UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 4 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP ( ) Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instructions 1(b). 1. Name and Address of Reporting Person Ergen, Charles W. 5701 South Santa Fe Drive Littleton, CO 80120 U.S.A. 2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol Echostar Communications Corporation DISH 3. IRS or Social Security Number of Reporting Person (Voluntary) 4. Statement for Month/Year 8/1/01 5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year) 6. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) (X) Director (X) 10% Owner (X) Officer (give title below) ( ) Other (specify below) Chief Executive Officer and President 7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) (X) Form filed by One Reporting Person ( ) Form filed by More than One Reporting Person ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned | ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________| 1. Title of Security |2. |3. |4.Securities Acquired (A) |5.Amount of |6.Dir |7.Nature of Indirect | | Transaction | or Disposed of (D) | Securities |ect | Beneficial Ownership | | | | | Beneficially |(D)or | | | | | | | A/| | Owned at |Indir | | | Date |Code|V| Amount | D | Price | End of Month |ect(I)| | ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________| Class A Common Stock |8/1/01|M | |27,248 |A |$2.125 |901,253 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | |4,800 |I |(1) | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | |17,825 |I |(2) | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | |511 |I |(3) | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | |110 |I |(4) | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________| ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Table II -- Derivative Securitites Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned | ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________| 1.Title of Derivative |2.Con- |3. |4. |5.Number of De |6.Date Exer|7.Title and Amount |8.Price|9.Number |10.|11.Nature of| Security |version |Transaction | rivative Secu |cisable and| of Underlying |of Deri|of Deriva |Dir|Indirect | |or Exer | | | rities Acqui |Expiration | Securities |vative |tive |ect|Beneficial | |cise | | | red(A) or Dis |Date(Month/| |Secu |Securities |(D)|Ownership | |Price of| | | posed of(D) |Day/Year) | |rity |Benefi |or | | |Deriva- | | | |Date |Expir| | |ficially |Ind| | |tive | | | | A/|Exer-|ation| Title and Number | |Owned at |ire| | |Secu- | | | | | D |cisa-|Date | of Shares | |End of |ct | | |rity |Date |Code|V| Amount | |ble | | | |Month |(I)| | ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________| Employee Stock Option |$2.125 |8/1/0|M |V|27,248 |D |(5) |8/2/0|Class A Comm|27,248 | |0 | | | (Right to Buy) | |1 | | | | | |1 |on Stock | | | | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________| Explanation of Responses: (1) The shares are held by the reporting person's spouse as custodian for the reporting person's minor children. (2) During March 2000, the Company issued additional shares of Class A Common Stock to EchoStar Communications Corporation's 401(k) Employees' Savings Plan (the "Plan"). The reporting person and her spouse are the sole trustees of the Plan, which currently has approximately 1.5 million shares. The reporting person disclaims beneficial ownership of the shares in the Plan. The number of shares reported in column 2 represents the total number of shares allocated to the reporting person's account through the Plan to date. The reporting person has dispositive power, but no voting power with respect to the shares in his account. (3) During March 2000, the Company issued additional shares of Class A Common Stock to EchoStar Communications Corporation's 401(k) Employees' Savings Plan (the "Plan"). The number of shares reported in column 2 represents the total number of shares allocated to the account of the reporting person's spouse through the Plan to date. (4) The shares are in the name of the reporting person's spouse. (5) The shares underlying the option vested at the rate of 20% per year, commencing on August 1, 1997. SIGNATURE OF REPORTING PERSON /s/ Charles W. Ergen DATE 09/01/01