DISH Enters Deal with ROKU

[dangue]

Good move from Dish's perspective, complete sell out by Roku. Although, I've always wondered how Roku makes it's money. Their boxes are comparatively cheap, and any subscription charges are for third party services and do not go directly to Roku. I wonder if Roku gets a slice from services whenever their boxes are used to access those services.

 

[Tampa8]

I took a look at some of the Roku forums, and there is a little more to the story. First, private developers will still be allowed to provide international programming, it will take permission to do so. I see reported that one person has already received permission to provide such.
Second, it now sounds like Roku almost had to do something like this. Apparently there was too much non-authorized international programming being streamed on Roku. I have to admit, I wondered how EuroNews, which does not allow the English language version on the internet in the U.S., was being streamed on Roku. It still stinks for those of us who routinely watch international programming, but maybe it was not going to last as is anyway.

One such link;
Roku Forums • View topic - International Channels now useless for many of us...

 

[fbara]

I expect Dish will take the Roku intellectual property, copyrights, licenses, etc, and integrate them into the Dish receivers. This would give Dish, as others have said, a larger market share in an area they currently have none: streaming channels.

I use Roku with Plex to stream my home video library from my NAS. If I could do this through my Dish receiver, that's one less box I need and it locks me in even closer to Dish. I think it's a brilliant move on Dish's part. There are plenty of other devices that do what Roku does so there are lots of choices for those that are looking for alternatives.

I expect Dish to be looking at centralizing all home media access through their receiver and this, plus Hopper/Joey, is part of that.

 

[harshness]

I am just waiting for the press release saying that DISH has aquired ROKU.

Any thinking person understands that this has to be in the works. Charlie has made it abundantly clear that IPTV is the future of not just DISH but TV in general and instead of making baby steps and minimal gestures, he's making very bold moves.

Incorporating ROKU-like features into the Joey has long been a hot topic.

The only nagging question that remains as to how Comcast is going to try to thwart these efforts.

 

[Claude Greiner]

****!

And I really started to like my Roku player.

Lets hope this is as far as it goes, I hope Dish doesn't screw it up

 

[piranesi]

This is completely bad for every consumer in every way. Way to go, Dish! Be the bad guy!

Dishworld covers programming in like 5 languages right now, but of course they'll be locking out everything. The prices are basically the same as their satellite packages, with I'm assuming considerably less delivery cost.

Dish: We cut out your options and pass the savings on to US! Dish has figured out the big media model finally: Make it lame and overpriced...and exclusive! Why spend money on programming when you can spend it on technology to wall in customers. Fish in a barrel.

Be evil, Dish! $$$$$$$.

https://www.boxee.tv/

 

[Doppelbok67]

So this deal will essentially shut down nearly all the rest of the free streaming feeds (since nearly all were international news and content), except of course shopping and religious channels... In my opinion, free Roku has become nothing now but a VOD service of incredibly bad movies and a video clip archive! To get live streaming or movies we've heard of, you will have to PAY... Should have realized there was more to this Roku giveaway than was apparent... Oh well, I hope my NHL Gamecenter Live subscription works with no issues when (if??) the season starts...

 

[Scherrman]

Why is Dish the bad guy? Roku doesn't have to make the deal. Just a bunch of complainers.

 

[jimdandyvi]

Not only are foreign language channels gone, but foreign channels in English such Euro News in English.

I really miss Euro News.

This power grab by Dish has been all over the Roku forum for the last few weeks.

 

[piranesi]

Why is Dish the bad guy? Roku doesn't have to make the deal. Just a bunch of complainers.
​

Because Dish isn't going to do anything with it that isn't stupid and expensive and considerably less than what was there. They're going to do what every corporation does when they see people enjoying something....buy it up and then convert it to something cheaper to produce while charging infinitely more for it. They're going to offer a limited number of low quality streams at a huge markup.

And they'll get to do it because they bought their way into something that already worked well, closed down what was good about it, and I'm sure they'll eventually make sure consumers have no other options to get to what they had before.

Hell, they're probably lobbying for "unrestricted iptv funds terrorism" legislation right now.

Thank you gatekeepers, for saving me from myself!

 

[fbara]

They're going to do what every corporation does when they see people enjoying something....buy it up and then convert it to something cheaper to produce while charging infinitely more for it. They're going to offer a limited number of low quality streams at a huge markup.

Maybe... but hasn't that been the norm for almost everything you enjoy today?

