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HDTV, Interactive TV, DVR Video on Demand... EchoStar's Dish Network is satellite tv's total package

EchoStar Communications owned Dish Network satellite systems holds

a strong second place among current satellite dish networks. With, at the time of writing, DISH has satellite dishes perched upon over 9 million rooftops, Dish Network is the fastest growing US satellite dish TV company.

Charles Ergin transformed EchoStar from a small C-band company in 1980, into the satellite dish powerhouse, The Dish Network, of today. But The Dish Network itself wasn't actually founded until 1995 and it wasn't until 1996, when their second satellite Echostar2 (the first was Echostar1, of course) was launched, were they able to go national, which put them 2 years behind the current #1 satellite company, Direct TV.

Dish Network decided if they were going to catch the #1 DBS company, they're going to need a lot of high powered satellite dishes

The Dish Network currently has 9 commercial satellites in a geo-synchronous orbit around Earth, with more in the works. This gives Dish Network more bandwidth capacity than any other satellite dish company.

You currently get 250 channels of digital entertainment with the Dish Network channel lineup, and with the most satellite bandwidth allocations in the business, you have the capacity of 500 potential channels delivered to your satellite receiver.

The Dish Network... More channels... Really?!

Maybe more channels for the money, but for the most part, at the moment, there's only a negligible difference in the programming between The Dish Network and Direct TV, the big two satellite dish networks.

The Dish Network does hold a slight edge when it comes to international programming (and price depending on how you slice it). Dish Network also has the most HDTV channels of the big two satellite dishes (see VOOM for the most in HDTV).

Direct TV used to hold the upper hand when it came to sports packages, but that's no longer the case. Dish Network has become a big enough player in the dish satellite world that the companies offering packages couldn't ignore the customers (and the money) being denied them by being exclusive with Direct TV.

Direct TV no longer has exclusive rights to sports packages such as NHL Center Ice,  MLB Extra Innings, NY Yankee games, and NBA League Pass. All are available on The Dish Network.

Right now the only sports package Direct TV has locked up exclusively is NFL Sunday Ticket, which they will probably opt out of when the contract expires in 2005.

Expanding local markets make The Dish Network a viable competitor to Direct TV and cable TV

A long time thorn in the side of both national satellite dish networks is the availability of local channels. Outside of the major market cities, access to the affiliates of the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc.) has been cable's "trump card".

Because satellite TV customers still had to purchase a basic cable service to get local channels, or resort good ole antenna reception.

Well this is all changing as Dish Network's access to local markets is expanding across the nation.

Dish Network has plenty of bandwidth and plans to put several more satellites in orbit which very well could add to this list:

• Albany/Troy/Schenectady, NY 11/6/03
• Albuquerque/Santa Fe, NM 11/16/00
• Anchorage, AK 8/26/03
• Atlanta, GA 2/1/98
• Austin, TX 3/28/01
• Bakersfield, CA 12/4/03
• Baltimore, MD 11/6/03
• Birmingham, AL 5/16/01
• Boise, ID 11/13/03
• Boston, MA 2/1/98
• Bristol/Kingsport/Johnson, TN/VA 2/19/04
• Buffalo, NY 11/21/02
• Burlington, VT/Plattsburgh, NY 7/24/02
• Cedar Rapids, IA 1/30/03
• Champaign, IL 12/17/03
• Charleston-Huntington, WV 12/17/03
• Charlotte, NC 4/4/00
• Chattanooga, TN 11/26/03
• Cheyenne, WY 5/19/04
• Chicago, IL 2/1/98
• Chico/Redding, CA 2/6/03
• Cincinnati, OH 9/5/00
• Cleveland, OH 2/1/00
• Colorado Springs/Pueblo, CO 11/21/02
• Columbia / Jefferson City, MO 4/8/04
• Columbia, SC 11/6/03
• Columbus, OH 11/13/03
• Columbus/Tupelo, MS 4/5/04
• Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX 2/1/98
• Dayton, OH 12/3/03
• Davenport, IA/Rock Island/Moline, IL/Bettendorf, IA 2/19/04
• Denver, CO 8/21/98
• Des Moines/Ames, IA 11/21/02
• Detroit, MI 12/22/99
• Duluth, MN / Superior, WI 4/15/04
• El Paso, TX 4/14/04
• Eugene, OR 9/29/03
• Evansville, IN 12/11/03
• Fargo, ND 4/21/04
• Flint/Saginaw/Bay City, MI 12/17/03
• Ft. Myers/Naples, FL 3/6/03
• Ft. Smith/Fayetteville, AR 12/11/03
• Ft. Wayne, IN 2/11/04 Fresno, CA 9/28/02
• Grand Junction, CO 1/21/04
• Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, MI 5/22/02
• Green Bay / Appleton, WI 2/26/04
• Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, NC 11/5/03
• Greenville/Spartanburg, SC/Asheville, NC 9/5/00
• Harlingen/Brownsville/McAllen 3/11/04
• Harrisburg, PA 9/28/02
• Hartford/New Haven, CT 12/17/03
• Honolulu, HI 6/26/02
• Houston, TX 1/18/00
• Huntsville, AL 3/19/03
• Indianapolis, IN 4/17/00
• Jackson, MS 5/13/03
• Jacksonville, FL 11/6/02
• Johnstown / Altoona, PA 1/28/04
• Kansas City, MO 11/18/00
• Knoxville, TN 5/22/03
• La Crosse / Eau Claire, WI 4/29/04
• Lansing, MI 12/17/03
• Las Vegas, NV 7/10/03
• Lexington, KY 2/20/03
• Lincoln / Hastings-Kearny, NE 3/31/04
• Little Rock/Pine Bluff, AR 7/2/03
• Los Angeles, CA 7/19/98
• Louisville, KY 12/19/02
• Madison, WI 11/6/03
• Medford, OR 5/19/04
• Memphis, TN 9/29/03
• Miami, FL 8/21/98
• Milwaukee, WI 12/17/03
• Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN 12/20/99
• Missoula, MT 11/13/03
• Mobile, AL/Pensacola, FL 11/20/03
• Monterey, CA 2/20/03
• Nashville, TN 12/23/99
• New York, NY 2/1/98
• Oklahoma City, OK 7/2/02
• Omaha, NE 1/16/03
• Orlando, FL 1/28/00
• Paducah, KY 4/30/03
• Cape Girardeau, MO 4/30/03
• Harrisburg/Mt. Vernon, IL 4/30/03
• Peoria / Bloomington, IL 5/12/04
• Philadelphia, PA 12/23/99
• Phoenix, AZ 8/21/98
• Pittsburgh, PA 9/15/98
• Portland, ME 5/5/04
• Portland, OR 3/6/00
• Providence, RI / New Bedford, MA 5/12/04
• Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC 6/30/00
• Reno/Carson City, NV 9/18/02
• Richmond/Petersburg, VA 11/5/03
• Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA 5/23/03
• Rochester, NY 4/8/04
• Rockford, IL 5/19/04
• Sacramento, CA 2/29/00
• Saint Louis, MO 3/3/00
• Salt Lake City, UT 8/21/98
• San Antonio, TX 10/3/00
• San Diego, CA 7/5/00
• San Francisco, CA 8/21/98
• Santa Barbara, CA 11/6/03
• Savannah, GA 12/22/03
• Scranton/Wilkes Barre, PA 11/20/03
• Seattle, WA 12/22/99
• Sherman, TX/Ada, OK 12/11/03
• Shreveport, LA 6/26/03
• Sioux Falls/Mitchell, SD 4/10/03
• South Bend/Elkhart, IN 3/17/04
• Spokane, WA 12/13/02
• Springfield, MO 11/13/03
• Syracuse, NY 4/28/04
• Tallahassee, FL/Thomasville, GA 5/28/03
• Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL 2/20/00
• Topeka, KS 4/8/04
• Traverse City/Cadillac, MI 2/4/04
• Tucson, AZ 7/24/02
• Tulsa, OK 7/31/02 Tyler, TX 3/6/03
• Waco, TX 8/21/02
• Washington, D.C. 2/1/98
• Wausau / Rhinelander/ WI 5/19/04
• West Palm Beach, FL 6/19/02
• Wichita/Hutchinson, KS 11/19/03
• Yakima, WA 10/6/03

