DISH Network(TM) to Feature Sneak Preview of NBC Series Premiere

[James Long]

DISH Network(TM) to Feature Sneak Preview of NBC Series Premiere of 'Friday Night Lights'

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. & BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 21, 2006--EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) and its DISH Network(TM) satellite TV service today announced that the series premiere of NBC's new fall series "Friday Night Lights" will be featured on its Video On Demand platform, DISH On Demand, before its network debut on NBC on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT.

The "Friday Night Lights" series centers on the small rural town of Dillon, Texas, where the coveted state football championship rings are held in the highest regard. Dillon's promising high school team, its star quarterback, and newly appointed head coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler, "King Kong," "Grey's Anatomy") feel the mounting pressure of the town's pride and honor riding on their shoulders as a new football season kicks off.

"Friday Night Lights" will be available on DISH On Demand on Saturday, Sept. 23 through Monday, Oct. 2 for DISH Network customers with a 622 or 625 receiver. Customers simply need to press the "DVR" button on their remote and select "TV Entertainment" from the menu screen, select "Friday Night Lights" from the menu, and select "Start" to begin viewing. DISH Network's DISH On Demand service gives customers immediate access to the latest movies and television programs, allowing them to enjoy movies and other programs whenever they want. Additionally, DISH Network's state-of-the-art DVRs enable subscribers to further customize their viewing experience by taking advantage of popular features such as pause, fast forward, and rewind.

"We're delighted that we have this opportunity to showcase a drama of this caliber to the DISH Network audience," said John Miller, chief marketing officer, NBC Universal Television Group. "We're proud of the quality of 'Friday Night Lights' and we look forward to having viewers see the show in advance and encourage others to watch this exciting new series."

"We are very excited that DISH On Demand customers will get a sneak preview of 'Friday Night Lights' before it premieres on NBC," said Susan Arnold, vice president of Programming for DISH Network. "By combining the latest and most popular programming on DISH On Demand with the functionality and technology of our industry-leading DVRs, DISH Network customers will find multiple ways to enhance their viewing experience."

For more information or to subscribe to DISH Network, visit www.dishnetwork.com, call 1-800-333-DISH (3474), or contact your local DISH Network retailer.

[harsh]

"Friday Night Lights" will be available on DISH On Demand on Saturday, Sept. 23 through Monday, Oct. 2 for DISH Network customers with a 622 or 625 receiver.Do you suppose that this is because the set-aside on the older receivers isn't big enough?

[tomcrown1]

Do we have to pay to get a sneak peek at a show we can watch for free latter on and in HD???

[James Long]

Do we have to pay to get a sneak peek at a show we can watch for free latter on and in HD???This one should be free. "On demand" is just a way of delivering it to you (and others) not a pricing scheme.

[olguy]

DISH Network(TM) to Feature Sneak Preview of NBC Series Premiere of 'Friday Night Lights'

"Friday Night Lights" will be available on DISH On Demand on Saturday, Sept. 23 through Monday, Oct. 2 for DISH Network customers with a 622 or 625 receiver. Customers simply need to press the "DVR" button on their remote and select "TV Entertainment" from the menu screen, select "Friday Night Lights" from the menu, and select "Start" to begin viewing. DISH Network's DISH On Demand service gives customers immediate access to the latest movies and television programs, allowing them to enjoy movies and other programs whenever they want. Additionally, DISH Network's state-of-the-art DVRs enable subscribers to further customize their viewing experience by taking advantage of popular features such as pause, fast forward, and rewind.

Does this mean they will activate the TV Entertainment option tonight? It's still grayed out on my 625 as of about 10 minutes ago. I did get L3.81 the first night and I've been wondering what the TV Entertainment option was about.

[James Long]

I suspect the "TV Entertainment" option will be active as soon as there is content to show. Apparently no one has seen that content on their receivers yet.

[SaltiDawg]

Do we have to pay to get a sneak peek at a show we can watch for free latter on and in HD???
Ya think the free preview won't be in HD?

[bobukcat]

Ya think the free preview won't be in HD?

I'll be shocked if it is.

[emathis]

HD takes up too much VOD space.

[langlin]

From Dish:
Friday Night Lights
Every day counts. One night matters.

Order the premiere episode for free Sept. 23 - Oct. 2 on DISH On Demand!*

How to Order:
1. Press the DVR button on your remote.
2. Select TV Entertainment from the menu screen.
3. Select Friday Night Lights from the menu.
4. Select Start to begin viewing.

