MediaBuyerPlanner: Hundreds of thousands of EchoStar's Dish Network customers may lose access to network TV following the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding a lower court that found that EchoStar had illegally provided customers with signals of distant network stations rather than local affiliates, Mediaweek reports.

The panel told the lower court to issue an injunction barring EchoStar from offering distant network signals.

"EchoStar knew what it was doing and knew it was not in compliance" with laws aimed at letting rural customers see network broadcasts while also protecting affiliates, the court ruled.

The case was brought by network affiliates that lost local audience as viewers turned to EchoStar's selection of CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox signals from New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Atlanta and Chicago.