DISH -VS- VOOM - A Settlement has been reached!
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[h=1]Analyst Gives Voom First Day Edge in Court[/h][h=2]Rulings may hurt EchoStar's case[/h][h=3]By Jon Lafayette -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/20/2012 8:53:00 AM[/h]The first day in court in the Voom HD v. EchoStar Satellite case went well for Voom, and for AMC Networks, which now holds the assets for the shut-down programming service, according to analyst Anthony DiClemente of Barclays Capital.
Voom sued EchoStar for $2.4 billion, charging that the satellite distributor breached a 15-year contract to carry the suite of HD channels.
DiClemente says three pre-trial motions appeared to go Voom's way, as Judge Richard Lowe III disallowed an EchoStar witness from testifying, allowed another EchoStar witness' credentials to be questioned, and sided with Voom in how adversely the jury will be told to treat evidence rule destroyed by EchoStar.
Jury selection is expected to begin Thursday, followed by opening arguments. Charles and James Dolan might testify this week, according to DiClemente
Read the rest at http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/489472-Analyst_Gives_Voom_First_Day_Edge_in_Court.php
Voom sued EchoStar for $2.4 billion, charging that the satellite distributor breached a 15-year contract to carry the suite of HD channels.
DiClemente says three pre-trial motions appeared to go Voom's way, as Judge Richard Lowe III disallowed an EchoStar witness from testifying, allowed another EchoStar witness' credentials to be questioned, and sided with Voom in how adversely the jury will be told to treat evidence rule destroyed by EchoStar.
Jury selection is expected to begin Thursday, followed by opening arguments. Charles and James Dolan might testify this week, according to DiClemente
Read the rest at http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/489472-Analyst_Gives_Voom_First_Day_Edge_in_Court.php
[h=1]Voom-EchoStar Trial Delayed Until Monday[/h]By: Jon Lafayette (Broadcasting & Cable) 2012-09-20 12:48:00
The trial between Charlie Ergen’s EchoStar and the Dolan family’s shuttered Voom HD service was postponed till Monday.
The court did not have enough potential jurors to begin the section process, according to analyst Thomas Claps, of Susquehanna Financial Group.
Claps says that at the end of the court session, Judge Richard Lowe III “encouraged the parties to engage in discussions” aimed at settling the matter.
Voom, which was part of Rainbow Media, the predecessor company to AMC Networks, sued EchoStar for $2.4 billion charging that the satellite distributor breached a 15 year contract to carry the suite of HD channel.
Yesterday, Judge Lowe, made several rulings that seemed to go in Voom’s favor.
A settlement could include restored carriage for AMC Networks cable channels, which have been blacked out on Dish Network since July. AMC Networks claims that ts channels were pulled by Dish to give it leverage in talks to settle the suit.
http://www.multichannel.com/news-article/voom-echostar-trial-delayed-until-monday/139328
The trial between Charlie Ergen’s EchoStar and the Dolan family’s shuttered Voom HD service was postponed till Monday.
The court did not have enough potential jurors to begin the section process, according to analyst Thomas Claps, of Susquehanna Financial Group.
Claps says that at the end of the court session, Judge Richard Lowe III “encouraged the parties to engage in discussions” aimed at settling the matter.
Voom, which was part of Rainbow Media, the predecessor company to AMC Networks, sued EchoStar for $2.4 billion charging that the satellite distributor breached a 15 year contract to carry the suite of HD channel.
Yesterday, Judge Lowe, made several rulings that seemed to go in Voom’s favor.
A settlement could include restored carriage for AMC Networks cable channels, which have been blacked out on Dish Network since July. AMC Networks claims that ts channels were pulled by Dish to give it leverage in talks to settle the suit.
http://www.multichannel.com/news-article/voom-echostar-trial-delayed-until-monday/139328
Sounds like the judge decided to with the Voom's ridiculous "because they deleted emails, they are guilty" instruction (not that the dish version wasn't rather spun as well).
Be nice to know what expert witness was denied and what they would have brought to the case.
Given how the case is going, I'm not sure why Cablevision would settle.
Sounds like Dish is racking up grounds for appeal, at least.
Be nice to know what expert witness was denied and what they would have brought to the case.
Given how the case is going, I'm not sure why Cablevision would settle.
Sounds like Dish is racking up grounds for appeal, at least.
