman said the company's new DISH 500 system will receive the local stations. Many EchoStar dealers are offering that system free, including installation, to customers who agree to one year of service at $40 a month. The offer expires March 31. A spokesman for the nation's leading satellite service, DirecTV, said the company has no plans to carry Kansas City stations. The two companies, which control the small-dish satellite market in the United States, were allowed to begin carrying local TV signals under a new law that Congress enacted last year. Executives for two of the four Kansas City stations said they had not negotiated an agreement with EchoStar to carry their stations' signals. However, they have until this spring to do so, and the sources added that DirecTV and EchoStar have signed numerous deals to carry stations in larger markets. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com