ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Aug. 24, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) and its DISH Network(r) satellite TV service today announced the latest Big Ten college football broadcast schedules are now available at www.dishnetwork.com/big10, which will be updated regularly. DISH Network will carry almost all of the Big Ten and other NCAA conference football and basketball games currently scheduled on CSTV, CBS and NBC, as well as ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.
There are a few Big Ten non-conference games (e.g. Citadel vs. Wisconsin) that air on the Big Ten Network (BTN). For several months, DISH Network has been diligently negotiating with BTN to obtain a carriage agreement consistent with other regional sports networks, but BTN wants unreasonable and inconsistent payments from all of our customers regardless of whether or not they are Big Ten fans. The good news is that DISH Network customers who are Big Ten fans will get most of their games with the current channels available on DISH Network.
DISH Network realizes how important these games are to our customers (we're fans too!), and will continue to work to provide the best in college and all sports, at the best value anywhere. In the meantime, we are keeping the door open in the hopes we can conclude a reasonable deal with BTN.
About EchoStar Communications Corporation
EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) has been a leader for more than 26 years in satellite TV equipment sales and support worldwide. The Company's DISH Network is the fastest-growing pay-TV provider in the country since 2000 and currently serves more than 13.585 million satellite TV customers. DISH Network offers a premier line of industry-leading Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) and hundreds of video and audio channels as well as the most national HD and International channels in the U.S., Interactive TV, Latino and sports programming. DISH Network also provides a variety of package and price options including the lowest all-digital price in America and the DishDVR Advantage Package. EchoStar is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 300 company. Visit www.echostar.com or call 1-800-333-DISH (3474) for more information.
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