DISH is set to launch a whole-home high definition DVR entertainment system, named Hopper and Joey, this month. The Hopper HD DVR and small Joey set-top boxes form a whole-home HD DVR entertainment system that lets DISH customers record, pause, and play back from any room in the home. Another great feature of Hopper is PrimeTime Anytime™, which allows a customer to record all primetime TV programming from ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC with the touch of a button!

For more information read the Dish release:
LAS VEGAS, NV–(Marketwire – Jan 9, 2012) – (NASDAQ: DISH)

•Features two-terabyte hard drive for up to 2,000 hours of entertainment
•Never miss a primetime network show with PrimeTime Anytime
•Records up to six programs in HD simultaneously, including PrimeTime Anytime
•Hopper and three small Joeys let viewers watch HD and control DVR in four rooms
DISH Network L.L.C., the nation’s third largest pay TV provider, today introduced a whole-home high definition DVR entertainment system featuring the award-winning Hopper™ and Joey™.

The Hopper HD DVR and accompanying small Joey set-top boxes create a whole-home HD DVR entertainment system that lets DISH customers easily record, pause, and play back shows from any room in the home. While most whole-home DVRs do not have the same DVR functionality on every TV, the Hopper and Joey whole-home system offers the same DVR functionality on every TV, letting customers pause, play and rewind both live and recorded HD programs in up to four rooms.

The Hopper was unveiled by DISH CEO Joe Clayton at the 2012 International CES in Las Vegas today, and it is already winning honors as a CES Innovations 2012 Design and Engineering Award honoree. Pricing and packaging will be announced later this quarter.

The main Hopper unit features:

•Three satellite TV tuners
•A two-terabyte hard drive for up to 2,000 hours of video entertainment
•Up to 250 hours of HD or up to 1,000 hours of SD user recordings
•Bluetooth for linking to devices such as wireless headphones
•Picture-in-picture for watching any two channels simultaneously
Combined with a Joey, the Hopper whole-home HD DVR system offers more advanced features:

•750 MHz Broadcom processer — the fastest satellite receiver processor available today for a quick, responsive on-screen guide
•Approximately 50 percent more energy efficient for a four-room installation than previous models
•ZigBee RF4CE using a proprietary protocol remote with “remote control finder” alert
•High definition user interface
•Easy-to-use, fast, graphical, tile-based user interface with predictive search
•Small, sleek chassis for convenient placement
“Building on a heritage of award-winning DVRs, DISH is proud to be the first to introduce a groundbreaking product that delivers the most choices for TV entertainment by integrating multiple sources of video into one set-top box,” said DISH Network CEO Joe Clayton. “The Hopper gives our customers network TV shows on demand and thousands of family movie choices streaming or delivered to the hard drive. With its massive storage, the Hopper leads the industry in delivering the most entertainment options, bar none, for every member of the household.”

The Hopper — Endless Entertainment Options

The Hopper’s new, unparalleled feature, PrimeTime Anytime™ allows customers, with one click, to record using a single tuner all of the primetime TV programming from ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC — the networks that deliver the most popular shows during primetime. Once activated by a customer, PrimeTime Anytime records network programming in high definition, where available, every night and stores them for eight days after they have aired. This creates an on-demand library of approximately 100 hours of primetime TV shows, and makes it easy to catch up on episodes from last night and last week’s airing.

The Hopper can record up to six TV shows at once (two live programs and four PrimeTime Anytime shows) while allowing viewers to watch up to four different recorded or on-demand shows in four rooms of the house, simultaneously. This gives a family a variety of options to control or view their recordings and to watch shows in any room from a single Hopper.

The Hopper’s on-demand capabilities give access to DISH’s Blockbuster @Home™ for $10 per month which is now enhanced with more than 10,000 total titles streaming to the TV.

The Hopper also offers on-demand content for customers with limited or no Internet access with a feature called DISH Unplugged. This feature delivers via satellite hundreds of the most popular movies and TV shows to the hard drive, including transactional and authenticated videos on demand. DISH Unplugged provides a high quality picture without buffering and makes available many of the same streaming movie choices offered by Blockbuster @Home, including premium movie access.

And for subscribers of DISH’s America’s Top 120 programming package or greater, the Hopper provides whole-home music distribution from 73 SiriusXM channels, including album art and a unique collapsible list of music channels located at the top of the channel guide at Channel 99, making it faster and easier for SiriusXM music fans to find their favorite music.

Additionally, the Hopper will features TV apps that give viewers real time access to Facebook, Twitter, Pandora and photo sharing, as well as games, news, weather, sports, and stock quotes.

