EchoStar Says It May End Shows if Bills Pass

EchoStar Communications Corp. may have to cancel local television programs in as many as 30 markets if Congress bars it from making customers use two dish antennas, the firm’s chairman, Charles Ergen, told the Senate Commerce Committee in Washington.

Customers of EchoStar, the No. 2 U.S. satellite TV service, have to request a second satellite dish to receive Spanish-language and religious TV programs. Congress is considering bills to give satellite services a year to put all local programs on one dish after complaints about EchoStar from Hispanic, religious and local broadcasters.