Really Rocket Science

Say it ain’t so, Joe.

DISH Network’s Blockbuster brand will unveil a streaming service on Friday, via the Denver Business Journal…

CEO Joe Clayton and Blockbuster President Michael Kelly are scheduled to unveil the service from San Francisco in a press conference dubbed “A Stream Come True” (held via Ustream web streaming service, appropriately enough).

Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH), which rarely underplays a promotional opportunity, promises the service will be “the most comprehensive entertainment package ever!”

In addition to having the webstreaming technology that Blockbuster used, Dish Network has been rumored to be bidding for the online video service Hulu.

Whatever the outlines of the new Dishbuster service, it’s likely to salt Netflix’s recent wounds.

Shortly after buying Blockbuster, Ergen said the purchase wasn’t meant to knock Netflix from the top spot in movie-streaming, because Netflix likely had an insurmountable subscriber lead.

Last week, though, Netflix forecast actually losing subscribers this quarter, and falling 1 million short of its third-quarter projections.

On Monday, the 24 million-subscriber company surprised observers and sent its stock price lower by announcing it’s splitting the company — Netflix will focus exclusively on online movie streaming, and a new wholly owned subsidiary, called Qwikster, will carry on Neflix’s legacy business of shipping DVDs to subscribers by mail.

In spacecraft operations, the last thing you want is a ground controller who decides following the standard operating procedure is for idiots. Not sure if that’s what happened at the Ciel-2 TT&C facility, but something bad did, causing the spacecraft to go into safe mode.

The customer, DISH Network, leases capacity from SES, who leases from Ciel Satellite Group, owners of the spacecraft, acknowledged the anomaly…

DISH Network restored all affected television channels for its customers Wednesday morning after experiencing a temporary interruption of service on some of its channels overnight.

The interruption mainly affected high definition channels to a portion of DISH Network customers. Standard definition channels were largely unaffected resulting in a majority of DISH Network customers not being affected at all.

The interruption began at approximately 5 p.m. ET Tuesday and involved the Ciel2 satellite, which is operated by SES at 129 degrees West Longitude through a Canadian subcontractor and leased to DISH Network. SES has attributed the anomaly to human error in its ground operation of the spacecraft. According to SES, there is no issue with the health of the satellite.

I’m glad I’m in the eastern arc and unaffected by this outage. I feel sorry for the folks in Saskatoon — those who committed the “human error” in question. The spacecraft lost its orientation and therefore automatically went into safe mode, a near total shutdown. Afterwards, it take a few hours to turn on the tubes.

There are a lot of very smart people in the satcom business. Rocket scientists, engineers and business-heads find ways to make money. Good money. We’re talking 80% EBITDAs. You don’t have margins like that without knowing what you’re doing.

You’ve got to plan ahead years in advance, making sure your space assets are fully utilized. The radio spectrum you own is the most prized “asset” you’ve got. You can always build more spacecraft, but you can’t make more spectrum. Unless you find ways to either make better use of what you got or go out and get spectrum that’s not being used effectively.

Great. Now go out and sell it, baby!

Pricing is the real challenge. New satcom services priced to assure an 80% EBITDA are destined to fail, as they’re based on costs incurred many years before service launch. And what do we know of today’s data communications pricing schemes? They move fast. Very fast. Extremely competitive, too, so prices move lower and lower. Iridium? Financial disaster: pricing was based on mobile costs-per-minute in the 1990’s. When they launched, people were paying a fraction of that. As Iridium was about to go belly-up, the U.S. DoD steps in and says “we’ll carry you after bankruptcy.” Why? Iridium covered the globe with a diverse path for communications, and that’s very valuable. But not at that old price.

Diversity is for when other communications fail or are unavailable. We always thought a combination iPhone that uses the S-band for connectivity when regular signal or WiFi are not available would be oh so cool. So maybe now our vision might be realized.

With Dish Network as the “stalking horse bidder” in the TerreStar Networks bankruptcy auction, they see something not readily apparent to others. It’s the spectrum, stupid. Yes, TerreStar has S-band spectrum for CONUS service, but they also have authority for a combined satellite and ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) service. The FCC granted authority in January, 2010. This is really good and it comes without the GPS interference crap that LightSquared has to contend with.

Good move. Dish has a chance to sell mobile data plans with their current TV service packages — or perhaps future packages for on-demand (Blockbuster) or à la carte services to appeal to the growing number of cord-cutters.

Two scenarios emerge: (1) Dish Network adds reasonably-priced mobile data plans to satellite TV services, and (2) an alternate mobile telecom infrastructure emerges to augment today’s overloaded terrestrial networks.

Dean Olmstead was a fan of TerreStar, so he probably had much to do with laying plans to make this kind of move before he passed on.

As a satellite TV customer, there are times when the weather messes with your reception. The interference from rain/snow between you and the spacecraft with cause an outage and you can’t do anything about (rain fade or attenuation). I get that.

Now let me tell you why I’m pissed off.

I switched to Dish Network from cable in 2004 and we had some outages, but the storms had to be pretty big to knock out the signal (we were looking at 110°/119° West). Then I went back to cable so I could get MSG-HD. The Voom channels start going away to make room for a bunch of useless HD channels. Forget that — I went for the DirecTV bundle with Verizon DSL.

