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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - March 14, 2005 - EchoStar
Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) and
its DISH Network™ satellite TV service named
three interactive TV (ITV) content and software
developers ITV Providers of the Year for DISH
Network in 2004: OpenTV Corp., (Nasdaq: OPTV),
Pixel, and Buzztime Entertainment, Inc, a
subsidiary of NTN Communications, Inc., (AMEX:
NTN). EchoStar executives made the announcement
at the annual DISH Network ITV Summit held at
its Englewood, Colo., headquarters on March 4
for more than 100 current and prospective media
providers and ITV software developers.
"OpenTV, Pixel and Buzztime have demonstrated
exceptional commitment to quality and
professionalism in their design, integration,
launch and commercial service," said Scott
Higgins, director of Interactive TV Programming
at EchoStar. "Our engineering team was impressed
by OpenTV and Pixel's technology expertise and
understanding of our customer needs while
passing our stringent quality-assurance
standards. Buzztime introduced a unique and
captivating marketing method for educating the
benefits of ITV entertainment to satellite TV
retailers, and in turn, to consumers."
DISH Network offers more than 20 ITV
channels, including games, sports, news,
shopping, children's programs, customer support
and entertainment. DISH Network's ITV
programmers were judged on timeliness in
completing the channel, the impact of the
channel for customers, quality assurance,
originality, and for one award, marketing
effectiveness.
OpenTV, a software development leader in the
ITV industry, received the 2004 Developer of the
Year Award. In addition to providing the
software platform for a majority of DISH Network
satellite receivers, OpenTV also delivered a
number of interactive software applications
throughout the year. OpenTV's software enables a
wide array of functionality, including enhanced
TV, games, interactive shopping, interactive and
addressable advertising, and gaming.
Pixel, a leader in cross-platform game
services, received the 2004 Game Developer of
the Year Award for the second year in a row.
DISH Network offers Pixel's KidsWise™, America's
first fully interactive TV channel exclusively
for young children that brings fun and learning
to TV.
Buzztime, a multiplayer ITV game company,
received the 2004 Marketing Award. Buzztime is a
major producer of trivia game shows and
multiplayer ITV games played by millions each
month in restaurants and sports bars, on the NTN
ITV Network, on major wireless carriers and with
retail games sold in major toy stores.
DISH Network provides the most ITV channels
in the United States and is the world leader in
the number of ITV-enabled homes with more than
10 million.
For more information, call 1-800-333 DISH
(3474) or go to www.dishnetwork.com. For print
quality screen shots of ITV channels, visit
www.dishnetwork.com and click "About Us," and
"Press Room."
About EchoStar EchoStar Communications
Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) serves more than 11
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. DISH Network ranks No. 1 in
Customer Satisfaction among Cable/Satellite TV
Subscribers by J.D. Power and Associates. Visit
EchoStar's DISH Network at www.dishnetwork.com
or call 1-800-333-DISH (3474).
About OpenTV
OpenTV is one of the world's leading interactive
television companies. Deployed in approximately
47 million digital set-top-boxes in 96
countries, the company's software enables a wide
array of functionality, including enhanced
television, a full-featured IPTV solution,
interactive shopping, interactive and
addressable advertising, games and gaming,
personal video recording, and a variety of
consumer care and communication applications.
For more information, please visit
www.opentv.com.
About Pixel Technologies:
Pixel is the leading provider of interactive
games and technologies for emerging platforms
including interactive television, broadband
internet and mobile entertainment. Already
reaching over 15 million ITV households, Pixel
develops and publishes games through exclusive
licensing agreements with the world's top
brands. The company's portfolio of patented
technologies, including the JIVE[TM]
full-function multiplayer suite which enables
cross-platform play, allows leading carriers
around the world to deliver innovative,
profitable games and game services to their
consumers. In 2003, Pixel was named "EchoStar
Developer of the Year" and is recognized as a
Mobility Preferred Partner by Microsoft, which
presented Pixel with their "Entertainment
Application Developer of the Year" Award.
About Buzztime Entertainment
Buzztime Entertainment, Inc., a subsidiary of
NTN Communications, Inc. (AMEX: NTN), is the
developer and distributor of Play-Along
Television™ technology and programming. Buzztime
Entertainment, Inc. develops Buzztime®, the
Play-Along Television community for multiplayer
games and competitions on digital cable
featuring six channels of trivia games for
players of all interests and ability levels.
Buzztime's trivia and play-along sports games
have been available to millions of players in
restaurants and sports bars via the NTN iTV
Network for almost 20 years. The company owns
one of the world's largest databases of iTV
trivia and operates an interactive broadcast
studio where it produces multiplayer trivia game
shows, live sports prediction games - such as
QB1® Predict the Play® football - popular arcade
and classic games across iTV, mobile and PC
platforms. Buzztime Entertainment has agreements
with Media General, Inc., EchoStar, Liberate
Technologies, ICTV, Cadaco, Airborne
Entertainment, DTI and the National Football
League. Buzztime Entertainment, Inc.'s
interactive television studio and broadcast
operations center are headquartered in Carlsbad,
California. The company website is located at
www.buzztime.com. |