Also / IN BRIEF

* EchoStar Communications Corp. posted the biggest gain in 2003 market share among providers of basic cable and satellite television service, rising 1.03 percentage points to 8.69% from the year before. Charter Communications Inc. posted the biggest decline, dropping 0.23 percentage point to 5.93% from the year before.

* Walt Disney Co.’s Walt Disney World has reached a tentative contract with its part-time workers who are being represented by a union for the first time in the resort’s 32-year history, union leaders said. Workers were scheduled to vote next week on the contract, which covers 6,100 employees.