EchoStar, Landmark Communications Reach Agreement for Retransmission in Nashville; WTVF-CBS Channel 5 Returns to DISH Network Satellite TV Line-Up
LITTLETON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 30, 2000--EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH, DISHP) and Landmark Communications, owner of WTVF-CBS Channel 5 in Nashville, have reached a multi-year retransmission consent agreement in which WTVF-CBS will provide EchoStar's DISH Network customers with their local signal immediately.
Under terms of the retransmission consent agreement, Landmark Communications has granted EchoStar the right to transmit the signal of WTVF-CBS. EchoStar will offer its DISH Network customers in 48 counties in the Nashville area their local CBS signal, including news, sports, entertainment, weather and other community-based information.
"We are pleased that Landmark has agreed to provide their local signal by satellite, which is an important staple for Nashville TV viewers," said Michael Schwimmer, vice president of Programming at EchoStar. "We are sorry for the inconvenience that this brief shutoff caused DISH Network's customers in the Nashville area."
DISH Network now has retransmission agreements with ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX affiliates in Nashville to provide local channels by satellite. DISH Network customers affected by the shutoff since May 29, 2000, have not been charged for any of their other satellite-delivered Nashville local network stations while WTVF-CBS remained unavailable.
On May 29, DISH Network was required by the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act to discontinue providing WTVF Channel 5 until retransmission consent agreements were reached.
DISH Network currently offers local channels in 30 metro areas, including: New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia; San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose; Boston; Dallas-Ft. Worth; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; Atlanta; Seattle-Tacoma; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Miami-Ft. Lauderdale; Phoenix; Denver; Pittsburgh; Nashville; Salt Lake City; Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo.; Houston; Cleveland; Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Fla.; Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.; Sacramento-Modesto-Stockton, Calif; St. Louis; Portland, Ore.; Indianapolis; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; and San Diego.
DISH Network is EchoStar's state-of-the-art direct broadcast satellite system with the capacity to offer 500 channels of digital video and CD-quality audio programming as well as fully MPEG-2/DVB compliant hardware and installation. DISH Network, a trademark of EchoStar Communications Corporation, currently serves over 4.3 million customers nationwide. EchoStar is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) which contains the largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq Stock Market. For more information, contact 1-800-333-DISH (3474) or visit www.dishnetwork.com.
CONTACT: EchoStar Communications Corp. Judianne Atencio, Communications Director 303/723-2010 [email protected] or Marc Lumpkin, Communications Manager 303/723-2020 [email protected]