Press Conference on Successful Launch of Zee Sports America on DISH Network
From L to R: S. Venkat, Country Head, Zee TV USA; Michael Kelly, Executive Vice- President, EchoStar L.L.C., Dish Network; Tarun Kshetrapal, Associate Director – South Asian Services, EchoStar L.L.C., Dish Network |
New York, NY: EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) and its DISH Network® satellite TV service along with programming partner ZEE TV co-sponsored a press conference and dinner reception celebrating the recent launch of ZEE Sports America. This kick-off media event was held in New York City on December 12, 2007. Coordinated by the promotional efforts of Dreamakers and Touchdown Media Inc., two promising South Asian media entities, the conference was well-attended and applauded by many members of the South Asian and Caribbean press, as well as representatives from the New York Times and other local media outlets.
ZEE Sports America, the first and most complete South Asian sports channel and now available on the DISH Network platform on Channel 576, is the first round-the-clock channel dedicated to the vast and ever-growing South Asian sports community. ZSA provides viewers with “virtual front row seats” to a broad array of South Asian sports – including Indian football, Cricket, Golf, and Motor Sports, in addition to ZEE TV’s award-winning original productions such as the “Daily Sports News”, “Sports Café”, “Football Café”, “Sports Sunday”, “World Motor Sports Magazine”, “Twenty Two Yards”, “Cricket Talk”, and “Cricket First”.
EchoStar Executive Vice President Michael Kelly and ZEE TV Country Head S. Venkat co-hosted the Q&A session with members of the media. Kelly observed that “we continue to look for new ways to bring the best of programming to the very important South Asian community, and with the launch of ZEE Sports America, we are now able to offer not only cricket, but also other sports like hockey, soccer, tennis and golf to this audience.” S. Venkatsubramanian, echoing Mr. Kelly’s enthusiasm, remarked, “ZSA is born out of the current market need and to give expression for the South Asian sporting community ”, adding, “that this was bound to happen as two pioneers, DISH Network and ZEE TV came together and identified the need.”
The importance of this event was underscored by it being carried live on six South Asian radio stations across the US in the Bay Area, Dallas, Houston, New York and New Jersey.
ZEE Sports America is available at an annual pre-payment price tag of $149.99. For more information about DISH Network programming and services, visit: www.dishnetwork.com or call 1-800-333-DISH (3474). To order Pay-Per-View events, DISH Network customers can call 1-877-DISH PPV (347-4778) or visit www.dishnetwork.com/ppv.
About ZEE TV USA
ZEE TV USA manages the business of ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., India's largest vertically integrated media company, in the Americas. ZEE NETWORK channels span the globe and reach over 300 million viewers in over 80 countries. ZEE TV USA, Inc. commenced operations in 1998 and within a decade has achieved dominant market leadership in the South Asian segment in the Americas. It operates four 24x7 South Asian television networks, ZEE TV, ZEE CINEMA, ALPHA ETC PUNJABI and ZEE GUJARATI. Now, ZEE SPORTS AMERICA is the fifth television channel from its stable.
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 US, 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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