NY Times is reporting that DishOnline will be coming out of beta sometime this week: The New York Times > Log In
The Dish Network this week will begin offering a video portal called DishOnline.com, becoming the latest distributor to provide online benefits to paying subscribers.
The Sofa Wars
Media, cable and technology companies are fighting for consumers’ screen time, and their money, as viewing habits grow more unpredictable.
All the major cable and satellite carriers are jostling to introduce their versions of “TV Everywhere,” a concept pioneered by Time Warner and Comcast. Extending the cable model to a new medium, it holds that paying customers should be able to access TV content in other ways, namely via the Web.
So far, it has been slow going. But the introduction by Dish indicates that some content providers are coming on board. Starting on Tuesday, Dish Network customers will be able to view on its Web site for the first time shows from several cable networks, including Discovery Channel, HGTV and MTV.
“People are shifting where they watch video, and I want to shift with them,” Dave Shull, Dish’s senior vice president for programming, said in an interview. Dish is the second-largest satellite carrier behind DirecTV, with about 14 million customers.
The DishOnline.com site will show some free video clips, but cable shows and many movies will be available only with a subscription. Free clips of the film “Iron Man,” for instance, may be available to any customer, but a full streaming version would be available only to pay-TV subscribers or for a one-time rental fee.
Some of the DishOnline.com features showcase what can happen when a customer’s set-top box is connected to the Internet. Customers with a top-of-the-line device will be able to view live television or any of the shows that they have recorded on their digital video recorder.
Other distributors have raced to create similar offerings for their customers. Comcast, an early entrant, has a site called Fancast, which has some free videos but restricts other content to customers. It lets customers schedule DVR recordings, but not watch them online.
By organizing their hundreds of channels online, the carriers hope they can stymie attempts by outsiders to do the same.
But to date, they have struggled to make it easy enough for Web sites to “authenticate,” industry parlance for logging in and confirming a customer’s subscription.
Gaining the online rights to cable channel content has not been simple, either. There have been disputes about how many devices should be able to log in using the same account, about how many episodes or films should be available at any given time, and about how advertisements will be shown on the Web sites.
“It’s taking time, without a doubt,” Mr. Shull said.
The Dish Network this week will begin offering a video portal called DishOnline.com, becoming the latest distributor to provide online benefits to paying subscribers.
The Sofa Wars
Media, cable and technology companies are fighting for consumers’ screen time, and their money, as viewing habits grow more unpredictable.
All the major cable and satellite carriers are jostling to introduce their versions of “TV Everywhere,” a concept pioneered by Time Warner and Comcast. Extending the cable model to a new medium, it holds that paying customers should be able to access TV content in other ways, namely via the Web.
So far, it has been slow going. But the introduction by Dish indicates that some content providers are coming on board. Starting on Tuesday, Dish Network customers will be able to view on its Web site for the first time shows from several cable networks, including Discovery Channel, HGTV and MTV.
“People are shifting where they watch video, and I want to shift with them,” Dave Shull, Dish’s senior vice president for programming, said in an interview. Dish is the second-largest satellite carrier behind DirecTV, with about 14 million customers.
The DishOnline.com site will show some free video clips, but cable shows and many movies will be available only with a subscription. Free clips of the film “Iron Man,” for instance, may be available to any customer, but a full streaming version would be available only to pay-TV subscribers or for a one-time rental fee.
Some of the DishOnline.com features showcase what can happen when a customer’s set-top box is connected to the Internet. Customers with a top-of-the-line device will be able to view live television or any of the shows that they have recorded on their digital video recorder.
Other distributors have raced to create similar offerings for their customers. Comcast, an early entrant, has a site called Fancast, which has some free videos but restricts other content to customers. It lets customers schedule DVR recordings, but not watch them online.
By organizing their hundreds of channels online, the carriers hope they can stymie attempts by outsiders to do the same.
But to date, they have struggled to make it easy enough for Web sites to “authenticate,” industry parlance for logging in and confirming a customer’s subscription.
Gaining the online rights to cable channel content has not been simple, either. There have been disputes about how many devices should be able to log in using the same account, about how many episodes or films should be available at any given time, and about how advertisements will be shown on the Web sites.
“It’s taking time, without a doubt,” Mr. Shull said.
