- - - DTH Meet Likely In September-Shut-Offs Begin - - -

Members of a House/Senate conference working on satellite legislation may not begin official meetings until September, according to the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association and its weekly Report From The President.

Internal meetings between congressional staff and industry representatives have been going on for several weeks, but House and Senate conferees have yet to officially meet on pending legislation. With Congress set to recess for a summer break Aug. 6, and with no conference sessions scheduled this week, it's likely that lawmakers won't address DTH matters until next month.

The hold-up comes as satellite consumers residing within Grade A areas begin seeing distant network signal shut-offs. The Grade B deadline remains set for Dec. 31.

DirecTV is cushioning the blow with an off-air antenna deal. Customers losing channels are eligible for a coupon from the satellite provider allowing them to purchase an antenna from RadioShack at a reduced cost.

- - - NRTC Gains 200,000 So Far In 99 - - -

Less than seven months after crossing the one million subscriber threshold with its DirecTV business, the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative and its members and affiliates passed the 1.2 million subscriber mark.

For the year, the NRTC has added more than 200,000 subscribers. As of July 30, NRTC had 1,200,614 subscribers.

"The continued growth of the DBS business within rural America is a direct result of the special relationship that NRTC members and affiliates have built with the customer," said Bob Phillips, NRTC president and CEO. "We hit the one million subscriber mark in early January and never looked back."

- - - Rocket For EchoStar 5 At Cape - - -

Lockheed Martin Astronautics moved the booster and centaur upper-stage portions of the Atlas IIAS launch vehicle that will place the EchoStar 5 satellite into orbit from Lockheed's manufacturing facility near Denver to Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Friday.

Early that morning, police escorted pieces of the launch vehicle from Lockheed's Waterton Canyon plant southwest of town to Buckley Air National Guard Base in Aurora, Colo. Crews then placed the two portions of the vehicle into an Air Force cargo plane parked at the facility (pictured above).

While at the Cape, other pieces of the launch vehicle will be joined with the booster and centaur upper stage. In addition to the Denver facility, Lockheed Martin plants in Texas and San Diego participate in the Atlas program.

Final installation of the EchoStar 5 spacecraft also will take place in Florida. The bird is being shipped from Space Systems/Loral in California.

EchoStar 5, one of the satellites that promise to take DISH Network to 500 channels, is expected to launch in late summer or early fall into the 110-degree orbital location. No specific date has been set for the flight.

- - - SKYBOX: News And Views On Sky Soccer Case - - -

In the United Kingdom, soccer is king. And British Sky Broadcasting, the platform backed by News Corp. and others, has put the game and the Premier League at the top, using the sport to sell and market the service.

That's not much different from DirecTV, which uses NFL Sunday Ticket and other sports packages to entice potential customers.

Late last week, the U.K.'s Restrictive Practices Court rejected a government claim that British Sky Broadcasting's exclusive agreement with the Premier League was anti-competitive and operates against the public interest. The court, ruling against the Director General of Fair Trading, concluded that Sky's agreement with the Premier League was good for clubs within the soccer organization and for competition.

David Mellor of the London Evening Standard wrote that the Office of Fair Trading's decision to challenge the league's TV arrangements was "the worst decision a regulator had ever made." That opinion was vindicated when the court rejected the case "without even a fig-leaf to cover their nakedness.

"They lost on everything, and as usual the only winners are the lawyers - 30 million pounds richer by all accounts," he said.

The Times of London said, "The decision of the Restrictive Practices Court on the broadcasting arrangements for the Premier League represent more than a victory for BSkyB and the BBC. It should, temporarily at least, safeguard the financial future of the unfashionable as well as the famous."

What happens now? Pay-per-view for the sport, according to Mellor. "And that needs watching because an attempt will be made to take the plum out of the present 60 matches subscribers get, and charge more for them," he said.

"And that must not be allowed."

- - - PEOPLE: - - -

• Gerski Promoted At Golden Sky -
  Golden Sky Systems' Bill Gerski was promoted to senior vice president of marketing and sales. Gerski, a 29-year veteran in cable, satellite and wireless communications businesses, has been with Golden Sky for 2 1/2 years. The Kansas City-based company is one of the largest and fastest growing independent providers of programming services from DirecTV.

• Pegasus Appoints Marketing VP -
  Denise Rolfe has been named vice president of marketing and promotion for Pegasus Broadcast Television, a division of Pegasus Communications. Prior to jointing Pegasus, Rolfe was east coast director of creative services at Warner Bros. marketing and advertising.

• OpenTV Snaps Up Jackson, Raduchel -
  Thomas Jackson has been named senior vice president of sales at OpenTV, the interactive television software company that recently announced deals with EchoStar. Jackson last served as VP and managing director for General Instrument. Also, Bill Raduchel, the chief strategy officer of Sun Microsystems, has been named to OpenTV's board of directors.

• Thomson's O'Hara Annouces Key Appointments -
  Michael O'Hara, the newly appointed senior vice president of Thomson Consumer Electronics, announced his management team this week. They are: Eric Schulenburg, vice president, U.S. Sales; Vic Theobalds, vice president, Television Profit Center; David Aston, in charge of Thomson's Canadian operations; and Jack Nick, will head up the Accessories Profit Center.

• Grineri To Head Up Intertainer PR -
  Darris Gringeri has been appointed executive director of Public Relations at Intertainer, the interactive broadband network that provides entertainment services on demand to both cable and telecommunications companies. Gringeri worked for Sony Pictures Entertainment Network prior to joining Intertainer.