TV Everywhere

Customers can manage the Hopper via the Internet at www.DishOnline.com or the DISH Remote Access app, providing the ability to control DVR recordings on their tablets, smartphones and computers. Connecting the Hopper with DISH’s Sling® Adapter provides customers the ability to watch and control all live TV channels, PrimeTime Anytime programs and the DVR on their computer, tablet or smartphone wherever they go.

The Hopper and Joey are designed and engineered by EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS). The Hopper works by distributing HD signals through existing co-axial cable in the home using the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) specification. The Hopper is powered by a Broadcom 750 MHz processor, the most powerful satellite TV processor available today delivering a fast and responsive on-screen guide and a graphical user interface that features channel logos to help search channels, movies or TV shows quickly. The advanced search platform also allows for navigation of programs across satellite TV, broadband and an optional external hard drive.

For more information about the award-winning Hopper and Joey by DISH, including technical specifications, please visit www.dish.com/hopper.

To watch live TV on the iPad, subscribers need a Sling Adapter from DISH and a broadband-connected compatible DISH HD DVR receiver. More information is available at dishnetwork.com/tveverywhere/remoteaccess.

Hopper and Joey images are available at http://press.dishnetwork.com/Press-Center/Photo-Library.

About DISH Network

DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH), through its subsidiary DISH Network L.L.C., provides more than 13.945 million satellite TV customers, as of Sept. 30, 2011, with the highest quality programming and technology with the most choices at the best value, including HD Free for Life. Subscribers enjoy the largest high definition line-up with more than 200 national HD channels, the most international channels, and award-winning HD and DVR technology. DISH Network’s subsidiary, Blockbuster L.L.C., delivers family entertainment to millions of customers around the world. DISH Network Corporation is a Fortune 200 company. Visit www.dish.com.

It looks like Dish Network satellite TV is heading in the direction of the other satellite Internet providers.

According to a story on Multichannel, “A U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge approved Dish Network’s proposal to purchase TerreStar Networks for $1.375 billion Thursday, giving the satellite giant access to wireless spectrum for a possible broadband play.”  That looks pretty cut and dry.  Dish Network satellite TV appears to be moving into satellite Internet territory and why wouldn’t they?  People need broadband all over the world, even if cable lines can’t get to their houses.

Is Allconnect a trend setter?  Perhaps. For a while now, Allconnect has offered you a way to bundle and save with the choices you want^SM .  That simply means you can choose your providers and services based on your needs, not the available bundles, and it looks like we were on to something.

A recent Nielsen study shows consumers are in favor making their own bundles.  While cable TV providers are still the majority in paid TV subscriptions, satellite TV providers are closing the gap.  One reason satellite TV subscriptions are on the rise is the recent trend in creating your own bundle.  With services like Allconnect, consumers can choose a satellite TV package and pair it with cable Internet service.  It offers choice and, in some cases, the best of both worlds.

Let’s say you prefer your local satellite TV package over your local cable TV package, but you would rather have the higher speed of a cable Internet connection.  Well, now you can.  With Allconnect, you can create your own bundle.

Enter your address in the “Find Savings” widget to see what’s available in your area.

In a report for Variety, Tom Lowry sheds light on a somewhat shocking report that discusses the real competition for cable TV companies and satellite TV providers.  Lowry’s article discusses a recent report, “U.S. Telecommunications and Cable & Satellite: The Poverty Problem,” by Craig Moffett, an analyst for Sanford Bernstein.  In that report, Moffett says inter industry rivalry is not the problem.  Nor is the growing online movie and TV market the problem.  The real problem is more likely to be the decline in American livelihood.

While there have been signs of economic recovery, Moffet’s report points out the harsh reality of government assistance and below average incomes for many Americans.  Sadly, that means many families are choosing, not between providers, but between necessities.  What’s more important, TV or food and shelter?

Luckily, cable TV companies and satellite TV providers are not ignorant of the problem.  Lowry uses Time Warner Cable as an example.  Time Warner Cable created an economy cable TV package geared toward budget minded consumers.  While it may not have all the bells and whistles of the premium cable TV packages, it does offer the escape allowed by TV entertainment with a more affordable price tag.

While Moffett’s report may seem bleak, it does remind us that options are available.  If you’re looking to find more affordable cable TV or satellite TV plans in your area, start here.  Enter your address in the “Find Savings” widget at the top of the page.  We’ll show you what’s available at your address.  From there, you can compare plans and prices online free of charge.  When you’re ready, choose the plan that’s right for you.

Many were wondering what Dish Network dish TV would do with Blockbuster video after the purchase.  Well, one idea quickly came to surface and has already been put into place by Dish Network.

