"Gun to Head" at DISH?

[SHADO 1]

From Sky Report

"The TiVo-DISH showdown is looking grim for DISH as Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett notes that the No. 2 DBS provider is "now negotiating with the proverbial gun to the head." (Moffett wins our personal vote for most colorful writing by an analyst.) Anyway ... Thanks to its losses in court, DISH is now faced with three options: (1) Shutting down its estimated 7mm to 8mm DVRs (a sure-fire disaster); (2) Replacing those DVRs with non-infringing units (at a cost in the billions plus huge disruptions); or (3) paying the piper (AKA TiVo) pretty much whatever it wants.

As Moffett notes, historical precedents peg DVR licensing fees at $1.00 to $2.25 per month. But, he adds, since DISH now represents the largest untapped pool for TiVo, and with those court judgments in hand, TiVo could push the price far higher. Moffett sees the $2.25/month as the floor for a settlement with a ceiling somewhere in the billions (Moffett's emphasis).

Moffett's revised model for DISH reflects a $3/month DVR licensing fee starting 3Q10."

 

[whatchel1]

They can't count

From Sky Report

"The TiVo-DISH showdown is looking grim for DISH as Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett notes that the No. 2 DBS provider is "now negotiating with the proverbial gun to the head." (Moffett wins our personal vote for most colorful writing by an analyst.) Anyway ... Thanks to its losses in court, DISH is now faced with three options: (1) Shutting down its estimated 7mm to 8mm DVRs (a sure-fire disaster); (2) Replacing those DVRs with non-infringing units (at a cost in the billions plus huge disruptions); or (3) paying the piper (AKA TiVo) pretty much whatever it wants.

As Moffett notes, historical precedents peg DVR licensing fees at $1.00 to $2.25 per month. But, he adds, since DISH now represents the largest untapped pool for TiVo, and with those court judgments in hand, TiVo could push the price far higher. Moffett sees the $2.25/month as the floor for a settlement with a ceiling somewhere in the billions (Moffett's emphasis).

Moffett's revised model for DISH reflects a $3/month DVR licensing fee starting 3Q10."

I saw that this morning and thought about putting up here. I didn't cause just like Swami this guy is wrong about the number of units that will be affected. There was no way to contact the guy to get him to correct the amount or that E* is working on having a work around on the units that are affected. It can also be good in that E* may just say that it's time to get rid of all the WA DVR's that are part of suit and start the conversion to all MPEG 4 sooner rather than later.