ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – EchoStar Communications Corp. pulled the plug on CBS programs in more than a dozen cities and dropped MTV, Nickelodeon and other cable channels from its satellite network over a fee dispute with Viacom.

As many as 9 million satellite customers lost the Viacom-owned cable networks, and 1.6 million of them also lost their local CBS station, which could threaten their ability to watch the upcoming NCAA men’s basketball tournament, among other things.

Customers hoping to watch the disrupted channels instead saw a message accusing Viacom of asking for an unreasonable rate increase that would result in higher monthly cable bills for EchoStar customers.

“We have customers who are calling and asking, ‘Where’s my CBS?”‘ EchoStar spokesman Mark Lumpkin said. “It’s understandable that you would be upset if you lose your CBS channel.”

The disruption is the largest since 2000, when a similar dispute between Time Warner cable and ABC blacked out service to 3.5 million cable customers.

“We are willing to negotiate as soon as Viacom is willing to be reasonable,” EchoStar spokesman Steve Caulk said. However, he said he knew of no negotiation plans.

March Madness begins next week.

The latest move affected all 9 million subscribers to EchoStar’s satellite DISH Network, costing them such Viacom-owned channels as MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon. EchoStar also pulled CBS programming in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Miami, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis and Dallas.

Viacom and EchoStar began sparring after a contract for the DISH Network to broadcast Viacom channels expired Dec. 31. The contract was extended at least three times, with the latest court order expiring late Monday.

EchoStar says Viacom has illegally tried to force it to carry channels at unfair prices in exchange for the right to also carry 18 CBS-owned stations in 16 markets.

It said Viacom sought rate increases up to 40 percent over the length of the contract, which would total potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Viacom, which owns CBS, got the airwaves for free from the American public, allowing them to provide CBS,” Caulk said. “Now they’re using that as leverage to force us to pay ridiculous amounts for other channels people don’t necessarily want.”

Viacom officials said EchoStar was fighting over what amounted to 6 cents more per customer per month.

“They’re talking about a 40 percent increase. That number is overblown,” Viacom spokeswoman Susan Duffy said.

Rob Sanderson, an analyst with American Technology Research in San Francisco, said the dispute was bad news for both companies.

“EchoStar would rather not disrupt services to the number of people affected,” he said. “On the Viacom side, their advertisers don’t like to see them lose any potential eyeballs or reach for advertising.”

He said it was up to Viacom to take the next step to get negotiations re-started.

EchoStar, based in Englewood, said it planned to give $1 monthly credits to customers who lose CBS programming, and another $1 for those who subscribe to additional Viacom channels. Besides CBS and the cable networks, Viacom also owns the Paramount movie studio.

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On the Net:

http://www.viacom.com

http://www.echostar.com

AP-ES-03-09-04 1814EST