The battle between Dish and TiVo rages on. As reported by Bloomberg, a judge has ruled that Dish and EchoStar must pay TiVo around $200 million for continuing to provide DVR service to its customers after being told to stop because it was violating TiVo’s patents. Dish and EchoStar plan to appeal the ruling.
The new ruling brings Dish and EchoStar’s total payments to TiVo to around $400 million in damages and other fees after a five year legal battle. In this latest round, Dish and EchoStar say they tried to work around TiVo’s patents, but a judge ruled that they had failed to do so. The $200 million figure is based on a $2.25 per month royalty for every Dish DVR user, extending from April 2008, when an appeals court reaffirmed TiVo’s patent, to July 1 2009.
Dish Network lost a bunch of subscribers at the end of last year but the company is still in the black even with losing 104,000 subs. Dish’s contract with AT&T is now up and it seems that all those peeps that got roped into deals are now dropping the service after the contract expired. Now, don’t think the company is washed up ’cause at the end of last year, Dish still had 13,678,000 subscribers and reported a 1% revenue increase from the previous year.
This isn’t exactly new, in the strictest definition of the word, but why let that stop us? A group of Sirius XM creditors, creditors whose money makes the company hum on a daily basis, have threatened to seek the ouster of chief executive officer Mel Karmazin if the company files for bankruptcy. (Remember: that could happen as early as tomorrow.) The WSJ notes, however, that the odds of this actually happening—adios, Mel!—are fairly low, since bankruptcy judges tend to give management the benefit of the doubt that it’s doing its best for the corporation. If, for some reason, the judge decides in favor of the creditors, Karmazin and a whole host of Sirius XM brass could be out of a job (which, coincidentally, may not be all that bad).
This Sirius XM bankruptcy story is starting to read like some trashy novel. There’s now word that DirecTV is getting involved, with the CEO of its parent company Liberty Media, one John C. Malone, offering to bail out the troubled satellite radio company. Some see it as a genuine offer, while others see it merely as a ploy to jack up the price for Malone’s rival at EchoStar (Dish Network), Charles W. Ergen. Wonderful.
Man alive! Dish Network will have a DVR with built-in Slingbox tech. It’s the Vip 922 HD DuoDVR; we don’t know when it’ll be available, nor do we have any pics. Later today, I suppose.
Call: Barack Obama has so much money…
Response: How much money?
Call: He has so much money that he can buy a channel on Dish Network, where he’ll pump his campaign messages 24/7.
If you’re keen to check out Obama’s channel, tune in to channel 73. It runs through November.
And no, it’s not Dish Network endorsing Obama or anything. It’s merely a paid advertisement. If McCain would pony up the cash, I’m sure Dish would be more than happy to accept it and run his ads on loop.
Off topic, but: is anyone else a little tired of Palin’s “folksy” attitude. We get it: you’re the average American. Good for you.
The acclaimed DTVPal has gotten a slight upgrade with a stronger digital tuner – a $10 higher price. So for $69, or $29.99 after your DTV coupon, you can tune in crystal clear digital stations with just an antenna with the DTVPal Plus. You see what they did there? They add a ‘Plus’ on the end so you know that it’s upgraded.
DTVPal via Twice
The February 17th, 2009 analog shutoff marks the beginning of the digital age here in America and digital tuners, such as the DTVPal, are going to become a staple in many American households. Thankfully, Congress allocated $140 million to alleviate the personal cost of these boxes, by allowing two, $40 coupons per household. This should cover most, if not all, of the retail price. The DTVPal is one of the first on the market to hit the sweet spot of $40 MSRP, allowing consumers to receive these boxes for free thanks to that coupon.
This low price piqued my interest and so I set out to discover if this DTV tuner was worth the cost of your coupon. I, like most Americans, do not need one of these boxes, thanks to cable TV, but my lovely mother does. So I packed up the DTVPal, along with my camera, and headed over to her place.
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Feburary 17, 2009 is right around the corner; are you ready? Digital converter boxes are hovering around the $60 mark but Dish Network with a price drop on their DTVPal from $60 down to $40. (snap!) Take the $40 TV Converter Box voucher courtesy of the U.S. Government, and you have yourself an free DTV tuner. It is as easy as that. Dish even helps you out with getting the coupon with a link on the DTVPal product page. (Only takes 2 minutes — I just signed up for mine and will be shipped in Sep.)
