Primetime 24 Loses Again

Television Digest with Consumer Electronics, July 12, 1999

In yet another blow to PrimeTime 24 (PT24), 4th U.S. Appeals Court, Richmond, sided with ABC's Durham-Raleigh affiliate (WTVD, Ch. 11, ABC) in decision July 6. Chief Judge Harvie Wilkinson said in unanimous opinion that satellite carrier had failed to meet Satellite Home Viewer Act (SHVA) requirements for objective measurement of signal strength, that its actions constituted repeated transmission of network signals to ineligible households, and that lower court correctly issued permanent injunction barring satellite program packager from serving any households in WTVD market, including those unable to receive off-air.

Decision may have been death knell for embattled PT24 after loss of contracts with leading DBS operators DirecTV and EchoStar and resignation of Pres. Thomas Casey earlier this year.

Wilkinson affirmed lower court ruling that PT 24 had infringed on local affiliate's copyrights by importing distant signals to ineligible households and vacated as moot judgment that PT24 had violated SHVA reporting requirements.

Station's attorney Wade Hargrove said: "The court's decision is an affirmation of what broadcasters have been saying for years, and that is that some satellite carriers have been infringing the local copyrights of local broadcasters on a scale unprecedented in the history of television."

Language of SHVA required court to ban PT24 from serving any of WTVD market because company engaged in repeated copyright infringement, Wilkinson said in opinion, noting that Congress made clear its desire to limit district court's discretion under those circumstances. Court has discretion only in cases where offense doesn't rise to level of pattern of infringement, he said.

Despite injunction, parties are free to negotiate private agreement for retransmission of network signals, judge said. Hargrove agreed, but said any plans for negotiations would have to be decided by ABC management. PT24 lawyer refused to comment. Wilkinson also said subscribers wouldn't necessarily suffer because they can sign up with another carrier to get local signals.