A Utah federal court’s granting of a preliminary...

a huge win for broadcasters with the SCOTUS hearing only 2 months away,” said Wells Fargo’s Marci Ryvicker. “We give broadcasters the edge at this point,” said Stifel Nicolaus. “We are pleased with this outcome and believe there is no reason the Supreme Court would not come to the same conclusion,” said Sinclair CEO David Smith in a released statement. Two Sinclair stations are among the plaintiffs in the Utah case against Aereo. Both Ryvicker and Stifel pointed out that the injunction is the first win for broadcasters against Aereo in court, though they have previously had injunctions granted against competing service FilmOn. FilmOn’s injunctions bar the company from streaming content throughout the country except for the jurisdiction of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which had previously ruled in Aereo’s favor. Wednesday’s ruling bars Aereo from transmitting copyrighted material only within the jurisdiction of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision gives broadcasters “a little more ammo in their campaign against Aereo,” said Stifel. Broadcasters “are more likely than not to succeed in some form or fashion at the Supreme Court,” Stifel said. Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the decision to grant cert to the Aereo case, and “will presumably still be recused, leaving only eight justices to hear the case,” Stifel said. That means the court could theoretically deadlock, Stifel said, “which would leave the Second Circuit ruling in place and the parties to continue to fight it out in courts around the country.” An Aereo victory could lead to broadcasters looking to Congress for a legislative fix in satellite-TV copyright legislation, Stifel said. If that happens, it could “give pay-TV companies leverage to extract concessions from broadcasters on retransmission consent,” Stifel said.