Colorado’s senators have asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate a dispute between DirecTV and Echostar over network channels.

On Aug. 28, Echostar offered to pay $100 million to local stations, including 25 Fox-owned affiliates, to settle a nine-year-old legal battle over “distant” network TV signals originating from New York and Los Angeles. The local stations are concerned that Echostar’s subscribers will watch the national signals instead of their feeds. The satcaster says the Fox network, owned by News Corp., refused to abide by the agreement, though independently owned Fox affiliates settled.

News Corp. also owns a controlling interest in DirecTV.

Senators Wayne Allard (R) and Ken Salazar (D) have asked the Senate panel to examine whether DirecTV and News Corp. have “engaged in behavior that would threaten the viability of the satellite TV market.”

Echostar has its headquarters in Englewood, Colo.