DEUTSCHE WELLE GERMAN CHANNEL
AVAILABLE ON DISH NETWORK
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Dec. 28, 2005 – EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) and its DISH Network™ satellite television service to offer Deutsche Welle (DW-TV), 24-hour news and information channel from Germany and Europe, beginning Jan. 1, 2006. Deutsche Welle programming includes current affairs reports, magazine shows and documentaries covering politics, business, culture and sports. Deutsche Welle is replacing GERMAN TV, which has announced it will end broadcast operations at the end of 2005.
“Deutsche Welle is an excellent replacement for GERMAN TV and fills a niche for German language news magazine style programming,” said Phil Klein, vice president of Marketing for DISH Network. “With the addition of Deutsche Welle, DISH Network continues to be the leading national provider of German programming in the U.S.”
Popular shows on Deutsche Welle include “Journal,” a 30 minute news and current affairs on the hour show that alternates hourly between German and English and “Euromaxx,” a daily European magazine show, as well as magazines: “European Journal,” Made in Germany,” and “Tomorrow Today.”
“DW-TV prides itself in providing a rapid, professional, informative and unique news and information service from Germany and Europe,” said Christoph Lanz, managing director of DW-TV. “We hope that DW-TV with its bilingual service helps DISH Network viewers make sense of events happening in Germany and Europe.”
Deutsche Welle will be available on DISH Network channel 725 as part of the German-Language Package for $16.99 per month or a la carte for $9.99 per month. Customers who do not subscribe to DISH Latino, DISH Latino Dos, DISH Latino Max, America’s Top 60, America’s Top 120, America’s Top 180 or Great Wall TV Package programming will be charged a $5 per month Service Access Fee. An additional dish antenna or single SuperDISH antenna is required to receive basic and international programming.
DISH Network now offers 119 international channels in 28 languages, including: Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Bangla and Kannada.
Customers can contact DISH Network at 1-800-333-DISH (3474), 1-888-347-4134 (German) or their local retailer for more information on how to subscribe to DISH Network. To learn more about DISH Network’s international programming offers, visit www.dishnetwork.com.
About EchoStar
EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) serves more than 11.71 million satellite TV customers through its DISH Network™, the fastest growing U.S. provider of advanced digital television services in the last five years. DISH Network offers hundreds of video and audio channels, Interactive TV, HDTV, sports and international programming, together with professional installation and 24-hour customer service. Visit EchoStar's DISH Network at www.dishnetwork.com or call 1-800-333-DISH (3474).
About Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle is Germany’s international broadcaster. It has the legal mission to convey a comprehensive picture of life in Germany and, additionally, to deal with “German and other positions on important issues” and in particular to provide a forum aimed at “promoting understanding and dialogue between cultures and peoples.” Deutsche Welle fulfills its mission with the programs of DW-RADIO in 29 languages, DW-TV in German and English as well as program slots in Arabic and Spanish, and DW-WORLD.DE - the multimedia and multilingual internet website. Visit Deutsche Welle at www.dw-world.de.