The assumption that Dish Network would somehow loop customers into a bi-company experience was a no-brainer.  We just didn’t know how they would do it.  The Boston Herald recently posted a story about the first steps into satellite TV and home movie rentals.  According to the Herald, “Dish Network said Thursday that new customers who sign up for its satellite television service through Aug. 10 will receive three months of free Blockbuster by Mail DVDs. The offer includes access to 100,000 movies, TV shows and games that can be exchanged by mail or at Blockbuster stores. The offer includes Blu-ray movies and new releases that Blockbuster gets 28 days earlier than Netflix and Redbox.”

Having a four week head start on the movie rental competition is pretty solid no matter how you look at it.  Now we’ll just wait to see how well the promotion goes.

You may remember a story we discussed a while back concerning Dish Network and DIRECTV.  It was about the two dominant satellite TV providers teaming up with a subscriber to sue the state of Utah over what they claim is a tax break given only to cable TV providers.

Well, according to Multichannel News, “Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and two co-sponsors have introduced the State Video Fairness Act of 2011, which is being celebrated by DISH and DIRECTV as a bill to ‘protect consumers and promote competition by preventing the imposition of discriminatory taxes on satellite television and other innovative competitors to cable television.’”

Of course, the cable TV providers feel slighted.  Cable TV operators claim the 1996 Telecommunications Act contains a huge loophole that allows the satellite TV providers to bypass local taxes – taxes cable TV operators have to pay.

Although it may feel like progress for the satellite TV providers, the battle is sure to continue.

It would appear that Dish Network satellite TV is in a bit of a tussle with Disney.

According to a story on AdWeek, Disney is suing the satellite TV provider in a Manhattan court.  The suit claims Disney is losing money by Dish Network offering free access to its movies through their current Starz network promotion.  The promotion offers free Starz programming in celebration of its 30th anniversary.

The AdWeek article goes on to publish a Dish Network statement on the matter.  In that statement, Dish Network states that it pays “hundreds of millions of dollars” to distribute Starz content.  The statement also proclaims that Dish Network isn’t involved in the contract agreements between Disney and Starz, so the company will defend its customers right to watch the content Diosh Network pays to provide.

It looks like Dish Network satellite TV will be looking to the Supreme Court for a final ruling in the Tivo DVR patent case.

To recap, back in 2004 Tivo accused the satellite TV provider of infringing on its patented “Time Warp” technology in Dish DVRs.  The Time Warp technology allows users to record one show while watching another, a trait that seems standard just a few short years later.  Regardless, in October 2010 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled in favor of TiVo’s Time Warp patent.  Dish Network is now looking to appeal the decision from the Court of Appeals that reaffirmed the USPTO’s original ruling.

Tivo would likely be looking for damages and/or some form of licensing agreement with Dish Network.  In the meantime,  Dish Network has been working to simply replace the older DVRs with newer models not covered in the patent skirmish.

There’s been a couple of new features announced from DIRECTV satellite TV.

As of today, DIRECTV satellite TV customers will be able to access HBO GO and MAX GO, the mobile versions of the two premium channels.  Of course, only customers currently subscribed to the premium channels will have access, but that’s to be expected.  In a press release issued by DIRECTV, Derek Chang, EVP of Content Strategy and Development, said, “The addition of HBO GO and MAX GO is the next step in bringing quality video content to our customers anytime, anywhere.”  Chang went on to say, “Giving our customers the opportunity to experience their favorite programming, no matter where they are, truly enhances their overall viewing experience and helps them get the most out of the content they subscribe to.”

DIRECTV also made a few other changes recently.  In another statement, the satellite TV provider announced more local coverage plans with local HD channels available 16 more markets.  According to the statement, “By the end of 2011, DIRECTV will offer local-channel access to 99 percent of U.S. TV homes, covering 190 markets across the country, including local HD in 174 of those markets.”

DIRECTV satellite TV customers  can expect new local HD channels beginning this summer in parts of Arkansas, California, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montanna, New York, Tennessee and West Virginia.

We’ve all seen the fall of Blockbuster video in recent months.  There have been banners reading, “Still renting!” posted on sides of stores.  Then, only weeks later, a new banner goes up reading, “Store closing”.  It’s sad.  But there may be new life for the originator of the home movie rental.  Dish Network won a bankruptcy auction for the failing entertainer. The big question on everyone’s mind seems to be, “Why?”

Why would the Dish Network satellite TV provider buy a home movie rental chain as it falls into obscurity?  There certainly seems to be no lack of speculation.  Yahoo! News even claims that Dish Network will keep the 1700 remaining Blockbuster Video stores up and running.  But how do home rental stores equate to sales for satellite TV providers?  Right now it’s anyone’s guess.  What is clear is that Dish Network’s purchase of Blockbuster Video could be a game changing play for a section of the streaming video market currently run by Netflix.