Lifetime Takes Out Ad Against EchoStar

Lifetime Entertainment Services is taking aim at EchoStar Communications Corp. after the satellite dish company dropped Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Network from its channel line-up. The network for women has taken out another ad in the New York Times. This one reads:

"DISH NETWORK LINE-UP:
46 Sports channels.
7 Pornography channels.
0 Lifetime channels."

• See the Ad: Lifetime Shares the Ad (.PDF File)
  
• Dump DISH E-Card: Lifetime Encourages Site Visitors to Send E-Cards to Friends
  
• Firing Back: DISH Issues Press Release About Lifetime Controversy
  
• Related News: Town Becomes DISH in New Advertising Deal

More on the controversy:

Lifetime is running the ad to encourage DISH subscribers to cancel their subscription. EchoStar says Lifetime asked for a 76-percent hike and when contract negotiations went awry, the women's network said EchoStar doesn't care about women. Lifetime programming was pulled from DISH when the contract expired on December 31, 2005.

Since the controversy began, more than 50 organizations have come forward backing Lifetime. An open letter to EchoStar chairman Charlie Ergen ran as a full-page ad in The New York Times, The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News two weeks ago. EchoStar replaced Lifetime programming January 16 with Oxygen Media.