Analyst Gives Voom First Day Edge in Court

Rulings may hurt EchoStar's case

By Jon Lafayette -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/20/2012 8:53:00 AM

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.

"We believe Judge Lowe's rulings represent a small positive for AMC Networks," DiClemente said in a research report. "We continue to believe that either a settlement for Voom is the most likely outcome of the trial."

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 its channels were pulled by Dish to give it leverage in talks to settle the suit.