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Content Tagged with dish + echostar
EchoStar Falls Once Again To Tivo, Says It Will Keep Fighting
EchoStar (now known as DISH Network Corporation) was dealt yet another blow in its ongoing patent battle with Tivo as the U.S. Appeals Court ruled against them. The dispute involves EchoStar’s alleged infringement of Tivo’s TimeWarp patent, which allows users to record one program while watching another. Tivo applied for the patent in 1998, and it was granted in 2001.
In 2004 Tivo successfully sued EchoStar for its Dish Network DVR, which provided very similar functionality to Tivo’s product. EchoStar was ordered to pay Tivo $73.9M in damages. The company has subsequently appealed the ruling a number of times, but has not been successful in getting it overturned.
The Dish Network has advised customers that the latest rulings will have no effect on their DVR service, stating that they have deployed “next-generation DVR software” that will not infringe on Tivo’s patent. The company has also declared that it intends to appeal the latest ruling all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dish has a lot more lawyer money than TiVo, and it is going to drag this thing out as long as it can.
Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection was the first site to report the news.
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EchoStar Now DISH Network — Spins Off SlingBox, Set-Top Biz
EchoStar, the satellite broadcasting company, is finally changing its name to DISH Network, according to a filing with the SEC. Why the change? EchoStar wants its name to truly reflect its true business. It is also planning to spin off some of its businesses, and that spin-off will be called EchoStar Holding Co. (EHC), a move we had mused about earlier. Charlie Ergen is going to be chairman and CEO of both companies. EHC had sales of over a billion dollars and a profit of about $32 million for first six months of 2007, on a pro forma basis.
EHC will primarily have two lines of business:
Set-top boxes: EchoStar has a hardware business that makes set-top boxes that are sold primarily to DISH Network, but also to some international customers. In 2006, this division shipped about nine million set-top boxes. In October, EchoStar acquired Sling Media for about $380 million, and Sling Media is going to be part of EHC.
We believe our separation from ECC may enhance our opportunities to sell set-top boxes to a broader group of multi-channel video distributors. Historically, certain multi-channel video distributors have perceived us as a competitor due to our affiliation with ECC.
In other words, don’t be surprised if the company starts selling boxes to cable operators and other DBS companies.
Fixed Satellite Services: EchoStar owns (or leases) nine satellites and seven digital broadcast centers. It also has a fiber-optic network that has points of presence in 150 cities. This could mean that the company is going to start leasing capacity to other players, not just EchoStar.
The spin-off certainly sets up interesting scenarios: For instance, DISH can now be easily gobbled up by AT&T, though their deal is supposedly on the rocks. Another option is that DISH could aggressively bid on 700 MHz wireless spectrum, win some spectrum, and then offer some sort of a new broadband-enabled satellite TV service. A lot to think about, and of course a reason to make some calls.
AT&T Gets in the Black Friday Mood
With its old-line businesses losing steam, AT&T is looking at new revenue streams. It has already diversified into video through its U-verse and HomeZone services; now it’s looking to shore up its Yellow Pages business. It is buying click-to-call service provider Ingenio and plans to integrate it into the online version of its directory services.
One interesting point to note here: The old AT&T (T) would have tried to build its own solution. The Texan version is shopping. Meanwhile, TheStreet.com is reporting that a deal for satellite TV provider EchoStar (DISH) might be close. Rumors of the deal have done the rounds before.