Blockbuster

DISH Network generated a fair amount of news over the past couple of weeks at CES and beyond. Here is a round-up of recent major announcements from the company:

Because the [itvt] editorial team has been working on TVOT NYC Intensive 2011, we are covering stories in this issue in round-up/summary format. We anticipate that it will take us a couple of days to catch up with all the recent news: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us. 

It looks like Dish Network will remain the exclusive U.S. satellite distributor for Epix, as rival DirecTV says it won’t launch the premium channel and Website owned by Viacom. 

Due to the large volume of news coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show, which kicked off Wednesday in Las Vegas, we are covering stories in this issue in summary/round-up form. We anticipate that it will take us several days to catch up with all the news generated by the show: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us. Our regular news coverage will return shortly.

Struggling video rental chain, Blockbuster, said Tuesday that the latest Philips Blu-ray players, the 5320 and 7320 (note: the devices are built by Funai Electric-subsidiary, P&F, which is the exclusive licensee for Philips consumer television sets and home theater systems in North America), feature its transactional VOD service, Blockbuster On Demand. "Blockbuster On Demand gives customers instant access to the very latest new releases on the same day as DVD and Blu-ray," Bruce Anderson, Blockbuster On Demand's SVP and general manager, said in a prepared statement. "These new Philips Blu-ray players are a great way for you to enjoy the latest hit movies or cinema classics and we are excited to enhance that experience." 

The [itvt] editorial team is on the road this week, so we are covering most stories in round-up/summary form, and we anticipate that there will be some additional interruptions of our regular news publishing schedule beyond that. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our readers.

Cloud-based interactive TV specialist, ActiveVideo Networks, announced an agreement with Blockbuster, Wednesday, that it says is designed to enhance the consumer VOD and electronic sell-through (EST) experience of the latter's Blockbuster On Demand service across multiple connected platforms. According to ActiveVideo, the deal will see Blockbuster using the company's technology to power a Web-based user interface for its service in the network cloud, that will allow viewers to search, discover and view titles of interest and that will incorporate previews and trailers and recommendation capabilities.

Discovery Communications announced Tuesday the launch of a free Discovery Channel iPhone/iPod touch application in the Apple App Store (note: it is located in the App Store's "Entertainment" category). According to the company, the app--which was designed and built by Rhythm NewMedia--offers an extensive collection of video clips from its flagship channel's shows, including "Mythbusters," "Man vs.

Video rental company, Blockbuster, and Samsung Electronics America announced Tuesday that they are partnering to provide over-the-top access to Blockbuster's broadband VOD service, Blockbuster OnDemand, on select new Samsung HDTV sets, home theater systems and Blu-ray players. The companies also said that, as part of their agreement, Blockbuster OnDemand will have preferred positioning on Samsung's Blu-ray interfaces, and that Blockbuster will sell Samsung Blu-ray players with integrated Blockbuster OnDemand service in "thousands" of its corporate-owned and franchise stores, as well as on its Web site.