--Round-Up of Recent Sling Media/EchoStar News
TV place-shifting company, Sling Media (note: the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corp.), announced new partnerships with the US Tennis Association (USTA) and the Tennis Channel, Tuesday, which it bills as bringing a range of premier tennis content and highlights to its broadband video/over-the-top programming service, Sling.com. The company says that the content from its two new partners, combined with content from existing partners Tennis.com and IMG, will make Sling.com into a "video destination for tennis fans" that will feature such offerings as Grand Slam recaps, instructional videos, "lifestyle" programming and match footage. It says it also plans to offer special "event environments" that will be programmed around major events in the tennis season, including the US Open, Wimbledon and other Grand Slam tournaments. "Sling.com is the one-stop video destination for tennis fans, and we couldn't be happier to bring in-depth tennis coverage to our users," Sling Media general manager, Johnny Gilmore, said in a prepared statement. "We are looking forward to bringing more great sports content to our consumers in 2009 as we cover the biggest events in the sporting world." Added Robyn Miller, SVP of marketing at the Tennis Channel: "Tennis Channel's ongoing mission is to make as much tennis as possible available to as many fans who want to take part in the sport. This partnership honors that calling by bringing our network's highlights, series episodes, short-form instructional programming and other content to Sling.com visitors who are hungry for tennis material that can't be found anywhere else. We're truly excited about this new opportunity to broaden Tennis Channel's reach, especially in a year when we'll add the US Open to our tournament line-up next to Wimbledon, the French Open and the Australian Open." Sling.com's new branded Tennis Channel area is located at: http://sling.com/network/105/Tennis-Channel.
In other recent news from Sling Media:
--Last week, the company announced an upgrade program for customers who own earlier versions of its flagship Slingbox TV place-shifting device, including the original Slingbox, the Slingbox AV and the Slingbox Tuner. The upgrade program--which provides customers with a $50 discount on the purchase of a new Slingbox Solo or Slingbox Pro-HD (note: to qualify for the discount, they must input a valid serial number at slingmedia.com/upgrade)--is necessitated by the fact that the next generation of the company's software and services will only be supported by the most current Slingbox and "SlingLoaded" (see below) products. New Sling Media software slated to launch in the near future includes SlingPlayer Mobile for the Apple iPhone (see below).
--In the run-up to the NCTA Cable Show in Washington, DC last week, Sling Media and EchoStar unveiled a tru2way-based, "SlingLoaded" (note: the latter is a term that has been trademarked by EchoStar to designate its non-Sling Media set-top boxes that offer TV place-shifting and other Sling Media capabilities), multi-tuner HD DVR that has been designed specifically for the US cable industry. Dubbed the T2200S, the new box allows end-users to watch their home television service (including live TV and DVR and VOD content) on a wide range of Internet-connected devices, including PC's, Macs, mobile media players and mobile phones. Other "SlingLoaded" capabilities offered by the box include remote video diagnostics, which would allow subscribers to opt in to receive remote trouble-shooting from their MSO's tech support operations; SlingGuide, an online search engine for TV content (see below); and the ability to schedule online timers and to manage DVR recordings remotely. The box also offers a 1 terabyte hard drive (for up to 1,000 hours of storage), and supports external storage via USB or an optional eSATA port. As a tru2way-based device, it will work with multiple OCAP EPG's, EchoStar and Sling Media say, and will be "fully functional for tru2way-enabled cable systems, including M-Card support, embedded cable modem, DOCSIS Set-Top Gateway for two-way communication, and OCAP middleware." Other features claimed for the new box include support for MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and VC1; 1GHz tuners to support extended network bandwidth; the ability to connect to a home network via Ethernet, WiFi (via an optional WiFi adapter) or MoCA; picture-in-picture capability; support for advanced resolution formats up to 1080p24; support for custom branding by MSO's; support for Macrovision and DCS analog copy protection; and a capacitive-touch, backlit front panel with a clock display. EchoStar and Sling Media say the T2200S will be available for testing in MSO labs this June, with volume production rolling out in the fourth quarter.
