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More Primestar-Justice Discussions WASHINGTON--Lawyers representing News Corp. and Tele-Communications Inc. met Monday with Justice Department attorneys, including Antitrust Division Chief Joel Klein, to discuss the government's lawsuit against Primestar, sources familiar with the meeting said. News Corp. hopes to become a Primestar partner, while TCI Satellite Entertainment, a TCI spin-off, already is. According to the sources, the companies' lawyers reiterated their hopes they can reach a financial arrangement to buy out the cable companies' Primestar equity, the issue at the heart of Justice's lawsuit. There was some indication Klein reacted favorably, the sources said, though how specific the corporate lawyers were on possible buyout proposals was not immediately clear. News Corp.'s participation in the meeting was viewed as significant, sources said, since the company and TCI's Liberty Media recently agreed to share control of an expanded United Video Satellite Group. That, the sources said, could suggest the companies are exploring the UVSG avenue to finance Primestar's buyout of the cable firms. Another buyout proposal that has been talked about for several weeks may come from General Electric's capital arm, though that offer does not appear to have come together. Primestar Chairman Carl Vogel said he remains optimistic he can raise buyout funds from public markets or private companies, but he would not comment on specific proposals or discussions. Schroeder: NPS Has Thoughts on Handling Home Viewer Act Mike Schroeder, president of National Programming Service, said yesterday satellite dealers should be aware of what the Satellite Home Viewer Act "is doing to [them] in the market place" and it is--something we have to deal with." Schroeder noted that the PrimeTime 24 case has "not been decided yet" but added NPS will start employing Longley-Rice signal propagation maps based on nine-digit zip codes to try to comply with the recent Miami court injunction ordering PrimeTime 24 distributors to turn off service to some dish owners. The mapping system will incorporate 66 million individual zip codes into a database that can be accessed to see what households are eligible to receive networks via satellite. NPS hopes to have the program running "in the next week or so," he said. Schroeder also urged satellite dealers to contact Congress and local broadcasters regarding the situation but stressed Congress should not be blamed for the current situation, rather the National Association of Broadcasters should be blamed, because the NAB has pushed for the restrictions. (click on the ad below to visit advertiser's web site) PREVIOUS PAGE NEXT PAGE   July 24 daily   July 25 daily     Please direct questions about this site to general.mail@satbiznews.com q 1999 Satellite Business News Inc. All rights reserved.