Dish Net adds Documentary Channel to lineup ..(my new favorite channel)

Dish Net adds Documentary Channel to lineup

The Documentary Channel, a new 24-hour network trafficking in independent documentaries, launched this week on EchoStar's DISH Network. Based in Nashville, Tenn., the channel is nominally not an ad-supported venture -- the documentaries run straight through, free of any commercial interruption -- although a spokesperson for the DOC said that there are ad opportunities immediately before and after each film. While the DOC's schedule includes films that were first commissioned by other networks (the 2004 Starz/Encore docu "Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade") or were released several years ago ("Waco: Rules of Engagement," from 1997), the channel aims to program films that have not been seen in the U.S. To that end, the DOC is soliciting feature-length and short docs from independent filmmakers via its Web site. (Anthony Crupi, Mediaweek.com) FULL STORY