Echostar Communications Corp

Satellite television provider EchoStar Communications Corp., continuing to lure cable subscribers, surpassed Wall Street expectations Tuesday by posting a $58-million profit in the first quarter, a strong turnaround from the losses it suffered in the same period last year. The Littleton, Colo.-based company -- which has made money in only three quarters in the last nine years -- earned 12 cents a share, contrasted with a net loss of $35 million, or 20 cents, in the period a year earlier.

The stocks of cable companies declined Tuesday because of fears a new satellite television service planned by News Corp., MCI Communications Corp. and EchoStar Communications would draw customers away. Yet some analysts and industry executives questioned the partners' ability to deliver on promises of vastly reduced prices for consumers and inclusion of local broadcast signals that are not currently available on satellite services. Cable leader Tele-Communications Inc.

EchoStar Communications Corp. said Monday it would freeze the prices of its most popular satellite television packages until next year as competition sharpens in the slowing U.S. economy. The news sent its shares down more than 5%. The owner of the Dish Network said it also was offering three months of free programming to new customers and was waiving activation fees.

The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider an appeal by satellite television provider EchoStar Communications Corp. of a nationwide injunction barring it from transmitting network television signals. The court's decision is the latest step in a nine-year legal battle between Englewood, Colo.-based EchoStar, which operates the DISH satellite network, and the major television broadcast networks and their affiliates.

DirecTV Group Inc. isn't talking about a possible merger with smaller rival EchoStar Communications Corp. "Let me be clear on where we are today -- there aren't any discussions," DirecTV Chief Executive Charles "Chase" Carey said at an analyst conference in Las Vegas. DirecTV's shares would be worth about $25 each if the company merged with EchoStar, Barron's magazine said Dec. 2, citing Templeton Investments analyst Matthew Nagle. Shares of El Segundo-based DirecTV fell 14 cents to $24.

Google Inc. took its first leap into the lucrative but fiercely competitive market for selling television advertising Monday, announcing a deal to deliver ads to millions of subscribers of satellite TV company EchoStar Communications Corp. The deal underscores Google's ambition to become a premier broker of advertising for not just the Internet, but TV, radio, print publications and other media.

EchoStar Communications Corp., operator of the Dish satellite-television service, said first-quarter profit rose 6.8% as subscriber growth accelerated. Net income advanced to $157 million, or 35 cents a share, from $147.3 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier, the Englewood, Colo.-based company said. Sales increased 15% to $2.64 billion. EchoStar attracted 310,000 new subscribers. Like larger rival DirecTV Group Inc.

TiVo Inc. lost part and won part of a regulatory review of its digital video recording patent that's at the center of its lawsuit against EchoStar Communications Corp. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected aspects of the patent that covered hardware for recording the movies and television shows while upholding parts that cover software to run the system. The decision is subject to review by a board within the agency.

EchoStar Communications Corp., parent of the Dish Network satellite television service, said its second-quarter profit rose as it signed up customers. The Englewood, Colo., company, No. 2 behind DirecTV Group Inc., said net income climbed to $224.2 million, or 50 cents a share, from $168.8 million, or 38 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $2.76 billion from $2.47 billion. Analysts had expected a profit of 50 cents a share on revenue of $2.8 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Satellite television provider EchoStar Communications Corp. said it won a victory in a patent dispute. EchoStar, operator of Dish Network, said it won $90,000 in court costs after a Texas judge denied Forgent Network Inc.'s motion for a new trial. Forgent filed a federal lawsuit against EchoStar and more than a dozen other firms in July 2005 over its digital video recorder playback technology patent.