EchoStar’s $380 million purchase of Sling Media once again raises the question of whether a consumer TV-device company can exist as a standalone entity. History has not been kind to such companies trying to break out from the startup field. Akimbo anyone? TiVo has also certainly seen its share of ups and downs (mostly downs). Even the attempts of larger tech companies at combining TVs and computers, such as the Apple TV or Microsoft’s various efforts over the years, haven’t fared any better at gaining massive consumer acceptance. The consumer-electronics giants and cable companies simply dominate this market. Given that reality, selling to EchoStar may have been Sling Media’s best option.
Although the company does not disclose exact figures, a Sling Media spokesperson says the startup has sold “hundreds of thousands” of Slingboxes over the past couple years. So that could be anywhere between 200,000 Slingbox users (which would bring the purchase price to a hefty $1.9 million per user) and 900,000 (which would come to a purchase price of $422,000 per user).
Obviously, that is not the math EchoStar used to justify the purchase. Because EchoStar, which was already a minority investor in the startup, did not buy Sling Media for its puny number of existing customers. It bought Sling Media for its place-shifting technology, which allows people to watch whatever is on their TV from a remote location on their laptop. EchoStar can now integrate that technology into its set-top boxes and has a better chance than Sling Media did to get the number of Slingbox users up well past a million. Another reason behind the deal may be to combine Sling Media with EchoStar’s other technology assets (set-top boxes, satellites), and split off the resulting, strengthened TV-technology group as a separate business, while dressing up its TV subscription service for a sale to AT&T. If that happens, then an independent EchoStar TV technology business would be free to sell place-shifting set-top boxes to rivals as well.
Just as the DVR did not take off until DirecTV and EchoStar started pushing the technology to their own customers, I would expect the same thing to happen with Slingboxes. But instead of EchoStar trying to design an inferior version of a Slingbox and push that on its TV subscribers, as it’s done with DVRs, at least this time it is starting out with the best technology up-front.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.
Best Deal Ads :
31 Responses to 'Sling Media Sells Out to EchoStar'
Leave a Reply
check out the A Tech Swicki swicki at eurekster.com
- July 2008 (290)
- June 2008 (2254)
- May 2008 (2160)
- April 2008 (2371)
- March 2008 (2341)
- February 2008 (2302)
- January 2008 (2527)
- December 2007 (2025)
- November 2007 (2363)
- October 2007 (2670)
- September 2007 (2155)
- August 2007 (595)
- July 2007 (13)
- June 2007 (3)
- May 2007 (1)
- March 2007 (1)
- January 2007 (954)
- December 2006 (1644)
- November 2006 (907)
- October 2006 (11)
- September 2006 (2)
- August 2006 (1)
- June 2006 (1)
- March 2005 (19)
- October 2004 (1)
- July 2004 (1)
- June 2004 (4)
badaruniter 93 post…
all about badaruniter and top news…
The noxema girl…
girl, The noxema girl and The…
Aiden porn soft pretzel…
pretzel, Aiden porn soft pretzel and Aiden…
Amateur nada surf…
surf, Amateur nada surf and Amateur…
Double dutch girl scout cookies…
cookies, Double dutch girl scout cookies and Double…
Milf lessons nancy…
nancy, Milf lessons nancy and Milf…
Gagged tied beat porn…
porn, Gagged tied beat porn and Gagged…
Riya sen sexy photo…
photo, Riya sen sexy photo and Riya…
Facial hair and hypothyriodism…
hypothyriodism, Facial hair and hypothyriodism and Facial…
Agh and breast center…
center, Agh and breast center and Agh…
Private stripper parties…
parties, Private stripper parties and Private…
Holloway swinger maryland…
maryland, Holloway swinger maryland and Holloway…
Kimber xxx…
xxx, Kimber xxx and Kimber…
Ebony milf paige…
paige, Ebony milf paige and Ebony…
Interlocking rubber floor tiles…
tiles, Interlocking rubber floor tiles and Interlocking…
Asheville nc escort…
escort, Asheville nc escort and Asheville…
Free sexy shag haircuts pics…
pics, Free sexy shag haircuts pics and Free…
Babe ruth intervew biogrphy…
biogrphy, Babe ruth intervew biogrphy and Babe…
1 2 self adhesive rubber feet…
feet, 1 2 self adhesive rubber feet and 1…
Moby dick drum notes…
notes, Moby dick drum notes and Moby…
Gates rubber manufacture…
manufacture, Gates rubber manufacture and Gates…
La beck femme philadelphia…
philadelphia, La beck femme philadelphia and La…
Vintage sheet music collecting…
collecting, Vintage sheet music collecting and Vintage…
100 free porn movies 1mb…
1mb, 100 free porn movies 1mb and 100…
Guys sucking a floppy dick…
dick, Guys sucking a floppy dick and Guys…
Baba desi indian sex…
sex, Baba desi indian sex and Baba…
Russian escorts dating…
dating, Russian escorts dating and Russian…
Beginner bdsm toys…
toys, Beginner bdsm toys and Beginner…
Teen swimsuit model pic…
pic, Teen swimsuit model pic and Teen…
Teen queens gallery…
gallery, Teen queens gallery and Teen…
Sexy woman in sweater…
sweater, Sexy woman in sweater and Sexy…