BUSINESS
Dish Network has plenty going on as it rebuilds on acquisitions
By Andy Vuong
The Denver Post
POSTED: 05/15/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT
Blockbuster president Michael Kelly, a former Dish executive, says Blockbuster is set apart from rivals by its variety of video distribution: in stores, left; online; by mail; and self- service kiosks. (John Prieto, The Denver Post )
From video-rental chain Blockbuster to satellite broadband provider Hughes Communications, Charlie Ergen is snatching up companies like an NFL executive rebuilding a franchise.
Don't expect the Dish Network and EchoStar chairman to keep all the parts.
"It's a little bit like being in an NFL draft — you draft a lot of people and they don't all work out; some people you trade," he said during a conference call with analysts this month. "Maybe that happens with some of the assets we've acquired."
Noted for playing it close to the vest, Ergen compares his strategy to a "Seinfeld" episode — where the storyline typically heads in several directions before coming together in the closing minutes.
Fast-forwarding to the final moments of the Ergen strategy show might reveal this scene, based on remarks from Dish executives and analysts:
• Dish offering Dish-branded wireless service via a partnership with a network operator such as Sprint or LightSquared. The latter is building a high-speed wireless network slated to launch in Denver and a few other test markets in the second half of this year.
• Dish selling subscriptions to its satellite-TV, mobile and broadband services, as well as offerings from partner providers, at Blockbuster stores. And Blockbuster memberships will be cross-marketed.
• To appease movie studios, Dish will not lower the price on Blockbuster's online streaming service to compete with Netflix's all-you-can-watch model, which has studios up in arms. In return, new agreements with studios will let Dish lower prices on first-run, in-store rentals that are not available online, providing some incentive for a couch potato to hit the road to pick up a flick.
In short, Douglas County-based Dish will no longer be just a satellite-TV company. It is transforming amid a shift in viewer habits, where a growing number of consumers are watching online streams and downloaded content on their TVs, laptops, tablets and cellphones, legally and illegally.
Brick-and-mortar puzzler
(lots more in the article - see link below)
Blockbuster's possibilities
Blockbuster, which Dish acquired out of bankruptcy for $320 million last month, will operate as a separate brand and company.
At least 370 of the company's 1,700 stores will stay open, with decisions on the others expected to come in the next three months.
"We believe that Blockbuster and movies is a very social experience," said Blockbuster president Michael Kelly, a former Dish executive. "We're clearly going to look to redefine what that in-store experience is."
Kelly notes that Blockbuster's various forms of video distribution — in-store, online, by mail, self-service kiosks — separate it from Netflix and Redbox, which operates video-rental kiosks.
The bulk of Blockbuster's business is still generated from brick-and-mortar stores. In 2010, Blockbuster stores generated $1 billion in revenue, compared with $180 million for its mail service and less than $100 million for its online streaming service, according to the Convergence Consulting Group.
As such, companies are lining up to partner with Dish in Blockbuster storefronts.
"I've been inundated with proposals and requests from people that can do things collaboratively with us in the stores, but we're going to take this one step at a time," said Cullen, who will oversee the Blockbuster unit at Dish.
Canadian cable-TV company Rogers Cable's retail stores, branded Rogers Plus, may serve as a model for Dish. In addition to offering video rentals, the stores sell cable-TV, broadband, home phone and cellphone service.
"Maybe Blockbuster and the real estate," said industry consultant Eiley, "are going to be used in a way that has little to do with the traditional video business."
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209, avuong@denverpost.com or twitter.com/andyvuong
Blockbuster's 2010 revenue sources
In-store rentals
$1 billion
Mail rentals
$180 million
Self-service kiosks*
$100 million
Online streaming
Tens of millions
Source: The Convergence Consulting Group
*-Bulk goes to kiosk operator NCR
Filling the Dish
Recent or pending acquisitions for Dish Network and sister company EchoStar, both chaired by Charlie Ergen:
Blockbuster: Video-rental chain
DBSD: Satellite-technology company with a block of wireless spectrum
Hughes Communications: Satellite-broadband and services company
Liberty-Bell Telecom: Home phone and broadband service reseller
Move Networks: Video-streaming technology company
Source: The Denver Post
Read more: Dish Network has plenty going on as it rebuilds on acquisitions - The Denver Post Dish Network has plenty going on as it rebuilds on acquisitions - The Denver Post
Dish Network has plenty going on as it rebuilds on acquisitions
By Andy Vuong
The Denver Post
POSTED: 05/15/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT
Blockbuster president Michael Kelly, a former Dish executive, says Blockbuster is set apart from rivals by its variety of video distribution: in stores, left; online; by mail; and self- service kiosks. (John Prieto, The Denver Post )
From video-rental chain Blockbuster to satellite broadband provider Hughes Communications, Charlie Ergen is snatching up companies like an NFL executive rebuilding a franchise.
