CMFINC
04-12-2010, 10:04 PM
The Great EchoStar/DISH/TiVo Conundrum
SkyREPORT - April 12, 2010 @ 1:00 AM
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Will EchoStar get itself (and DISH) out of deep DVR doo-doo by buying TiVo?
The media biz was buzzing over that one late last week after Wall Street put its official stamp of possibility upon the idea via a missive from Citigroup analyst Jason Bazinet.
The thought is not exactly original. Such rumors have been circulating since early March when the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling that EchoStar/DISH are still in violation of TiVo's patents. Still, Bazinet's note speculating on a EchoStar purchase (to say nothing of the looming settlement deadline of April 30) fanned the fires to near hysteria levels.
What I want to know is: Why are we all (myself included) talking about EchoStar buying TiVo? I mean, shouldn't it be the other way around? After all, TiVo's got the big $400 million (or whatever huge number) gun pointed at EchoStar/DISH. TiVo's got the heft too: A $2 billion market cap versus EchoStar's $1.6 billion. Of course, neither one is exactly swimming in cash ... and I suspect Tom Rogers doesn't really want a bunch of satellites on his hands. But hey ... the set-top box business? Slingbox?
Maybe we've all been too conditioned, for too long, about Charlie Ergen's mastery of the control game. But this time (to use a shop-worn metaphor) he really doesn't have the cards. So we'll see. At the very least, it will be interesting.__________________
SkyREPORT - April 12, 2010 @ 1:00 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Will EchoStar get itself (and DISH) out of deep DVR doo-doo by buying TiVo?
The media biz was buzzing over that one late last week after Wall Street put its official stamp of possibility upon the idea via a missive from Citigroup analyst Jason Bazinet.
The thought is not exactly original. Such rumors have been circulating since early March when the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling that EchoStar/DISH are still in violation of TiVo's patents. Still, Bazinet's note speculating on a EchoStar purchase (to say nothing of the looming settlement deadline of April 30) fanned the fires to near hysteria levels.
What I want to know is: Why are we all (myself included) talking about EchoStar buying TiVo? I mean, shouldn't it be the other way around? After all, TiVo's got the big $400 million (or whatever huge number) gun pointed at EchoStar/DISH. TiVo's got the heft too: A $2 billion market cap versus EchoStar's $1.6 billion. Of course, neither one is exactly swimming in cash ... and I suspect Tom Rogers doesn't really want a bunch of satellites on his hands. But hey ... the set-top box business? Slingbox?
Maybe we've all been too conditioned, for too long, about Charlie Ergen's mastery of the control game. But this time (to use a shop-worn metaphor) he really doesn't have the cards. So we'll see. At the very least, it will be interesting.__________________