A trial over a claim by US pay-television provider Dish Network that cable-television sports broadcaster ESPN breached a carriage contract by offering better deals to rival distributors has started in a US district court.
Dish has claimed it is owed more than $152 million (€114 million) by ESPN.
Dish has alleged that ESPN breached a clause in its 2005 agreement that required the broadcaster to offer the same terms as it did to competitors.
According to Dish, ESPN agreed lower carriage rates for Spanish-language channel ESPN Deportes with cable-television broadcaster Time Warner Cable and pay-television operator Verizon, as well as rerun channel ESPN Classic with pay-television operator Comcast.
The Reuters news agency, citing data from research company SNL Kagan, said that ESPN charged cable and satellite companies an average of $5.15 per subscriber per month last year.