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SkyREPORT.COM News Headlines
News Update For 12/10/99

EchoStar To Offer Free DISH 500 Upgrades

EchoStar has developed special packages for current subscribers interested in upgrading to the new DISH 500 service. Chairman Charlie Ergen discussed the DISH 500 packages during this week's Customer Charlie Chat. Existing DISH Network customers, he said, will have the option of upgrading to DISH 500 systems for free if they commit to subscribing to the America's Top 100 CD programming package for one-year. The package costs $39.98 a month, and subscribers will be responsible for a $24.95 shipping fee. DISH 500 offers up to 500 channels with a single dish, including local channels in more than a dozen cities, regional sports networks, foreign language programming, the new DISH Latino Spanish-language package, DISH-On-Demand pay-per-view channels, as well as high-speed data and interactive television services. The system is equipped with dual amplifiers, meaning it receives broadcast signals from satellites located at both 119 degrees and 110 degrees West Longitude. Current customers who want the upgrade but do not opt for the one-year programming package can get a DISH 500 antenna and installation for $99, Ergen said.

Congress Urges FCC to Move Quickly

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has asked the Federal Communications Commission to move quickly on rules governing retransmission consent. In a joint letter, the legislators asked the FCC to implement "good faith" regulations by the end of February for satellite providers and broadcasters to follow as they work out terms for local broadcast transmission rights. "Any improvement in the viewability standard would be a significant step towards enhancing satellite service as a competitor to incumbent cable, particularly in small and rural markets where local-into-local may not be immediately available," the letter said. The document was signed by both the House and Senate Commerce Committee chairs, Sen. John McCain (R., Az.) and Rep. Tom Bliley (R., Va.), as well as by Democrat Ed Markey of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Telecommunications subcommittee, and second-ranking Republican Michael Oxley of Ohio. The group also asked the FCC to make recommendations within six months about any necessary signal standard changes. The FCC was directed to determine these rules in the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act, which passed late last month.

DirecTV Adds Six Public Interest Channels

DirecTV announced Thursday that it will add six new public interest channels to its direct-broadcast-satellite service next week. The new networks, which are scheduled to begin airing on Dec. 15, will bring the total number of educational and informational programming channels offered by DirecTV to nine. The company's public interest line-up covers such topics as world affairs, aeronautics and space research, government, religion and Spanish-language programming. The six new networks are: WorldLink TV (channel 375), NASA TV (channel 376), PBS YOU (channel 377), StarNet (channel 378), Clara+Vision (channel 480) and Inspirational Life (channel 481). Congress mandated in Section 25 of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 that all DBS providers set aside a portion of their channel capacity for non-commercial, public interest programming.

Hughes Executive Joins Colleague at AT&T

Charles Noski, president of DirecTV's parent company Hughes Electronics, has been named chief financial officer of AT&T. Noski succeeds Dan Somers, who is know in charge of AT&T's broadband cable business. Noski, 47, is the second Hughes executive in recent years to land an upper level position with the long-distance telephone company. Two ears ago C. Michael Armstrong left Hughes to become AT&T's chairman. Hughes said Thursday that Chief Executive Michael Smith will assume the duties of president and CEO after Noski's departure. In a prepared statement, Armstrong said, "I've known and worked with Chuck Noski for a long time and believe his financial and management talents, combined with solid strategic thinking, make him ideally suited to be CFO as we execute our growth strategy."

Firm Forecasts Cable to Satellite Jump

A new report from the New York-based research firm Horowitz Associates says 25 to 35 percent of cable subscribers will jump to alternative service providers such as DBS due to the increasing popularity of digital, interactive and enhanced television services. This figure was compiled for "State of Cable 2000," an annual, comprehensive tracking survey. This year's study reveals consumer's strong interest in new technologies such as digital cable service, cable modems and Internet access through the TV. "Consumers want the features digital television offers," researchers wrote. "They want better picture and sound quality (56 percent interest) and new basic channels ... respondents also express a strong interest in the ability to stop, forward, rewind and pause TV programs (50 percent)." To purchase a complete copy of "State of Cable 2000," call Horowitz Associates at (914) 834-5999 or visit www.HorowitzAssociates.com.

PROGRAMMING: DirecTV Local Service Grows

  • DirecTV Adds Fox in San Francisco - Starting today, DirecTV customers in the San Francisco/Oakland/ San Jose area will be able to watch KTVU-FOX with their local channel package. The company began a local channel service preview in that market on Dec. 4. In addition to the four network stations, the local service - which costs $5.99 a month - includes a national PBS feed.
  • Grandmaster Flash, MC Lyte Join Sirius - Sirius Satellite Radio, formerly CD Radio, has signed hip-hop recording artists Grandmaster Flash and MC Lyte, each of whom will have an ongoing presence on Sirius' music and talk channels. The digital audio radio service is scheduled to launch early next year.
  • Showtime Highlights Triple Header - Showtime Championship Boxing has added a third fight to this weekend's boxing line-up. World Boxing Organization heavyweight Vitali Klitschko will defend his title against former International Boxing Federation Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion Obed Sullivan in a bought broadcast from Hamburg, Germany. The triple header begins tomorrow at 11:30 p.m.
  • ESPN Announces Year-End Plans - On Wed., Dec. 15 beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET ESPN will present three "SportsCenter" specials reflecting some of the year's greatest moments in sports. The network also has announced it will add a weekly, 30-minute installment of "Outside the Lines" on Sunday mornings. A special presentation of that show on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. ET will examine sports in prison.
  • News Corp. Gets Healthy - Media giant News Corp. and Healthion/WebMD have formed a $1 billion programming and marketing partnership. The companies said they plan to develop an international Internet and television venture.

 

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webmaster@adec.edu 		Last Updated: December 10, 1999