As for the box itself, CNET and Satellite Guys seem impressed. The tuner is about the size of a paperback book and comes with a nice, little Dish Network-style remote. The back panel sports COAX in and out, along with RCA-type audio/video jacks. Not state-of-art, HD equipment, but we’re still impressed. What more do you want for free?
via TVPredictions
Listen. We’re not in the game of financial advisory — even though we do know the game — but when Dish Network drops like an Olympic weightlifter, we take notice.
Shares of Dish Network Corp. fell sharply Wednesday after an analyst downgraded the stock due to concerns about the satellite TV operator’s weakening business.
It’s worse…
In the second quarter, Englewood, Colo.-based Dish reported a net loss of 25,000 subscribers, the first in the company’s history.
Oh boy, and worse.
Dish also faces risk from its ongoing litigation with Tivo Inc. Tivo has accused Dish of infringing patents for its digital video recorders. Dish lost the initial case and an appeal but it is countersuing.
There was a time when Dish Network led the race to HD, had the very good hardware, and simply a rock’n price. What’s happened since then? Dish still has a great lineup, good hardware, and a competitive price.
So what is it then? Really, we are asking. What’s Dish Network doing that simply isn’t keeping subs around anymore? Lineup, price, hardware, logo, availability….let us know in the comments.
Forbes
I’ll be honest. I’ve never met anyone in real life who subscribes to DISH Network, but I’m fairly convinced that the company does exist and probably turns a profit. If you happen to be a DISH subscriber and you have one of the HD packages, then you, my friend, are in for what appears to be some sort of treat.
Tomorrow, DISH will start rolling out a big, fat update to all of its MPEG-4 HD DVR boxes. The update will allow the boxes to display high definition content in glorious 1080p resolution. Says DISH, “By early August, all DISH Network customers with MPEG-4 HD DVR receivers will have the only set-top boxes in the nation enabled to display 1080p content, allowing them to maximize the full potential of their 1080p-compatible HDTV sets.” So if you’re really into HD, this might get you a little boner-y.
The update is set to dovetail with DISH’s TurboHD service, which is an “all-HD suite of programming packages” and the recent launch of the company’s Echo XI satellite. DISH currently offers 114 national HD channels and plans to have 150 by year’s end.
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Tough times for Los Angelenos wanting to watch HDTV. Apartment dwellers in the city are, apparently, fed up with Time Warner’s foot-dragging when it comes to expanding HD content, especially those who aren’t allowed to install a DirecTV or Dish Network satellite dish. Right now, Los Angeles ranks dead last in HD channel availability in the top five TV markets in the country. (LA has 16. Compare that to San Antonio with 38.) Charlotte, NC has more HD channels than it!
I think Los Angelenos need to calm down a bit. Lots of those HD channels they’re missing out on are merely upconverted hotbeds of junk that you’d never want to watch anyway. Yes, it’s the principle of the matter, but they’re really not missing much. Aside from ESPN in HD and the occasional nature show, there’s not too much in the way of quality HD on cable.
Dish Network people were excited on Monday when it was announced that 22 new HD channels would be added to the HD package, bringing the total number of HD channels the satellite TV carrier offered up to 95, putting it on par with competitor DirectTV. What Dish forgot to mention was that just hours later it would be dropping 15 older HD channels, mostly Voom related, to leave it at 80 channels.
That didn’t stop Dish execs from quoting the 95 channel score in a press release. It’s possible one hand didn’t know what the other was doing, such as the execs not knowing a drop was going to happen. Or it was a case of generating good PR for PR’s sake.
We haven’t heard back from Dish yet, so we don’t know the story, but either way, we smell a rat.
Father’s Day and graduation season is upon us, readers. And what better way to celebrate than getting your dad or grad a My DVR Expander USB edition external drive from Western Digital. Of course, they’ll have to own a DISH network VIP Series HD DVR and the 500GB drive only retails for $150. It’s also a low power-consuming hard drive that has a no-fan passive cooling system that keeps things quiet and reduces energy by 30 percent.