Yeah, there's a big difference between "may" and "must" in the jury instructions. However, in the Apple vs Samsung case, the jury didn't even bother to read the Judge's instructions.
If DirecTV had signed an agreement to carry the 5-channel "Best of Voom" then Dish could demand the same deal via the Most Favored Nation clause. Of course, Voom only would have done this if they could gain access to DirecTVs 16M (at the time) customers. And after Voom being available on D* and E*, their 5-channel package may then appear more attractive to Cable. But DirecTV dismissed Voom's offer and elected to spend even more money on Sunday Ticket. In a roundabout way, I suppose you can say that DirecTV also help cause the end of Voom...but that's like saying excessive breathing causes death.
I heard there were 110 prospective jurors but when Judge Lowe stated, "Anyone here who hates Dish Network or Cablevision, please leave the room" he wound-up clearning the court...to include include Ergen and the Dolans.
Negotiations overheard in the hallway...
Dolan: We want 2 Billion and a 5-year carriage agreement for the AMC Networks channels at our quoted rate.
Ergen: We'll give you a Six Pack of Coors and a box of condoms.
Dolan: You'll have to come up a little.
Ergen: Fair enough...a Twelve Pack of Schlitz and a box of ultra-wide condoms.
I heard there were 110 prospective jurors but when Judge Lowe stated, "Anyone here who hates Dish Network or Cablevision, please leave the room" he wound-up clearning the court...to include include Ergen and the Dolans.
Negotiations overheard in the hallway...
Dolan: We want 2 Billion and a 5-year carriage agreement for the AMC Networks channels at our quoted rate.
Ergen: We'll give you a Six Pack of Coors and a box of condoms.
Dolan: You'll have to come up a little.
Ergen: Fair enough...a Twelve Pack of Schlitz and a box of ultra-wide condoms.
LOL!
The Judge sent 109 pages of instructions for the jury to follow. http://www.groklaw.net/pdf3/ApplevSamsung-1903.pdf
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2012082510525390
Yep, Voom's proposal read like they were accusing Dish of Nazi war crimes. Dish's proposal read at though they had inadvertantly passed gas while strolling through a field of heavenly-scented marigolds. It's too bad Dish pissed in Judge Lowe's wheaties since has great latitude to impose a harsh jury instruction when it comes to spoiliation of evidence.
Don't quote me on this, but I believe it was their expert witness who would testify as to Voom's damages due to Dish terminating the agreement. He had impecible credentials (White House, Government, Regulatory, Industry) and would provide testimony against Voom's loss of business calculations - $2.5 billion. In other words, Voom's expert would testify and Dish's attorney would be permitted to cross-examine him. I could be wrong, but I believe this was one of the spoiliation sanctions.
Also, back in August Dish hired some expert who concocted (not my words) some new kind of accounting category that was not a generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP) Sorry, I don't remember the deails but Voom was trying to prevent him from testifying. Of course, I may have these two individuals reversed.
It would appear that way, but a settlement is guaranteed money while a trial involves a jury of one's peers. I don't know about you but based on Jay Leno's Jaywalking, I'm not about to bank on a jury of my peers deciding a complex contractual dispute. I would apt to take the cash.
Appealable? Yes! Winnable? I wouldn't bet on winning an appeal based on an adverse instruction due to Dish's borderline criminal conduct (again, not my words).
not to mention the ongoing carriage dispute with AMC. There's some financial incentive for both parties to package it all together and settle.
I don't want to see AMC back. I hope Dish makes a stand here, as I think it will temper future demands from other providers.
Voyager6 said:
This may explain why jury decisions are regularly reversed on appeal. It happened in the TiVo v. Dish case. The partial reversal was brought up during the en banc hearing too.
navychop said:
It does seem Charles is on that path to remove providers when he does not like them
. The day he removes ESPN, is the day I call him a serious gamer. He actually backed down in the TiVo v. Dish case, IMHO. My speculation was at the time Hopper was in final stage and needed help from the TiVo DVR trick, so he settled.
I see you're playing the role of Howard Cosell today.
Let's see if Dish has the guts to challenge Fox News, USA, TNT and ESPN. Anyway, does anyone feel a settlement will be negotiated over the weekend? Judge Lowe did “encouraged the parties to engage in discussions” aimed at settling the matter.
neinacrowd:
Its a judges job to try encouraging them to settle. (Then he dosen't have to do his job and waste the courts time)
