DISH Network Kicks Off College Football Season With ESPN GamePlan Pay-Per-View Package; Football Fans Get Front Row Seats With ESPN GamePlan's 100-Game Lineup

Business Editors

LITTLETON, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 3, 1999--EchoStar Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH, DISHP) announced today that DISH Network™ is offering ESPN GamePlan™ college football on DISH-On-Demand Pay-Per-View this season and will be available to order starting Aug. 5, 1999.

DISH Network will offer the entire ESPN GamePlan schedule - up to 10 games per week and over 100 games in all - beginning Saturday, Sept. 4 through Saturday, Nov. 27. Customers can purchase the 1999 ESPN GamePlan package on or before Tuesday, Aug. 31, for an early bird price of $89. After Aug. 31, the price is $99. The ESPN GamePlan package will be available for purchase through Saturday, Oct. 9. After Oct. 9, DISH Network customers may purchase any of the games on a given Saturday for only $11.95 each.

In cooperation with football conferences such as the BIG TEN, PAC-10, BIG EAST, BIG XII, ACC, WAC, SEC and Mountain West, DISH Network and ESPN will offer over 100 games from ABC Sports and regional conference syndicates.

"For the second year, DISH-On-Demand satisfies college football fans with ESPN GamePlan's premier pay-per-view sports package, allowing DISH Network customers access to more top NCAA college football games than ever before," said Michael Schwimmer, vice president of Programming at EchoStar.

"We are pleased that DISH Network customers will once again have access to the great schedule of college football action available through ESPN GamePlan," said Skip Desjardin, director of Sales and Marketing at ESPN. "DISH Network customers have embraced out-of-market sports packages and will have an opportunity to see maximum college football coverage every week of the season."

DISH Network offers ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNEWS in America's Top 40 package plus ESPN Classic Sports in America's Top 100 CD package.

To order the DISH-On-Demand ESPN GamePlan package, call 1-800/333-DISH (3474). Blackouts and restrictions may apply. For more information about DISH-On-Demand and DISH Network programming, visit www.dishnetwork.com.

DISH Network™ is EchoStar's state-of-the-art direct-broadcast-satellite system that offers customers over 300 channels of digital video and CD-quality audio programming, fully MPEG-2/DVB compliant hardware and installation. DISH Network is a trademark of EchoStar Communications Corporation. DISH Network currently serves approximately 2.6 million customers.

--30--SH/dx* CONTACT: EchoStar Communications Corp. Judianne Atencio, 303/723-2010 [email protected] Marc Lumpkin, 303/723-2020 [email protected] KEYWORD: COLORADO INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS TELECOMMUNICATIONS