Dish Network pioneers pay TV making Interactive Television available to over 8 Million satellite TV households

The DISH Network has a total of 22 channels of interactive TV programming to more than 8 million households, making DISH Network the #1 distributor of interactive TV services.

You can find DISH Home on channel 100, provided you have a compatible Dish network satellite receiver (Click here to see if your Dish Network receiver made the list).

This is DISH Network's interactive TV menu and it gives you access to smorgasbord of interactive TV programs, like Customer Support, Weather, Games, Sports and Entertainment.

Interactive TV programs come at no addition cost to DISH Network customers. It's an added bonus to their programming packages. With DISH Home, you can pay bill online, check out your local weather and sports scores, or play DISH Network's newest interactive games like Fantasy Cup Auto Racing or Trivia.

Click here for more on Dish Network Interactive TV

DISH Network is the leader in the sale of TiVo-style digital video recorders (PVR / DVR)

Digital video recorders (or personal video recorders as they are sometimes called) take how, when, and what you watch on TV to the next level. A DVR/PVR gives the viewer much greater control over the TV viewing experience than, let's say, your conventional VCR.

With a DVR you get tapeless video recording, integrated with the on screen program guide, which allows you to one touch recording directly from your remote. You also can skip forward, skip backward and pause live TV. Dish Network DVR's are usually compared to TiVo (which is partnered with Direct TV to no surprise), which has very similar features.

Dish Network's first offering in the digital recording arena was the PRO 501 in 2001. Dish Network launched the PRO 501 with a 40-gigabite internal hard drive for up to 30 hours of digital video recording, without video tape. The Dish Network PRO 501 Digital Video Recorder was also the first satellite receiver with the ability to skip recorded TV commercials and rewind, fast forward, and pause live TV.

The PRO 501 also was the first Dish Network satellite receiver to offer access to channel 100 Dish Home and Interactive TV.

Since the release of the PRO 501 Dish Network has sold over 1 million DVR units and there have been several upgrades and innovations on the DVR line of satellite receivers, such as the PRV 510 and PVR 721 which have larger hard drives and more features, so you can record even more hours of digital video.

TiVo, with partner Direct TV, have also sold 1 million TiVo equipped products, which has helped satellite TV, as whole, command more of the pay TV market from cable. So now cable has got into the act and began to offer PVR products in many major markets.

Recent issues with Viacom hurt The Dish Network standing as #1 overall dish satellite customer service

The recent blackout of all Viacom owned networks such as CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET and others caused quite a shakeup on the Dish Network front.

Contract disputes with Viacom caused Dish Network to dropped satellite TV access to several major networks like CBS, MTV, and BET on March 9, 2004 for about 2 days.

In the two days of the blackout EchoStar had to do damage control by offering subscribers a credit of $1 a month for losing cable networks and another $1 a month if they lost CBS. But that didn't stop thousands of EchoStar customers from running to Dish Network competitors Direct TV and cable.

The issue was quickly cleared up two days later on March 11 when Dish Network and Viacom reached a long term deal.

Before that Dish Network had been voted #1 in customer satisfaction 2 years running.

Related articles:

Review of Dish Network Interactive TV
Dish Network interactive TV added bonus for satellite dish company customers.