ALEXANDRIA, VA, January 11, 2000 - Television that's a degree smarter comes to EchoStar Communication Corporation's DISH Network with the arrival of PBS YOU "Your Own University" (Channel 9402). The only around-the-clock channel leading to a college degree, PBS YOU is the latest response of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and its member stations to the public's rising demand for high-caliber, convenient educational opportunities.
For adults working toward a college degree or just interested in exploring new subjects, PBS YOU (www.pbsyou.org) will begin Jan. 15 to offer 30 college credit courses per week. With topics ranging from economics and environmental science to anthropology and international relations, telecourses are being supplied by such respected sources as the Annenberg/CPB Project, University Access and Dallas Telelearning. For those interested in personal enrichment and self-improvement, PBS YOU is planning to supplement its schedule later this year with how-to and lifestyle series on cooking, foreign languages, personal finance and a broad array of other topics.
More than 1,000 colleges enroll nearly a half-million students annually in courses broadcast by PBS stations in cooperation with the PBS Adult Learning Service. PBS YOU joins PBS KIDS, a 24-hour children's channel launched in September, as a new asset of PBS member stations. PBS stations in selected markets are expected to begin using PBS YOU in 2000 as a digital multicast channel, as part of their current analog schedule and as an additional resource for their local noncommercial cable and Instructional Television Fixed Service channels.
"Adults want learning opportunities that meet their interests and fit their schedules," said Jinny Goldstein, PBS senior vice president of education. "PBS and its member stations pioneered distance learning and are the nation's largest source of video-based college courses. With PBS YOU, those courses and other information-rich series will be available nonstop."
"EchoStar is pleased to add PBS YOU to our educational lineup on DISH Network," said Mark Jackson, senior vice president of Satellite Services at EchoStar. "DISH Network's 3.4 million customers nationwide now have free access to PBS YOU, a channel committed to delivering high-quality, curriculum-driven educational programming content."
PBS, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a private, nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 346 public television stations. A trusted community resource, PBS uses the power of noncommercial television, the Internet and other media to enrich the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services that inform, inspire and delight. Available to 99 percent of American homes with televisions and to an increasing number of digital multimedia households, PBS serves nearly 100 million people each week. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org.
DISH Network is EchoStar's state-of-the-art DBS system with the capacity to offer customers 500 channels of digital video and CD-quality audio programming as well as fully MPEG-2/DVB compliant hardware and installation. DISH Network is a trademark of EchoStar Communications Corporation and currently serves approximately over 3.4 million customers. DISH Network was ranked number one in customer satisfaction among satellite/cable TV subscribers by J.D. Power and Associates in 1999. EchoStar V, EchoStar's newest, high-power direct broadcast satellite, launched on Sept. 23, 1999, and provides the capacity for DISH Network to offer 500 channels, including high definition television, more local channels, and high-speed interactive television and data services. For more information, contact 1-800-333-DISH (3474) or visit www.dishnetwork.com.
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