DISH 5 Million ITV HHs: Top in US

[Gregg Lengling]

In case you missed the news: EchoStar's DISH
Network said it has more than 5 million households
that can access its 14 interactive TV channels,
an accomplishment which may make it the top
provider of ITV content in the United States.

DISH Network customers receive the ITV
offering - DISH Home - as an added benefit to
their programming packages. DISH Home offers
"on-demand" access to news, weather, entertainment,
sports and other information normally found from
other resources, all available through a
click of the remote control.

Customers also can pay their DISH Network
bill via the service. More interactive channels
are expected to be added to the 14 currently
available, EchoStar said.

DISH Home content providers include STATS,
Visiware, Tribune Media Services, Gist
Communications, Games Inc.'s Lottery.com unit,
AccuWeather, OpenTV and EchoStar. All interactive
channels are powered by OpenTV, the ITV company
providing software, content and applications
for delivering and managing interactive
television services.