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To: SafetyAgentMan who wrote (5766)	4/18/1999 2:22:00 AM
From: djane	Respond to of 10852

EchoStar looks to future. Communications firm will join forces with a phone company soon, CEO hints at shareholders meeting By Lisa Greim Everitt Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer Look for EchoStar Communications Corp. to partner with a telephone company soon, the direct broadcast satellite provider's chief executive hinted Friday at its annual meeting. "There are Internet and phone companies in our future," said Charlie Ergen, although he wouldn't say who. It could be MCI Worldcom, which will hold several million shares of EchoStar once a pending deal is approved to sell satellites and other assets owned jointly by MCI Worldcom and News Corp.'s American Sky Broadcasting. But Ergen said likely partners could be any of the Baby Bells, long-distance companies or Internet companies. "They're all going to need a video product" to compete with the new AT&T, he said. While AT&T sends video over TCI's outdated facilities, competitors will prefer to join forces with EchoStar's Dish Network or its competitor, DirecTV, he said. With a deal to acquire critical orbital slots nearly done, the financial picture improving, four satellites in the air and two more due to launch, EchoStar has made it through the "survival stage," Ergen told shareholders. "We go on to a growth period as a company," he said, "and see how big and how profitable we become, without losing sight of our objectives." If one of the two scheduled launches goes off according to plan, Ergen said, EchoStar will reach "every square inch of the U.S." with 500 channels of programming, plus e-mail, World Wide Web browsing, and the ability to "pause" live programming, diverting it to storage on an 8.6 gigabyte hard drive. "We're going to far surpass cable" with product offerings at a competitive price, Ergen said. Under terms of the American Sky Broadcasting deal, EchoStar will buy two satellites at the critical 110-degree orbital slot, which covers the entire continental United States. The deal settles pending lawsuits between EchoStar and News Corp., which tried and failed to come to merger terms in 1997. Also pending is federal legislation that would change current laws that prevent consumers from receiving local signals via satellite in most areas of the United States. Two bills are pending in each house, with opposition from local broadcasters and cable interests. For the year ended Dec. 31, 1998, EchoStar lost $260.9 million on revenue of $983 million, up from $477 million in 1997. But a year ago, there were five direct-broadcast satellite players, Ergen noted. With pending acquisitions, there are now two. He admitted that few would have pegged EchoStar to be a survivor. Other highlights of the year included adding more than 900,000 new subscribers, refinancing EchoStar's junk bonds and taking a gamble at purchasing some of the assets of the failed Primestar partnership out from under the nose of rival DirecTV. EchoStar's $600 million bid got no response, despite the fact that it holds enough of Primestar's bonds to block DirecTV's acquisition. "No knowledge," Ergen said. "No one from Primestar is talking to us."

To: SafetyAgentMan who wrote (5766)	4/18/1999 10:48:00 AM
From: Snow Shoe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10852

Did you see the article in the recent Red Herring magazine about Cyberstar use to transmit a digital movie to about five theaters? I have the print copy of the article, not sure if available on-line. They stick to the subject and only talk of Cyberstar. The author played up the significant cost savings and potential for other uses at theaters such as real time broadcast of sporting events. Some pitfalls he mentioned are the establishment in the movie industry being slow to accept the digital format. For instance, some film awards stipulate the recording format.