Dish Network owner EchoStar Communications Corp. said it tentatively resolved a contract dispute with Turner Broadcasting System that could have led to the loss of the Cartoon Network, CNN and Turner Classic Movies channels for its 8 million subscribers.
EchoStar said on Thursday the parties agreed in principle to a new contract, but details were still being worked out.
EchoStar's broadcast agreement with Turner, a unit of Time Warner Inc., expired at the end of 2003 and was renewed on a multimonth basis while the parties continued talks.
Earlier this month, EchoStar Chief Executive Charles Ergen took to the airwaves to explain the impasse to viewers and warned they might lose Turner channels.
The dispute is over the rate EchoStar would have to pay to carry Turner channels, including CNN, Cartoon Network, TNT and TBS. It's the second dispute with a major programmer this year for EchoStar, which pulled Viacom's MTV, Nickelodeon and CBS off the air for 48 hours in March before the parties reached a deal.
Dish Network is the second-largest satellite TV service in the United States.