## Facts

- Dominion Video Satellite, Inc. operated the Sky Angel religious television network and relied on distribution through EchoStar’s DISH Network direct broadcast satellite system.
- In 1996, EchoStar leased eight satellite transponders to Dominion; Dominion paid fees and leased back three transponders to EchoStar.
- Contract amendments addressed Dominion’s channel placement and packaging, including participation in a basic programming tier.
- A dispute arose when Dominion claimed EchoStar planned to change Dominion’s carriage and/or packaging and to add competing religious programming (including Daystar) in ways Dominion contended violated the agreement.
- The underlying contract dispute was subject to arbitration.
- Dominion sought a preliminary injunction to maintain existing carriage and packaging arrangements while arbitration proceeded.
- The district court granted a preliminary injunction preserving the status quo.
- EchoStar appealed; Word of God Fellowship, Inc. (Daystar) intervened and appealed, arguing the injunction harmed its carriage interests.

## Issues

1. Whether Dominion satisfied the four-factor test for a preliminary injunction, including irreparable harm, balance of harms, public interest, and likelihood of success on the merits.
2. Whether the injunction was a “disfavored” (mandatory or status-quo-altering) injunction requiring a heightened showing.
3. Whether effects on an intervenor’s carriage interests rendered the injunction an abuse of discretion.

## Decision

- The Tenth Circuit affirmed the preliminary injunction.
- The court held the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding irreparable harm, sufficient likelihood of success, a balance of harms favoring Dominion, and no public-interest bar.
- The court declined to treat the injunction as “disfavored,” characterizing it as preserving existing carriage arrangements pending arbitration.
- The court concluded the intervenor’s asserted harms did not outweigh Dominion’s threatened irreparable injury.

## Legal Principles

- A preliminary injunction requires showing: (1) irreparable harm, (2) balance of harms favoring the movant, (3) consistency with the public interest, and (4) likelihood of success on the merits; irreparable harm is a primary prerequisite.
- Injunctive relief may be granted to preserve the status quo pending arbitration when necessary to prevent irreparable harm and to ensure arbitration remains effective.
- In programming/distribution disputes, loss of access to a distribution platform, loss of goodwill, and reputational injury can constitute irreparable harm when damages are difficult to quantify.
- “Disfavored” injunction analysis generally applies where relief alters the status quo or effectively grants all ultimate relief; an order maintaining existing contractual performance pending arbitration may be treated as status-quo preserving.

## Conclusion

The Tenth Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction requiring EchoStar to continue Dominion’s existing carriage and packaging arrangements during arbitration because Dominion showed likely non-compensable harm, a plausible contractual entitlement, and a favorable balance of harms and public interest in contract enforcement and orderly arbitration.


Dominion Video Satellite, Inc. v. EchoStar Satellite Corp., 356 F.3d 1256 (10th Cir. 2004)