The Ski Channel in VOD Deal with DISH Network, Paramount in VOD deal with ZillionTV

The Ski Channel said Monday that it has signed a long-term VOD distribution agreement with satellite TV operator, DISH Network. The channel, which has only been on the air for nine months, says that the new deal pushes it past the 21-million-subscriber mark, and that it expects to shortly announce additional agreements that will extend its reach significantly beyond that. "DISH Network is excited to now offer VOD content that speaks to the growing popularity of skiing and other mountain sports," Andy Karofsky, DISH Network's VP of programming, said in a prepared statement. "We are always exploring new programming that contributes to the depth of content available via our already extensive VOD service, and The Ski Channel is a perfect addition." According to The Ski Channel, the DISH Network deal means that every consumer in the US now has at least two available television platforms on which to receive its programming.

In other news of content deals: ZillionTV, a company that is attempting to launch a subscription-free broadband VOD service (note: the company recently replaced founding CEO, Mitch Berman, with Jack Lawrence, who was previously CFO and COO at toymaker; shortly prior to that, it announced that it was delaying its commercial launch until the second half of next year, and that it was pursuing a direct-to-consumer strategy to supplement its telco-targeted strategy--for more background, see the articles published on itvt.com, October 21st, October 12th and September 21st), has signed a deal with Paramount. Under the terms of the deal, which also sees Paramount taking an equity stake in ZillionTV, Paramount library titles will be available on the service free-of-charge on an ad-supported basis, while newer releases will be available for rental or electronic sell-through. To date, ZillionTV has also announced content partnerships with Disney, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros., Lionsgate and 20th Century Fox Television.

In other DISH Network news:

• The company has spent $328 million so far this year on its legal battle against TiVo (i.e. defending itself in the so-called "Time Warp" patent case), according to a quarterly SEC filing by the company that was unearthed by All Things Digital's Peter Kafka. The filing goes on to describe the possible impact on the company of the Time Warp case: "Depending on the amount of any additional damage or sanction award or any monetary settlement, we may be required to raise additional capital at a time and in circumstances in which we would normally not raise capital. Therefore, any capital we raise may be on terms that are unfavorable to us, which might adversely affect our financial position and results of operations and might also impair our ability to raise capital on acceptable terms in the future to fund our own operations and initiatives. We believe the cost of such capital and its terms and conditions may be substantially less attractive than our previous financings." However, as Kafka points out, DISH Network appears to have enough confidence in its financial health to have just announced a $900 million dividend for its shareholders.
• The company has filed for trademark protection for the term, "TV Everywhere," which it plans to use to brand a forthcoming set-top box featuring Slingbox TV place-shifting technology, according to a report by Multichannel News's Todd Spangler. As [itvt] readers will be aware, "TV Everywhere" is the term commonly used for a content delivery model, which has long been championed by Time Warner and its chairman and CEO, Jeff Bewkes, and which seeks to make programming that pay-TV customers have already paid for through their cable, satellite or IPTV subscriptions available to those customers on multiple platforms. Comcast, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Verizon, DirecTV and Rogers Communications are all currently working on implementations of the TV Everywhere model.