EchoStar merger finds more criticism
By Bill McConnell -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/23/2002 1:02:00 PM
Two more media-industry players criticized EchoStar Communications Corp.'s bid to acquire DirecTV Inc. Thursday.
The National Religious Broadcasters charged that EchoStar has shown itself to be "biased against Christian programming" by resisting carriage of Christian and family-oriented programming, opposing mandates to offer local broadcasts channels in many markets and offering pornographic channels. Because the merger would eliminate multichannel competition in markets without cable service, "no incentive would exist to provide the full range of programming consumers desire."
Also criticizing the merger was the country's largest Hispanic-advocacy group, the National Council of La Raza.
The group, which frequently weighs in on media issues, wants government regulators to block the deal unless EchoStar commits to English-language programming targeted toward young Hispanics. "The younger Spanish population, for whom English is the first language, will be disenfranchised from the communications marketplace if Spanish-speaking programming is all that is offered for their consumption," the group said.
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