INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING PHENOMENON RING OF HONOR INKS STATESIDE
TELEVISION DEALS
WITH iN DEMAND, TVN AND ECHOSTAR
PPV/VOD Distribution Deals Bring ROH into 50 Million Households
New York, May 3, 2007 - Ring Of Honor Wrestling (ROH), in association
with G-Funk Sports & Entertainment, has concluded programming and
distribution deals for PPV and VOD wrestling cards with iN DEMAND
Networks, TVN and EchoStar Communications Corporation's DISH
NetworkTM, making the critically-acclaimed ROH brand available for
the first time ever to approximately 50 million American households.
The agreement calls for a card every 60 days from shows both
stateside and abroad, and will premiere July 1. A total of six cards
are planned throughout `07/'08. ROH owner Cary Silkin made the
announcement today with G-Funk's President Ken Gelman. The debut
event, entitled "Respect Is Earned," will be taped May 12 in New York
City from the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center, and will
feature a glistening array of talent from Japan, England, the U.S.
and Mexico.
Long revered by a loyal underground fan base, the Philadelphia-based
ROH—currently seen on Canadian, British and Japanese TV—appeals to
the disenfranchised wrestling fan fed up with storylines which seem
to take precedence over the kind of powerful ring competition that
ROH specializes in. ROH, in fact, is seen to have the highest level
of athleticism in its field today, which recently culminated in a
sweep of the 2006 Wrestling Observer awards for "Most Outstanding
Wrestler," "Best Brawler," "Best Major Wrestling Show" (ROH took four
of its Top 10) and "Best Booker."
"Fans around the world now know that our brand of action is, indeed,
the highest-flying, hardest-hitting most daring and acrobatic action
presented today," says Mr. Silkin. "We are thrilled that we can
finally show a televised audience what our crowds have known for the
last six years…that ROH harkens back to an earlier era of wrestling
where authenticity still counted for something. There's a magic at
our shows that I, as a wrestling fan, had all but given up on."
G-Funk Sports and Entertainment will be handling all marketing and
promotion for the wrestling programs, including creation and launch
of an affiliate website on May 15, www.rohaffiliates.com, which will
contain easy-to-implement marketing materials and all event
information. Each show will also be supported by a range of targeted
national consumer advertising and promotion.
According to Mr. Gelman, "Ring Of Honor already has the respect and
enthusiastic following of legions of fans around the world through
their live events, but represents a fresh new entry into the world of
televised wrestling. These distinctive programs will prove a welcome
change-of-pace for audiences and a popular new option for cable
operators and satellite providers as they expand their transactional
offerings."
About iN DEMAND Networks
iN DEMAND Networks is the pioneer and world leader in providing
exciting entertainment delivered through television's most innovative
technologies. iN DEMAND delivers programming through four distinct
areas of business: Pay-Per-View (PPV), Video-On-Demand (VOD),
Subscription Video-On-Demand (SVOD) and high-definition (HD)
programming. Howard TV (SVOD) is now the exclusive TV home of Howard
Stern. PPV programming includes first-run movies, mega events and the
digital out-of-market subscription sports packages. VOD includes
blockbuster movies and boxing, mixed martial arts and concert events.
The company also operates the MOJO network, formerly INHD, a pioneer
in HD. The company's shareholders are Comcast iN DEMAND Holdings,
Inc., Cox Communications Holdings, Inc., and Time Warner
Entertainment - Advance/Newhouse Partnership. Further information
about the company can be found at www.indemand.com.
About TVN Entertainment Corporation
TVN Entertainment Corporation, the leading television on-demand
company, works with every major studio, network and
telecommunications video provider in North America. TVN is the
preferred provider of original on-demand programs and networks. TVN
supports an open, advanced technology platform, and offers the most
comprehensive, end-to-end solution for licensing, managing,
distributing and marketing on-demand content to virtually any
platform. For more information about TVN's products and services,
please visit www.TVN.com.
About Echostar Communications Corporation
EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) has been a leader
for more than 26 years in satellite TV equipment sales and support
worldwide. The Company's DISH Network(TM) is the fastest-growing pay-
TV provider in the country since 2000 and currently serves more than
13.1 million satellite TV customers. DISH Network offers a premier
line of industry-leading Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) and hundreds
of video and audio channels as well as the most national HD and
International channels in the U.S., Interactive TV, Latino and sports
programming. DISH Network also provides a variety of package and
price options including the lowest all-digital price in America and
the DishDVR Advantage Package. EchoStar is included in the Nasdaq-100
Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 300 company. Visit www.echostar.com or
call 1-800-333-DISH (3474) for more information.