dan9999
10-28-2009, 12:23 PM
Want to Offer TV Everywhere? Echo* Says, 'Just Sling It!'
October 26, 2009
Todd Spangler
Multichannel News
Here’s the proposal from Echo* to cable operators: Don’t bother to cut separate distribution deals to take TV programming to Internet and mobile platforms. Just sling it!
“We’ve been hearing a lot about TV Everywhere lately,” reads an Echo* ad aimed at MSOs. “Well, welcome to the party.”
Echo* bought Sling Media two years ago with the idea that “slinging” TV would become as big as time-shifting programming with a DVR. “Placeshifting” hasn’t yet caught on in the way DVRs have–but with all the TV Everywhere buzz in the industry Echo* wants to point out to cable companies that its Slingbox-enabled set-tops can deliver on the concept without all those messy content rights discussions.
“Rebroadcasting content from Hulu is not a complete solution for a consumer,” said Mike Hawkey, vice president of sales and marketing at Echo*, adding rhetorically, “Will your customer be satisfied with half the content?”
Echo* and Sling Media will be in Denver this week, marking their debut at SCTE’s Cable-Tec Expo, as part of a marketing push behind the TV Everywhere message.
On display at the show will be the tru2way-based T22xxS cable set-top box (code-named Morpheus) that’s “SlingLoaded” to let a cable subscriber access live TV, DVR recordings and VOD from PCs, Macs, mobile phones or an iPhone (well, sort of — the iPhone client is Wi-Fi-only).
Note that DN is targeting the launch of its “SlingLoaded” ViP 9xx before the end of 2009 — originally, the satellite operator was intending to launch it this spring. Echo* is officially separate from the DN side of the house, although DN is its biggest customer for equipment and services.
Echo* now has soft-launched Slingbox.com, where customers can connect to a Slingbox using just a Web browser — without requiring the SlingPlayer client to be downloaded and installed. (The SlingPlayer for Windows, for example, is 65MB.) Only one user at a time can do this, “as Slinging is a one-to-one application, much like TV Everywhere is proposing,” the company says.
Hawkey said this allows a cable operator to deliver a true “TV Everywhere” experience, with the full cable lineup totally intact, including live TV.
Cable customers can rebrand their online portals, though Hawkey said he wants to maintain a “powered by Sling” co-branding with customer destinations. Echo* also is looking to license the Slingbox technology to set-top makers like Cisco or Motorola “and I’ll step out of the way,” he said.
But don’t operators want monetization/ad revenue opportunities? Cable companies can generate recurring revenue by selling a Slingbox service, as they do with DVRs, Hawkey replied.
With this TV Everywhere end-around, though, there’s clearly the issue of cable operators ruffling the feathers of programming providers. There’s also the Echo*’s heritage with DN, a fierce competitor to cable, and Hawkey’s reference to licensing the Sling technology to set-top makers may be intended to lessen that sting.
Will any MSOs bite on the Slingbox story? Hawkey claimed two operators are gearing up for launches soon, one before Christmas and one in early 2010, though he declined to identify them.
October 26, 2009
Todd Spangler
Multichannel News
Here’s the proposal from Echo* to cable operators: Don’t bother to cut separate distribution deals to take TV programming to Internet and mobile platforms. Just sling it!
“We’ve been hearing a lot about TV Everywhere lately,” reads an Echo* ad aimed at MSOs. “Well, welcome to the party.”
Echo* bought Sling Media two years ago with the idea that “slinging” TV would become as big as time-shifting programming with a DVR. “Placeshifting” hasn’t yet caught on in the way DVRs have–but with all the TV Everywhere buzz in the industry Echo* wants to point out to cable companies that its Slingbox-enabled set-tops can deliver on the concept without all those messy content rights discussions.
“Rebroadcasting content from Hulu is not a complete solution for a consumer,” said Mike Hawkey, vice president of sales and marketing at Echo*, adding rhetorically, “Will your customer be satisfied with half the content?”
Echo* and Sling Media will be in Denver this week, marking their debut at SCTE’s Cable-Tec Expo, as part of a marketing push behind the TV Everywhere message.
On display at the show will be the tru2way-based T22xxS cable set-top box (code-named Morpheus) that’s “SlingLoaded” to let a cable subscriber access live TV, DVR recordings and VOD from PCs, Macs, mobile phones or an iPhone (well, sort of — the iPhone client is Wi-Fi-only).
Note that DN is targeting the launch of its “SlingLoaded” ViP 9xx before the end of 2009 — originally, the satellite operator was intending to launch it this spring. Echo* is officially separate from the DN side of the house, although DN is its biggest customer for equipment and services.
Echo* now has soft-launched Slingbox.com, where customers can connect to a Slingbox using just a Web browser — without requiring the SlingPlayer client to be downloaded and installed. (The SlingPlayer for Windows, for example, is 65MB.) Only one user at a time can do this, “as Slinging is a one-to-one application, much like TV Everywhere is proposing,” the company says.
Hawkey said this allows a cable operator to deliver a true “TV Everywhere” experience, with the full cable lineup totally intact, including live TV.
Cable customers can rebrand their online portals, though Hawkey said he wants to maintain a “powered by Sling” co-branding with customer destinations. Echo* also is looking to license the Slingbox technology to set-top makers like Cisco or Motorola “and I’ll step out of the way,” he said.
But don’t operators want monetization/ad revenue opportunities? Cable companies can generate recurring revenue by selling a Slingbox service, as they do with DVRs, Hawkey replied.
With this TV Everywhere end-around, though, there’s clearly the issue of cable operators ruffling the feathers of programming providers. There’s also the Echo*’s heritage with DN, a fierce competitor to cable, and Hawkey’s reference to licensing the Sling technology to set-top makers may be intended to lessen that sting.
Will any MSOs bite on the Slingbox story? Hawkey claimed two operators are gearing up for launches soon, one before Christmas and one in early 2010, though he declined to identify them.