You say expanding; I say already prohibited.
There are no "innocent 3rd parties". If you are in participation with Echostar, you are already precluded from distant network service, starting tomorrow.
By the way, this is going in front of the same judge that issued the injunction.
Last time I checked DirecTv and Echostar had been cooperating on a number of initiatives. Everything from exploring sharing bandwidth to conserve transponder space for locals, and combining efforts to fight legislation (such as SHVERA) that hurt their respective businesses.
Greg, using your logic, DirecTV should then be prohibited from offering channels as well since they engage in mutually beneficial business activities.
NPS will send no monies to E* for these subscribers, only the rent they pay on the leased space, so E* is out of the distant networks channels providing business. I don't see anyone treating SkyAngel as a subsidiary of E*, even though they use E* assets to sell their services.
At the very least, this should buy a few months of further stalling until a legislative solution can be found. Rural customers are served which should please the folks affected. Charlie saves $100 million in STFU money to the affiliates who tried to settle too late when they saw their briefcase of money going poof.. That should make up for the $5 million a month he will lose over this.
Remind me to never play poker with this guy.....
I don't know whether this would necessarily "tick off" Congress. Well, maybe those on Rupert's payroll... The ones with rural constituents will love the idea that they don't have to deal with about a million infuriated people tomorrow. This solution punishes E* by taking away all current revenue from Distant Channels and the ability to retransmit them themselves. Meanwhile, consumers only have to deal with a minor inconvenience by paying another bill once a month.
The devil will be in the details, assuming it doesn't get shot down tomorrow. Who determines what is a white area? According to Antennaweb.org, they say I am a Grade B, but I defy you to get a signal in my neighborhood. There are dozens of E* and D* dishes in my town. I have not seen ONE with a TV antenna pulling in OTA channels also as terrain issues inhibit reception of a usable signal (I remember as a kid being a half mile closer to New York, and the best we could get with an attic antenna was snowy screens with a hint of movement and a lot of static).