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Technology Stocks : IATV-ACTV Digital Convergence Software-HyperTV -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: art slott who wrote (335)	2/25/1999 4:56:00 PM
From: anthony karpati	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13157

Thursday February 25, 3:30 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Headend In The Sky (HITS) HITS to Create Sports Pay-Per-View Service Entire Schedules of College Football, College Basketball, Major League Soccer, ESPN Programs, Plus Live Barker Channel to be Provided to Cable Operators Via HITS LITTLETON, Colo., Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- National Digital Television Center (NDTC) -- HITS (R) (Headend In The Sky®), the industry leader in digital programming transmission to over 860 cable systems nationwide, announced today it will create a multi-channel sports Pay-Per-View service for cable operators with ESPN. Starting in the fall of 1999, the HITS/ESPN package will carry ESPN GamePlan(TM), ESPN FULL COURT(TM), and MLS/ESPN SHOOTOUT(TM). HITS will carry three pay-per-view sports packages including the 100-game ESPN GamePlan(TM) college football pay-per-view package, the 500-game ESPN FULL COURT(TM) college basketball package, and the 100-game MLS/ESPN SHOOTOUT(TM) Major League Soccer package in their entirety. ''The ESPN sports packages and services, plus at least two new ESPN services, provides a customer-compelling multiplex of sports programming,'' said Richard Fickle, HITS Senior Vice President. ''ESPN worked with us to create a bandwidth efficient comprehensive year-round sports offering that includes an on-air barker service to help cable operators reach customers.'' This new sports service will also include a sports Pay-Per-View channel offering additional live and taped programming from the vast sports libraries of ESPN and ABC Sports. ''Consumers have clearly expressed a strong desire for more sports programming as part of expanded program offerings from cable systems rolling out digital services,'' said Bryan Burns, Vice President, Distribution Development for ESPN. ''We are very pleased that HITS will help operators meet the growing demand from sports fans for more viewing choices. Making these pay-per-view packages available in a digital format enables cable affiliates to offer viewers a more attractive selection of games on a year-round basis.'' A specially created Live Sports Barker channel will promote the season packages, game match-ups, schedule information, and other Pay-Per-View sports programming. This unique live Sports Barker will incorporate live updates from ESPN.com and the Go network. The three ESPN pay-per-view sports packages include the following: MLS/ESPN SHOOTOUT(TM) runs from March through September and will also feature play-off games. MLS is the first professional sports league to offer a Pay-Per-View package to the cable industry. ESPN GamePlan(TM) offers a 13-week schedule of gridiron action from conferences such as the BIG TEN, BIG XII, ACC, SEC, BIG EAST, PAC-10, SEC and WAC. ESPN FULL COURT(TM) offers a 16-week schedule of the top conferences including BIG TEN, BIG XII, ACC, SEC, BIG EAST, ATLANTIC 10, and CONFERENCE USA. ''Our affiliates have increasingly asked for programming that will help them compete with other video providers in the marketplace and we are pleased to offer them these new and exciting season sports packages,'' said Mr. Fickle. ESPN GamePlan(TM), ESPN FULL COURT(TM), and MLS/ESPN SHOOTOUT(TM) are distributed by ESPN Enterprises, a wholly owned subsidiary of ESPN, Inc. HITS® and Headend In The Sky® are registered service marks of Tele-Communications, Inc. Tele-Communications, Inc. is traded through the TCI Group, the TCI Ventures Group and the Liberty Media Group common stocks. The Series A and Series B TCI Group common stocks are traded on the National Market tier of the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbols of TCOMA and TCOMB, respectively. SOURCE: Headend In The Sky (HITS)