EchoStar dish network Acquires Sling Media

[DKSat]

EchoStar Communications unveiled late Monday night that it had finalized an agreement to acquire popular digital TV technology company Sling Media. The transaction values Sling at about $380 million in which the DISH Network operator plans on paying in cash and EchoStar options, the company said.

Sling Media is the maker of the Emmy-award winning Slingbox and SlingPlayer software that allows users to watch their living room TVs on laptops anywhere with an internet connection. Sling's products are available in more than 5,000 retails stores in 11 countries, EchoStar said.

"As an early investor in Sling Media, EchoStar has been pleased with the progress and commitment the company has made establishing Sling Media and the Slingbox as powerful and beloved digital media brands," said Charlie Ergen, EchoStar CEO. "With today's increasingly mobile lifestyle, EchoStar's acquisition of Sling Media will allow us to offer innovative and convenient ways for our customers to enjoy their programming on more displays and locations, including TVs, computers and mobile phones, both inside and outside of the home."

Ergen also said the combination of EchoStar and Sling paves the way for the development of new products and services, new digital media consumers and new strategic partners.

"We are psyched to make this announcement," said Blake Krikorian, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Sling. "We have worked closely with EchoStar for more than two years, and have come to realize that both companies have similar entrepreneurial cultures and mutual dedication and passion for creating empowering experiences that benefit the consumer and the media industry."

DKSat

[Grk101]

Good news for Dish! I dont have a sling box or know anyone who has one, but I have heard they are very good. I can see dish obviously building in a receiver to it and selling it as a "Slingbox DVR" or something like that.

I wonder if EchoStar will have a monopoly on this now if they decide to make it work only with Dish....

[len]

This can be cool for our friends overseas if Dish does provide a slingbox type service on their receivers. We can set it up so they can watch all the series they are into so they dont have to d/l torrents. I don't see how it will really help those of us looking to get feeds of overseas channels that we cant already get here on Dish or Direct. Still good to hear though.

Since it was brought up, does anyone actually have a Slingbox they use with relatives or friends in Greece (or other places in Europe). I'm curious to hear how well it works, pic quality, buffering times, technical knowledge needed for setup, crash/reboot frequency, etc..

[rodoj]

I have a slingbox which is connected to my brother's place in the States. Works great as I now can schedule recording of my US shows and NFL games using my cable DVR and then watch them at my leisure. I've taken it a step further by using At Large Recorder to copy to my computer hard drive and so can watch the shows when I want w/o having to find an itnernet connection.

Great toy and saved me lots of slow downloading from websites which are infested with viruses. Would recommend it to anyone and in fact have got a few others here to also buy it.

[DKSat]

Street Reaction To EchoStar's Big Moves

In classic EchoStar fashion, the company unveiled two big moves outside of normal business hours this week leaving industry press and financial analysts scurrying about to get details. Of course, we're talking about the company's agreement to buy Slingbox maker Sling Media for $380 million and the announcement that EchoStar may split into two separately traded companies.

After the dust settled from the initial boom, and the company's shares finished Tuesday up more than 6 percent, here's what some on Wall Street had to say about the news:

Bernstein Research's Craig Moffett: "The acquisition of Sling Media is a positive step ... hint(ing) at a differentiation strategy for DISH, wherein EchoStar subscribers will be able to take their TV subscription with them when away from home. DIRECTV has established HDTV as its point of differentiation. The MSOs are betting on broadband, and a triple play of services that the DBS providers cannot match. Until now, EchoStar has bet primarily on DVRs (and low prices) as the core of its marketing proposition. But DVRs are increasingly a commodity, and allow little room for differentiation. An 'anywhere' value proposition for consumers has the potential to position EchoStar's service offering as genuinely differentiated."

Wedbush Morgan's William Kidd said he is excited about the company's acquisition of Sling: "We suspect that Sling's technology has been underutilized (and) its potential is far greater embedded in other devices than being sold as a standalone retail device. It could be a natural edge or simply an evolution for pay television providers to offer such place-shifted television to their subscribers. Such a move could also help deter subscribers from their increasingly reliance on internet-born media, such as YouTube and iTunes."

DKSat

[Olympiakosthyra7]

this is big so now everything changes :tup:

[len]

Thanks rodoj, good to know that it works as advertised. I'll be testing it out in the next couple months once my brother returns back to Athens.

[rodoj]

len, are u going to usde ot for Greek tv?

I presently live in Italy. Have used slingbox to access my tv back in the US from here, Greece, Croatia (ball and chain's home country), Tunisia, basically anywhere in the world where there is an internet connection.

I can change channels, set up recordings etc. I have no better gadget and I do love gadgets. have fun with it

[DKSat]

News Briefs: Sling's New Toy

Sling Media launched its Slingbox SOLO, a newly designed Slingbox that can connect to a standard definition or HD set-top box featuring increased streaming performance. The company said Slingbox SOLO transforms PCs, laptops, Macs and a variety of smartphones into personal, portable TVs and builds upon the goals of the original Slingbox - giving consumers the freedom to view their home programming on a range of devices anywhere they can access the internet. Slingbox SOLO is available in retail stores and online (www.slingmedia.com) for a suggested retail price of $179.99.

DKSat