EchoStar's DISHPlayer Selected By Consumer Electronics Show For The ""Best Of Show"" Award

EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH, DISHP) announced Thursday that EchoStar's DISHPlayerô satellite television receiver was chosen by the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association, to receive the highly coveted ""Best of Show"" award in the Satellite Systems category. Recognized for innovation in design and engineering, the DISHPlayer 500 satellite television system will be featured in the Innovations 2000 booth 21277 during the Consumer Electronics Show at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, January 6-9.""It's an honor that DISHPlayer has received the `Best of Show' award in the Satellite Systems category,"" said Charlie Ergen, Chairman and CEO of EchoStar. ""DISHPlayer is truly revolutionary in that it is four products in one: a digital video recorder, Internet browser, game player and satellite TV receiver that can provide you with access to hundreds of crystal-clear digital video and CD-quality audio channels.""Jointly developed with Microsoft WebTV Networksô, the new DISHPlayer 500 is the world's first interactive satellite TV system with a built-in 17.2 gigabyte hard drive capable of simultaneously recording and playing back full-quality digital video. The disk drive provides a number of enhanced features for customers who subscribe to WebTV Personal TV service, including up to 12 hours of digital video recording without a videotape, freezing a ""live"" TV program using TV Pause, and instantly replaying or skipping ahead a few seconds to a favorite movie scene or the next big play of a sporting event. The TV Listings allow users to view programming seven days in advance and quickly search and find programs to watch or automatically record with a touch of a button.In addition, WebTV Personal TV service provides viewers with an Instant News channel that delivers the latest headlines, business, weather, sports and stock information, which they can customize right on their TV. Instant News is updated throughout the day via satellite, requiring no Internet connection. DISHPlayer 500 also includes popular games such as You Don't Know Jack and Solitaire.Interactive TV Programs And Internet FeaturesWith a click of the remote, WebTV Plus Internet service enables viewers to directly interact with their favorite programming, such as playing along with game shows, voting in news polls, retrieving more information on their favorite stars or sports games, or doing their holiday shopping - all from the comfort of their living rooms.WebTV Plus service offers interactive programming, such as The Today Show, Judge Judy, JEOPARDY!, Wheel of Fortune, Dateline NBC, The Weather Channel, and more.WebTV Plus also provides TV viewers an avenue to explore the Internet from the comfort of their living room with an easy-to-use web browser, with access to chatrooms, newsgroups, and six email accounts. Plus, Kid Friendly features ensure a safe and fun Internet environment for children.The DISHPlayer 500 satellite TV system includes a DISH 500 antenna, a set-top receiver and a remote control unit. WebTV Personal TV service, which includes up to 12 hours of recording time and Instant News, is offered for only $9.99 per month; WebTV Plus service for Internet access is available for just $24.95 per month; and DISH Network satellite TV programming packages start at $19.99 per month. An optional wireless keyboard is also available for only $49. The WebTV Personal TV service can be ordered by calling DISH Network, and WebTV Plus service can be ordered directly from the users' DISHPlayer system. Customers subscribing to both the WebTV Personal TV and WebTV Plus services may receive a $5 per month discount.DISHPlayer satellite TV system recently won an award from Popular Science magazine for ""Best of What's New"" in 1999, and was chosen by the editors of etown.com as the 1999 satellite television Product of the Year on the basis of performance, quality, technology and value.EchoStar will also be demonstrating DISHPlayer 500 at CES in DISH Network booth 6011 and in the Microsoft WebTV booth No. 626 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. For media, visit www.dishnetwork.com/ces.For more information about DISHPlayer 500, DISH Network programming, WebTV Personal TV Service, or to find one of more than 20,000 DISH Network retailers nationwide, phone 800 333-DISH (3474).About DISH NetworkDISH Network is EchoStar's state-of-the-art direct broadcast satellite system that is capable of offering over 500 channels of digital video and CD-quality audio programming, fully MPEG-2/DVB compliant hardware and installation. DISH Network was also ranked number one in customer satisfaction among satellite/cable TV subscribers by the J.D. Power and Associates 1999 Cable/Satellite TV Customer Satisfaction Study. EchoStar V, EchoStar's newest high-power direct broadcast satellite, launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS rocket on September 23, 1999, to the 110 degrees W.L. orbital location. In addition to local channels, EchoStar V allows DISH Network to offer 500 channels, including high definition television, Dolby Digital surround sound, Internet and high-speed interactive television and data services, all on a single dish. DISH Network, which currently serves over 3.4 million customers, is a trademark of EchoStar Communications Corporation. DISH Network is located on the Internet at www.dishnetwork.com.About WebTV NetworksWebTV Networks, Inc., is a leading provider of enhanced TV services using Internet and digital technologies. WebTV Networks offers a range of enhanced TV services for set-top boxes, satellite products and other TV-related devices. Today, these services include the WebTV Classic service, the WebTV Plus service and the WebTV Plus service for satellite. WebTV Networks owns and operates a network of TV services and provides enabling software and hardware reference designs to consumer electronics manufacturers. WebTV Networks, based in Mountain View, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp.