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Bulls' games are temporarily barred from the national satellite feed

DALLAS, Texas, 96/10/10 (SJI Newswire) -- As a result of the NBA's
continuing six-year legal attack on the delivery of
Chicago Bulls basketball on superstation WGN, the Seventh Circuit Court of
Appeals has issued a decision under which the Chicago Bulls' games are
temporarily barred from the national satellite feed.  The case now returns
to federal district court, the same court which has repeatedly rejected the
NBA's ongoing attempts to limit telecasts. 

    "Our satellite carriage of WGN has been specifically targeted by the
NBA to test the legal limits of the league's authority over teams'
television rights," said Roy Bliss, President & Chief Operating Officer of
UVTV. "Through ongoing complicated legal maneuverings, the NBA has been
able to expand its monopolistic power to include the WGN satellite audience
and deny Bulls' games to the masses. The NBA's vendetta against UVTV and
its WGN carriage robs cable television
viewers of seeing the Bulls in action." 

    WGN is continuing to aggressively pursue every legal avenue and UVTV is
optimistic that the court will ultimately rule in WGN's and UVTV's favor.
Until the federal court rules however, the Bulls' games must be pre-empted
on the UVTV
satellite feed, beginning with the Bulls' home opener November 2 against
the Philadelphia 76ers.  Games will be replaced by popular programming such
as movies and popular first-run action-adventure programming.  

(c) Copyright Satellite Journal 1996
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