You still using a rotary dial phone sold exclusively thru AT&T?
What about reading the news, still waiting for the paper to be delivered to find out what's going on in the world?
How about your car, or TV, or computer, etc.?

Whenever a "corporation" buys up something and limits access some 'little guy' or 'little group of guys' figures out a better way to do it and do it cheaper. It's called 'innovation' and it's been going on for a long time.

So sure, Dish might buy Roku and screw it up but there's other options out there today and who knows what will be out there tomorrow. Roku mgmt did what they felt they had to do. They were once a small start-up and they beat the 'corporations' by providing a service people wanted. Hopefully they'll get some good cash out of the deal and fund other small groups of guys on the next big thing.

 

[radio]

The light at the end of the tunnel is: if DISH ultimately does gain control all of ROKU's programming, there's a growing number of competitor boxes, and content is STILL king for consumers' entertainment. DISH can't buy up every competing platform. Ever heard, "follow the money trail?" If the money dries up from consumers changing platforms, the message has been SENT. It applies to buying video hardware as much as anything else!

I hope dish never controls all of the ROKU box content, but like the majority of those posting here, the gloom is settling around my ROKU, too. I want choice, not control. That means I expect my ROKU to continue to deliver video to me that (oh well...) competes with DISH. If not, I'll be moving on.

 

[JM42]

Because Dish isn't going to do anything with it that isn't stupid and expensive and considerably less than what was there. They're going to do what every corporation does when they see people enjoying something....buy it up and then convert it to something cheaper to produce while charging infinitely more for it. They're going to offer a limited number of low quality streams at a huge markup.

And they'll get to do it because they bought their way into something that already worked well, closed down what was good about it, and I'm sure they'll eventually make sure consumers have no other options to get to what they had before.

Hell, they're probably lobbying for "unrestricted iptv funds terrorism" legislation right now.

Thank you gatekeepers, for saving me from myself!

You're angry with the wrong side of the deal here. Dish offered Roku $$$ for some exclusivity and Roku took it. Roku didn't have to agree to it.

From the Dish perspective, it was a good deal, they gain a channel and some exclusivity.

From Roku's perspective they are getting more cash flow.

From a Roku user's perspective, Roku sold out.

Roku's not the only game in town, that's what choices are for.

 

[Tampa8]

I am just as unhappy about this, but before making up your mind (and the Dish haters are so transparent no matter what Dish is evil) how about taking into account it appears, and I have always thought many of the international feeds were not authorized. Why do you think they were on private channels. The official EuroNews app, in English for example, is not a live stream. Now that I am reading other sites, it is entirely possible Roku was looking to do this. Do they have the staff, time, and payroll to monitor illegal streams? Probably not. Could Roku be under duress from some of the providers for content use infractions?
I'm unhappy losing the free streams, much more than who ever is making the agreement with Roku. But I would like to find out if in the end we were going to lose it all if something was not done.

And as some are posting, if this content can be streamed without consequences, you can bet other streaming media will do it. The investment in buying a Roku box is minimal, for some nothing.

 

[piranesi]

You're angry with the wrong side of the deal here. Dish offered Roku $$$ for some exclusivity and Roku took it. Roku didn't have to agree to it.

I have enough impotent internet rage for both Eve and the snake.

But I'm the one who's going to have to deal with the wife when her Korean soap operas suddenly disappear. That's likely to end up more like the ending to Salome...with my head on a platter!

 

[Tampa8]

I have enough impotent internet rage for both Eve and the snake.

But I'm the one who's going to have to deal with the wife when her Korean soap operas suddenly disappear. That's likely to end up more like the ending to Salome...with my head on a platter!

lol, fair enough..... No question when content goes away there are going to be some unhappy people. It does look like there are already at least one person who has the permission to continue streaming international programming. (In my earlier link)

 

[dan188]

you think we will ever loose other apps such as twit, netflix, cnet, etc and privite channels?

 

[The Fat Man]

According to Scott's linked article, private is on the list. That pissed me off as I finally got CBC. And we all know how much Canadian content is on Dish's service. Zero!

 

[Tampa8]

you think we will ever loose other apps such as twit, netflix, cnet, etc and privite channels?

It could if Dish ends up owning Roku and changes the direction of it. But you can believe someone else will provide much of what Roku did if that happens.

 

[dan188]

i think it be a big mistake if dish bought roku and change the current roku set up.