EchoStar Attacks Rival Bid for Hughes

EchoStar Communications Corp., gearing up for an all-out public-relations battle over its $29 billion unsolicited bid for Hughes Electronics Corp., hopes to sway Wall Street, individual investors and even members of Congress by portraying a rival proposal from Australia’s News Corp. as a threat to U.S. consumers, Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal reported.

Even as EchoStar (DISH) Chairman Charlie Ergen prepares to make the broader antitrust argument that News Corp.’s (NWS) growing clout in satellite broadcasting, network television and movies could chill competition and lead to higher prices, the board of Hughes’s parent, General Motors Corp.