Don't expect the Dish Network and EchoStar chairman to keep all the parts.
"It's a little bit like being in an NFL draft — you draft a lot of people and they don't all work out; some people you trade," he said during a conference call with analysts this month. "Maybe that happens with some of the assets we've acquired."
Noted for playing it close to the vest, Ergen compares his strategy to a "Seinfeld" episode — where the storyline typically heads in several directions before coming together in the closing minutes.
Fast-forwarding to the final moments of the Ergen strategy show might reveal this scene, based on remarks from Dish executives and analysts:
• Dish offering Dish-branded wireless service via a partnership with a network operator such as Sprint or LightSquared. The latter is building a high-speed wireless network slated to launch in Denver and a few other test markets in the second half of this year.
• Dish selling subscriptions to its satellite-TV, mobile and broadband services, as well as offerings from partner providers, at Blockbuster stores. And Blockbuster memberships will be cross-marketed.
• To appease movie studios, Dish will not lower the price on Blockbuster's online streaming service to compete with Netflix's all-you-can-watch model, which has studios up in arms. In return, new agreements with studios will let Dish lower prices on first-run, in-store rentals that are not available online, providing some incentive for a couch potato to hit the road to pick up a flick.
In short, Douglas County-based Dish will no longer be just a satellite-TV company. It is transforming amid a shift in viewer habits, where a growing number of consumers are watching online streams and downloaded content on their TVs, laptops, tablets and cellphones, legally and illegally.
Brick-and-mortar puzzler
(lots more in the article - see link below)
Blockbuster's possibilities
Blockbuster, which Dish acquired out of bankruptcy for $320 million last month, will operate as a separate brand and company.
At least 370 of the company's 1,700 stores will stay open, with decisions on the others expected to come in the next three months.
"We believe that Blockbuster and movies is a very social experience," said Blockbuster president Michael Kelly, a former Dish executive. "We're clearly going to look to redefine what that in-store experience is."
Kelly notes that Blockbuster's various forms of video distribution — in-store, online, by mail, self-service kiosks — separate it from Netflix and Redbox, which operates video-rental kiosks.
The bulk of Blockbuster's business is still generated from brick-and-mortar stores. In 2010, Blockbuster stores generated $1 billion in revenue, compared with $180 million for its mail service and less than $100 million for its online streaming service, according to the Convergence Consulting Group.
As such, companies are lining up to partner with Dish in Blockbuster storefronts.
"I've been inundated with proposals and requests from people that can do things collaboratively with us in the stores, but we're going to take this one step at a time," said Cullen, who will oversee the Blockbuster unit at Dish.
Canadian cable-TV company Rogers Cable's retail stores, branded Rogers Plus, may serve as a model for Dish. In addition to offering video rentals, the stores sell cable-TV, broadband, home phone and cellphone service.
"Maybe Blockbuster and the real estate," said industry consultant Eiley, "are going to be used in a way that has little to do with the traditional video business."
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209, avuong@denverpost.com or twitter.com/andyvuong
Blockbuster's 2010 revenue sources
In-store rentals
$1 billion
Mail rentals
$180 million
Self-service kiosks*
$100 million
Online streaming
Tens of millions
Source: The Convergence Consulting Group
*-Bulk goes to kiosk operator NCR
Filling the Dish
Recent or pending acquisitions for Dish Network and sister company EchoStar, both chaired by Charlie Ergen:
Blockbuster: Video-rental chain
DBSD: Satellite-technology company with a block of wireless spectrum
Hughes Communications: Satellite-broadband and services company
Liberty-Bell Telecom: Home phone and broadband service reseller
Move Networks: Video-streaming technology company
Source: The Denver Post
Read more: Dish Network has plenty going on as it rebuilds on acquisitions - The Denver Post Dish Network has plenty going on as it rebuilds on acquisitions - The Denver Post
Last edited:
