Dish Charges Bigger DBS Operator With False Advertising

The slugfest between DirecTV and Dish Network over marketing claims continued, as Dish filed a countersuit Monday charging the larger operator with falsely advertising its HD services.

Dish alleged that several DirecTV ads are misleading because they tout HD but conclude by showing a price -- $29.99 per month -- for a basic package that includes no HD channels.

In addition, Dish complained that the bigger satellite operator falsely implies that it offers more than 200 HD channels. "DirecTV has repeatedly advertised that it has the capacity for 200 channels of HD programming, without clarifying that DirecTV does not actually offer 200 channels, in a manner that is likely to mislead consumers," Dish said in its suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Dish's countersuit comes after DirecTV last month filed suit in the same court over Dish's "Why Pay More" ad campaign, which implies that customers can get a channel lineup from Dish for only $39.99 per month comparable to one from DirecTV for $63.99 per month. The court denied DirecTV's emergency injunction to stop the ads and found that it failed to prove a "likelihood of success on the merits."

Meanwhile, DirecTV now is running a TV ad campaign aimed at countering Dish's "Why Pay More?" ads. The DirecTV spots feature Jeopardy's Alex Trebek hosting a game show called "To Tell the Truth" with three contestants: "cable," DirecTV and Dish.

In one of the spots, the Dish representative says, "We offer the same TV as DirecTV, for less." The DirecTV rep jumps in: "Does ‘the same' include channels like AMC, Animal Planet, Bravo, FX --" The Dish rep concedes, "Not in our basic package, like yours."

Dish in its countersuit reiterated that its original ads compared the Dish America's Top 120 package with DirecTV's Choice package, whereas the DirecTV "To Tell the Truth" spots attempt to compare the Dish AT120 and DirecTV Choice Xtra tiers.

Dish's countersuit seeks an injunction blocking the DirecTV ads in question as well as unspecified monetary damages.

DirecTV representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case is docket no. 10-CV-01138 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.