NEWS CORP. TO LINK WITH ECHOSTAR ON DBS SERVICE

          Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. announced yesterday it
     would spend $1B for a 50% stake in Echostar Communication
     Corp. "in a merger that promises to shake up the fast-
     growing market" for DBS TV, according to Mike Mills of the
     WASHINGTON POST.  The company plans to sell more than 500
     channels of digital TV service "under the Murdoch brand
     name, Sky, in all 50 states beginning early next year." 
     They also hope to persuade local TV station owners to allow
     them to retransmit their programming over the satellite
     service, free of charge.  That "move would be a first for
     the DBS industry."  Mills notes the "deal threatens the DBS
     leader, DirecTV, which has 2.3 million customers"
     (WASHINGTON POST, 2/25).  Echostar has about 430,000
     customers in the U.S. (Jon Elsen, N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/25).