Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)

Leavng For Las Vegas

January 5, 2009 Sure Christmas might have been two weeks ago, but for me Christmas starts on Thursday.  What’s Thursday?  It’s the opening of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas!  This is the one show that every gadget geek dreams of going to, and for me this will be my 5th time heading to the electronics Mecca!

All eyes will be on Echostar and Dish Network this year for all the big satellite announcements, as DirecTV will not be in attendance for this years CES show.

So this is Dish Networks chance to shine at the big show, lets hope the don’t blow it.  However little birdies have been telling me that somethings shown by Dish might steal the spotlight at the show.

Be on the lookout for a Dish Network High Definition DVR which has a built in Slingbox and Slingcatcher functionality.  We first mentioned this receiver here in the Satellite Dish back in May and are happy to hear that we could see a working demo of the unit at CES.  This receiver has been code-named the 922 and if what I am hearing about this receiver is true this could be one of the major products announced at CES by any company!

But that’s not the only thing that we might see from Sling and Dish Network at CES,  I am hearing we might see some remote DVR programming functionality introduced at CES.  From what I am hearing is besides just being able to set remote timers via the internet you can also edit timers, resolve conflicts and if you have a Slingbox hooked up to that DVR you can even watch shows remotely via the new Sling website.  From what I am hearing this new remote scheduling website is very well done and very fast.  I am looking forward to seeing it!

And while DirecTV wont be at CES another upcoming satellite provider XStreamHD will be holding a press conference on Friday.  XStreamHD just ran some testing on its design and I am hearing that things went very will.  I am looking to see if XStreamHD has anything solid to offer us this year as for last years event they had no deals with any content providers nor did they have any satellite spectrum to transmit their servie.

XStreamHD as it was announced last year is not a regular satellite service that offers you channels like USA Network and HBO.  XStreamHD is a company that will stream full 1080p movies with DTS Master Audio into your house.  Sort of like the ultimate HD Video on Demand service from the sky.

Well my bags are all packed and I am ready to go, its off to the airport at 4am for the long flight cross country to Las Vegas.  I can’t wait to get there, for a geek like me, this is my Christmas.

DirecTV / KJZZ Fighting

It is unusual to see DirecTV in a public dispute with any company over retransmission agreements, but it is happening.

Popular channel KJZZ was removed from the DirecTV lineup as they claim KJZZ is seeing an “outrageous” amount of money for DirecTV to carry the station.

Last year KJZZ carried 40 Utah Jazz games however this year the station is carrying only 16 games, so the amount of money they are seeking for less content seems to be too much for DirecTV to pay.

Jazz fans have been subscribing to DirecTV’s NBA League pass to try finding the missing Utah Jazz games only to find them blacked out in the Utah Jazz markets as KJZZ owns the rights for those areas.

DirecTV has issued the following statement regarding its position with KJZZ.

“DIRECTV continues to be interested in reaching an agreement with KJZZ, but to date, KJZZ's economic demands have been outrageous. Historically, the channel has made its signal available to DIRECTV at no charge and is also free over the air. Now KJZZ is requesting a significant fee for its programming and in this extremely difficult economic climate, these demands represent a potential burden on our customers. Though we did not want to take the station down, DIRECTV was notified by KJZZ that it would have to stop broadcasting its signal imminently if we did not give in to their demands. We remain willing to carry the channel while both parties negotiate in good faith.”

Let’s hope this one gets settled soon.

Posted by Scott Greczkowski on January 5, 2009 | Comments (0)