BAD NEWS FOR SOCCER FAN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SATELLITE GIANT DISH NETWORK PULLS PLUG ON GOLTV
MILLIONS OF DISH SUBSCRIBERS LOSE EXCLUSIVE TV COVERAGE OF EMIRATES CUP AND 2010 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
MIAMI, FL – August 3, 2008 – GolTV, the only live bilingual channel delivering 24/7 soccer, regrets Dish Network’s decision to discontinue carriage of GolTV’s unmatched international soccer coverage effective Friday afternoon, August 1. Dish Network’s loss of GolTV was the result of its decision to impose unreasonable contract demands and terms on the independent and privately-owned minority network, GolTV.
Millions of DISH subscribers have lost GolTV’s exclusive, live from London, TV coverage of the Emirates Cup. This decision also falls on the verge of 2010 World Cup qualifying matches and season kick-offs of GolTV’s exclusive TV coverage of the Spain’s La Liga on August 31 and Germany’s Bundesliga on August 15.
The satellite giant decided to remove GolTV, from its
America’s Top 250 and
Dish Latino programming packages. Consistently ranked in the top five Hispanic satellite and cable-delivered networks, Spanish and English-speaking soccer enthusiasts have been calling the South Florida-based soccer programming network over the weekend to voice their stunned reaction by the sudden and unprecedented loss of one of their favorite sports networks.
“Dish Network has demonstrated total disregard for independent networks, the millions of soccer fans we represent, and minority-owned businesses by this action,” said Rodrigo Lombello, GolTV COO. “We urge upset Dish viewers to contact us or Dish to voice their concerns.”