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Volume 3 Issue 9October/November 2000

A Community College First

CCCSAT Staff

The California Community College Satellite Network (CCCSAT) has been awarded a national public interest channel on the DISH Network’s satellite broadcast system, to launch December 15, 2000. CCCSAT, representing the largest system of higher education in the world, the 107 California Community Colleges, has the distinction of being the first community college system to be selected by DISH Network for this opportunity. The CCCSAT network will reach over 5 million households across all 50 states and parts of Canada. CCCSAT will draw upon the resources of the California Community College system to provide informational, educational and enrichment programming, which will air 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

EchoStar Communications is the parent company of DISH Network. The company and its subsidiaries deliver direct broadcast satellite products and services to customers worldwide. DISH Network has the capacity to offer customers over 500 channels of digital video and CD-quality audio programming using a single small satellite dish. New public interest channels are being made available by EchoStar Communications, as a result of a recent FCC ruling requiring direct broadcast satellite providers to reserve certain channel capacity for non-commercial educational and informational programming.

This national public interest channel will leverage the technology investment in the CCCSAT network by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s office. California Community Colleges Chancellor Thomas J. Nussbaum said, "This is another step in making our programs available to people when and where they want them, so that those who haven't been able to take advantage of higher education will now have that chance. It will also give our faculty more options in designing distance education courses and another tool to reach students." The DISH Network public access channel will extend CCCSAT’s educational outreach and bring quality programming to a national audience. The programming will be as varied as one might find on a community college campus.