Southern California EchoStar ``Dish Network'' Customers Lose KCBS -- Channel 2, MTV, VH-1, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and Other Viacom Networks.

Business/Entertainment Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 9, 2004

Tens of thousands of Southern California Dish Network customers woke up this morning to find out they were not going to see some of their favorite programs like "CBS Morning News," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" or David Letterman's Top Ten List. But that's not all; nearly 20 Viacom channels including Nickelodeon, MTV and others have been dropped too.

Four Los Angeles area cable operators have set up a hotline at 800-800-CABLE to assist Dish Network customers who have lost the CBS feed on their satellite service as a result of a dispute between EchoStar Communications, the parent company of Dish Networks and Viacom. These operators include Adelphia, Charter, Cox and Time Warner Cable. Dish Network customers lost the CBS feed around midnight last night when the satellite provider decided not to renew its contract to televise these popular channels.

The 1-800-800-CABLE hotline connects consumers to their local cable company, where they will receive priority installation service as well as a generous allowance to assist them in buying out the remainder of their satellite contract. Adelphia, for example, offers a $400 credit to satellite customers who turn in their dish for cable TV. Every local cable operator has their own offer.

Los Angeles is one of 16 markets nationwide where Dish Network, the nation's second-largest U.S. satellite television service, has lost the right to carry the CBS feed and all Viacom networks.

Other markets affected by the outage include Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Green Bay, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Salt Lake City.

The dispute does not impact any of the Southland's three million-plus cable subscribers. Cable systems in Southern California will continue to carry the regular broadcast KCBS-2 signal and a high-definition KCBS feed, in addition to other Viacom networks including MTV, VH-1, BET, Nickelodeon, Nick at Night, Spike TV, Comedy Central and TV Land, among others.

Dish Network customers dodged a bullet in February when U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken issued a temporary restraining order allowing the satellite provider to air Viacom programming including the Super Bowl and its ill-fated halftime extravaganza. The restraining order expires tonight at midnight. Absent an agreement, the local CBS eye closes for Dish customers tonight. Customers wonder whether it will be a blink or a long sleep.

Cable operators are setting up special hotlines for Dish customers who are affected by the loss of these important channels. Satellite customers can receive priority installation service as well as a generous allowance to assist them in buying out the remainder of their satellite contract by calling 800-800-CABLE.

Even before the Dish Network CBS/Viacom blackout, cable companies had seen a steady stream of customers return to cable service after testing the waters with satellite providers. Competitive pricing, technical superiority, deployment of true video on demand, digital video recorders, a full tier of HDTV channels, high speed data services and an aggressive customer welcome-back program have played a part in cable's re-emergence.