Question, does anyone have the "TV Entertainment" available and not grayed out?

[langlin]

I just discovered that I can press "3" and select TV Entertainment even though it's grayed out and there is a list of shows(empty) so I guess it will work when there is content downloaded???

[elbyj]

Okay -- are they going to have to push another update to make the bar active so we can see all these free shows or has the capability been delayed??? Still waiting -- did a reboot thinking that would force a push, but still nothing.

[kb7oeb]

Ya think the free preview won't be in HD?

Showtime sent me an email for a free preview of Dexter I could watch online but I am going to wait so I can watch it in HD.

[Mike D-CO5]

Neither of my 622s have anything recorded on the Tv entertainment screen and my Mom and Dad's 625 has nothing recorded on their menu either. OF course my Dad insists he can't even get to the screen by punching the number 3 . This has been a bad update all the way around and it looks like Dish has issued their press releases prematurely. They need to do one more update just to enable the button itself. My dvrs stay in standby from 10:00pm till the next morning around 6:00 so it's not because the dvr is on.

[SaltiDawg]

Okay -- are they going to have to push another update to make the bar active so we can see all these free shows or has the capability been delayed??? Still waiting -- did a reboot thinking that would force a push, but still nothing.
Oh for crying out loud. The bar IS active - it just does not contain any listings and is thus greyed out. Try selecting "3." :rolleyes:

[Virus]

Oh for crying out loud. The bar IS active - it just does not contain any listings and is thus greyed out. Try selecting "3." :rolleyes:

Some free preview. It's blank. This show will definately keep me interested the rest of the season. I can multitask and read a book at the same time.:lol:

[olguy]

Try selecting "3." :rolleyes:

I DID and nothing happens. :rolleyes:

I talked to a CSR yesterday who said her information said there was nothing loaded yet. Don't know why you can select 3 and get a page and some of us, even with L3.81, can't but this is like all the updates I've experienced since I subscribed last December. Not every receiver gets everything at the same time.

[James Long]

The best response that can be given is the content has not streamed yet. Why a press release (two actually) was put out before the content was sent is a good question - but there is NOTHING a subscriber can do to force these downloads. Just make sure your receiver is 'off' (in standby, not unplugged) when yo are not using it and when they come they come.

[lionsrule]

Somebody screwed up, BIG time.......

[mplsjeffm]

When they do show up they are downloaded to my hd correct? If that is true, will they be deleted at some point?Have they taken part of my hd that was used for recording events and used it for this stuff?

[Mike D-CO5]

Well I tried to use the Tv entertainment feature on my Dad's 625 and he was right You can't access it with the number 3 or try to use the up/down button to get to it. Great NON FEATURE DISH.

[James Long]

When they do show up they are downloaded to my hd correct? If that is true, will they be deleted at some point?Have they taken part of my hd that was used for recording events and used it for this stuff?There is a section of your Hard Drive that you will never be able to use that is used by E* for VOD. It is NOT the section of the drive you use for your recordings.

[dhageremtp]

I am new to Dish. I didnt get DVR, just a plain jane receiver. I suppose this is not an option for me, or is it? How does it work?

[Bill R]

I am new to Dish. I didnt get DVR, just a plain jane receiver. I suppose this is not an option for me, or is it? How does it work?

Since it is recorded on the hard drive, VOD (or DOD) will never be available on "plain jane" receivers (you don't have a hard drive).

The way it works is that there is some "reserved" space on the DVR's hard drive and overnight (or while the DVR is "off") content is downloaded and stored on the hard drive. You can not control what you get nor can you even delete an event after you view it. Most of us would rather have the space back so that we have more room to record the programs we want, not some promotion from the Networks for their new shows.

Apparently, DISH is having some problems since many of us got e-mails last week saying that the shows would be available, and, for many of us, they still aren't.

[Ohioankev]

Well I tried to use the Tv entertainment feature on my Dad's 625 and he was right You can't access it with the number 3 or try to use the up/down button to get to it. Great NON FEATURE DISH.

There was two seperate updates. The first one TV Entertainment was greyed out but you could hit "3" to bring up the menu. Two days later after the first update my box went through the update process again, TV Entertainment was still greyed out but you could no longer press "3" to access the menu.

[JM Anthony]

We watched the preview tonight. It's in SD. Looks like this could be a pretty good series. You good ol' boyz will luv it.

John