--Also last week, Sling Media announced a deal with children's programming provider, HIT Entertainment, that will see the latter offering a range of content free-of-charge on Sling.com, including videos from HIT's high-profile "Thomas the Tank Engine," "Barney," and "Bob the Builder" brands. As part of the deal, Sling Media says it is creating a HIT Entertainment-branded area on Sling.com. "Partnering with Sling Media provides an exciting new channel of distribution for our programs," Rob Weisstuch, SVP and CIO of HIT Entertainment, said in a prepared statement. "Through this agreement, we are pleased to be able to offer families access to a vast library of programs when they want it, where they want it."
--Late last month, the company released a version of its SlingPlayer Mobile software (enables, among other things, TV place-shifting to mobile devices) for BlackBerry smartphones. The software, which had been available through a free beta since the beginning of the year, is priced at $29.99 (with a 30-day free trial).
--At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, January, the company unveiled a new Web-based programming-search service called SlingGuide. The service is billed as allowing consumers to browse, search and record programs on their DVR from any PC, Mac or compatible mobile phone, and--if their DVR is "SlingLoaded" or has a Slingbox connected to it--as allowing them to watch live or DVR-recorded programs (on a PC, Mac or supported mobile phone) through a Web-based version of Sling Media's SlingPlayer software that is integrated into SlingGuide. It is slated to launch this spring and will initially be available only to customers of the DISH Network satellite-TV service. According to Sling Media, it will offer DISH Network customers with select, supported DVR's a "personal, integrated and centralized view of everything [they] want to watch or record on DISH Network...and even Internet video from Sling.com." Other features claimed by Sling Media for SlingGuide include the ability to search for programming by title, genre, network, keyword or actor; the ability for DISH Network customers to transform their iPhone or iPod Touch (using those devices' Web browsers) into "an intelligent remote control capable of quickly browsing and searching the program guide, scheduling and managing DVR recordings, and more...without disturbing the television picture"; a "personalized integrated view of everything you want to watch or record" through a simple visual interface on the PC, Mac or iPhone/iPod Touch; and integration with Sling.com for clips and trailers of end-users' favorite shows.
--Sling Media and EchoStar also used CES to unveil their first "SlingLoaded" DVR, an HD-enabled box dubbed the EchoStar 922. According to the companies, the new box features (in addition to TV place-shifting and other capabilities provided by Sling Media's Slingbox technology) a 1 terabyte hard drive; a touchpad remote control that eliminates half the buttons of a standard remote and that provides users with "cursor-like" navigation on their TV screen ("with a slide of their thumb," EchoStar and Sling Media claim, "viewers experience scroll-over activation of widget-like tiles and pop-up menus, all selectable by an underside index-finger trigger"); a user interface that 1) "goes beyond traditional text-based user interfaces" by using movie poster graphics, tiles or widget-based menus and "cursor-type navigation," 2) displays integrated RSS feeds, providing instant access to national news, weather, sports and stock quotes, 3) organizes channels by name or number, and 4) is integrated with the SlingGuide; and support for future upgrades which EchoStar and Sling Media say may include "photo sharing, movie ticket purchases, family calendar, instant messaging, streaming audio, and [the] ability to transfer content within a home network." DISH Network is slated to be the first customer of the new EchoStar 922: it plans to launch it as the "HD DuoDVR SlingLoaded ViP 922" in the spring.
--At the Macworld show in San Francisco, January, the company unveiled SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone, as well as SlingPlayer for Mac HD, a Web-based version of its SlingPlayer software which it says will be accessible from Sling.com and will allow Slingbox Pro-HD users to stream HD content to a Mac desktop or laptop.
--Shortly after CES and Macworld, the company underwent some major changes in its senior management team: co-founder and CEO, Blake Krikorian, co-founder and SVP of business development, Jason Krikorian (Blake's brother), president of the Sling Media Entertainment Group, Jason Hirschhorn, and chief creative officer of that group, Ben White, all left the company. The company is now headed up by its former COO, Johnny Gilmore.
