DISH Network(R) Introduces Tetris(R) TV With Oberon Media and The Tetris Company

NEW YORK and ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DISH Network L.L.C., the fastest growing pay-TV provider, along with Oberon Media and The Tetris Company, today announced the launch of Tetris® TV, a cutting-edge interactive TV game service.  

Tetris TV will allow viewers to play Tetris, one of the most addictive and recognizable games in gaming history, with just a few clicks of their television's remote. DISH Network is Oberon's first partner to launch Tetris TV in the North America. Oberon is planning to roll out the service with additional partners worldwide.

Tetris TV on DISH Network features two popular Tetris games: Marathon and 40-Lines. Marathon has 15 challenging levels of game play, and 40-Lines is a race to clear 40 lines in as fast a time as possible. In future releases of the Tetris TV service, subscribers will also be able to compete with other DISH Network subscribers by posting their names and scores to national leader boards managed by Oberon Media's iTV community and service management technology, JIVE®. Additionally, Oberon Media's JIVE technology will allow for the management of Tetris tournaments in future releases. Tetris TV will take advantage of this technology by offering prizes to top players later in the year.

"Tetris is one of the most popular games in history, and we're proud to provide Tetris TV to our customers," said Michael Kelly, EVP of Direct, Commercial and Advertising Sales for DISH Network. "The addition of Tetris TV shows our commitment to maintaining worldwide leadership in interactive television and gaming."

"Oberon Media is excited to be in license with The Tetris Company, and, together, we're looking forward to offering the iconic game in a new, creative way to players," said Jonathan Boltax, Senior Director of ITV Programming and Service Management, Oberon Media. "The Tetris game is the perfect example of satiating the public's ravenous appetite to play casual games on all platforms, and it's a perfect fit for the iTV platform."

"Working with Oberon Media to release Tetris TV allows us to reach millions of our fans in yet another way," said Henk Rogers, CEO of Blue Planet Software, the company that manages the exclusive licensing rights to the Tetris game. "Interactive TV is an exciting venture for us, as we're always hoping to give Tetris players a unique way to enjoy the game on their own and while interacting with each other. What's better, a study published this year by BMC Research Notes showed how playing Tetris can create positive changes in our brains—so we're happy to say that now, with the release of the Tetris TV service, TV could be good for you!"  

Tetris TV is available to all DISH Network customers for $2.99 per month, and can be purchased through DISH Home and interactive banner ads. To learn more about DISH Network's interactive games or to order Tetris TV, visit www.dishnetwork.com.  

About Oberon Media

Oberon Media is the leading provider of casual games for interactive television (iTV), with games ranging from notable family entertainment to classic arcade games. With the goal of providing unmatched casual game content on the iTV platform, Oberon Media's iTV games are currently available in 38 million homes through key partners such as Cablevision, DISH Network, DirecTV, Bell ExpressVu and many others.

Oberon Media, the world's leading multi-platform casual games company, is the first company to deliver global, integrated casual games solutions across three platforms-online, mobile and interactive television-and at retail.  The Oberon Gaming Platform has become the industry standard and been adopted by the world's leading digital and media companies, such as Microsoft, Comcast, Verizon, MTV Networks, Electronic Arts, France Telecom and NHN.  The Oberon Media Gaming Platform consists of a full gaming experience that includes a full suite of casual game content, services and features tailored to each partners' specific needs.  Oberon Media's game publishing division, I-play, works with the industry's best and award-winning game developers to produce the top selling casual games, which are played across online, mobile, console and iTV platforms in more than a dozen languages.  Founded in 2003, Oberon Media is headquartered in New York with offices in North America, Europe and Asia, and is backed by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Oak Investment Partners.

About the Tetris® brand

The Tetris® brand is one of the leading and most distinctive video game brands and franchises in the world.  In the game's 25-year history, over 125 million units have been sold.  Loved globally by people of all ages and all cultures, the Tetris game continues to be one of the most widely recognized video games of all time.  According to researchers, the Tetris game is an excellent tool for neuroscience research and has been used in over 30 scientific studies. Research published in 2009 in BMC Research Notes found that study participants who played Tetris showed increased brain efficiency and, relative to controls, an increase in brain tissue.  Tetris Holding, LLC is the owner of Tetris rights worldwide and The Tetris Company, LLC is its exclusive licensee.  The Tetris Company, through its agent Blue Planet Software, Inc., licenses and manages the Tetris intellectual property and franchise worldwide.  Today, Blue Planet Software continues to work with licensees to deliver top quality Tetris products that are relevant, fun and challenging for its millions of players.  For the latest information about the Tetris brand and Tetris products, please visit www.tetris.com.

About DISH Network

DISH Network L.L.C., a subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH), provides more than 14 million satellite TV customers, as of Dec. 10, 2009, with the highest quality programming and technology at the best value, including the lowest all-digital price nationwide. Customers have access to hundreds of video and audio channels, the most HD channels, the most international channels, state-of-the-art interactive TV applications, and award-winning HD and DVR technology including 1080p Video on Demand and the ViP® 722 HD DVR, a CNET and PC Magazine "Editors' Choice." DISH Network Corporation is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 250 company. Visit www.dishnetwork.com, follow on Twitter, @dishnetwork (www.twitter.com/dishnetwork), or become a Fan on Facebook, www.facebook.com/dishnetwork.

SOURCE DISH Network L.L.C.