EchoStar Communications Corp.’s Dish Network has gotten more interactive, adding Buzztime Entertainment Inc.’s trivia-game service and "Fantasy Cup Auto Racing" to the mix as pay services.
NTN Inc.’s Buzztime is providing trivia games in six categories -- movies, TV, music, sports, history and kids -- for $3.99 per month. It’s a "pass-the-remote" game for up to four players, unlike the cable-TV version, which is networked to compete against other players throughout the country.
The cable version is available on such systems as Comcast Corp.’s in Baltimore and Time Warner Cable’s in Portland, Maine.
And Silverstar Holdings Ltd. is providing Dish with Fantasy Cup Auto Racing for $4.99 per month. Auto-racing fans can compete in monthly contests by picking eight drivers in four categories based on current National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing Nextel Cup standings. Weekly and full season prizes will be awarded to winners.
Dish said it offers 22 channels of interactive programming via its "Channel 100" menu, which features customer support, weather, games, sports and entertainment.
Services include instant weather from 1,400 cities supplied by AccuWeather Inc., Zap2it (www.zap2it.com/index), horoscopes, business news from Bloomberg L.P., sports information, fantasy baseball and football and games from Playin'TV, KidsWise and Play Jam.
Dish has an estimated 8 million interactive-TV-enabled customers who can opt for the various services.
In other Dish news, the direct-broadcast satellite operator said Monday that Telemundo channel 25 (KTEL) is now available to local-channel subscribers in Albuquerque, N.M.
KTEL joins ABC channel 7 (KOAT), CBS channel 13 (KRQE), Fox channel 2 (KASA), NBC channel 4 (KOB), PBS channel 5 (KNME), UPN channel 50 (KASY), The WB Television Network channel 19 (KWBQ), independent channel 11 (KCHF), independent channel 32 (KAZQ), independent channel 27 (KRPV) and Univision Communications Inc. channel 41 (KLUZ).