Big mistake. We had an outage every time it rained or snowed. I’d call DirecTV a half-dozen times to complain, hoping to get either a credit or a technician to come out an peak the antenna. No chance, valued customer. Either I sign up for a “maintenance” contract for $60 annually, or pay $50 for the tech to come out. Forget that.

Went back to Dish Network and I haven’t had a problem since (now looking at 61.5° West). Ever since I cancelled DirecTV, I’d had 3 or 4 “retention specialists” call and probably a half-dozen “come back” letters. Where were you during my moment-of-truth? Forget that, too.

Who cares about rain fade credits? Maybe trial attorneys should read up on it, in light of the current flooding around Old Man River. Prompted by the Alabama Attorney General’s office, cable and satellite TV providers are offering replacement equipment and suspending billing because of the flooding, caused by storms. The satcom statements, via WSFA-TV…

DISH Network provided the following statement about its response: “Taking care of our customers who have been impacted by any disaster, including tornadoes, is our top priority. DISH Network has a disaster policy in place and works with affected customers on a case-by-case basis to determine the best solution. We normally provide several no-cost options for victims to suspend their satellite service, including a pause of service, with no equipment fees.”

Ellen Filipiak, Sr. Vice President for Customer Service at DIRECTV, stated, “We join all service providers in Alabama in a sincere expression of sympathy for the people of Alabama who lost loved ones and homes in the terrible storms that hit the state last month. We are working with both our customers and employees in Alabama to help them rebuild as well as reconnect their TV services.  And to ease the burden and worry for our customers who were affected by the disaster, we have suspended accounts for those who were without power, offered free service calls and have waived equipment replacement costs and all other fees. More broadly we are also providing support to all victims of the storm through the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity.”  Consumers may contact DirecTV by calling 1-800-531-5000.

Think about that. Will other storms that cause widespread outages in a particular area also become subject to crediting customers for service interruptions? Makes sense to me.

Dude, they busted the Dish Network truck. No TV party tonight.

The U.S. Border Patrol is out to get you, via KGBT-TV…

More than $2.3 million dollars of marijuana is off the streets after Border Patrol agents learned a cloned Dish Network van was being used to smuggle drugs.

U.S. Border Patrol agents reported tha the seizure happened in the rural Starr County community of La Casita on Wednesday, April 20th.

Court records were not immediately available but Border Patrol agents reported spotted a Dish Network van exiting a brushy area near the Rio Grande River.

Working on a tip that are drug smugglers are now using counterfeit vehicles from well-known companies as a cover, Border Patrol stopped the van.

Border Patrol agents reproted immediately noticing a strong odor of marijuana. Investigators looked inside and found 100 bundles with close to 3,000 pounds of marijuana worth $2.3 million dollars inside.

The folks who run the Radio Shack in Hamilton, Montana, really know their customers. Their “free firearm” promotion is working well. The story, via the Billings Gazette…

When driving down U.S. Highway 93 through Hamilton, there’s no need to do a double-take when you see the sign hanging above the Radio Shack Super Store.

You read it right. Customers who buy Dish Network will be rewarded with a firearm.”I think it really, really fits the Bitterroot Valley,” said Steve Strand, who has owned Hamilton’s Radio Shack for about seven years.

Strand, along with store manager Fabian Levy, wanted to generate more foot traffic at their location. So far, the gun giveaway has worked like a charm.

“It’s been really successful,” Levy said.

According to Strand, it has tripled his business since the promotion started last October. And, he said, easily hundreds of people have stopped in to see what the sign is all about. “Protect yourself with Dish Network. Sign up now, get free gun,” the sign reads.”We have people literally stop in to take pictures of the sign,” Levy said.

Qualifying customers have the choice between a Hi Point 380 pistol or a 20-gauge shotgun.The deal is only good for new Dish Network customers and they must buy a certain amount of equipment to qualify for the free gun.

After the customer signs a service contract and sets up an install date, they are given a gift certificate for their gun. They can also opt for a $50 gift card from Pizza Hut if they prefer, Strand said. And customers who purchase new Dish Network service that don’t qualify for a firearm are still given the Pizza Hut gift card.

The gift certificate is good at Frontier Guns & Ammo, located north of Hamilton on Sheafman Creek Road. They are then put through a background check, also free with the promotion, before receiving their gun.

“We’re not just giving guns to felons,” Levy said.

The idea for the promotion wasn’t anything scientific. A friend of Strand’s made the suggestion and, “I thought, ‘Why don’t we?’ ” Strand said.

With all the interest his promotion has garnered, there was one trend.

“You’d be surprised how many women are interested in guns,” Strand said, noting he has had many women in their 60s and 70s drop in to learn about the promotion. “I was quite surprised,”Strand said.
Strand said since starting the promotion, he has gotten good feedback. “We’ve received a tremendous amount of positive reactions,” Strand said.

He said of the hundreds of people who have stopped by because of the sign, only one person reacted negatively. “They didn’t understand how it works,” he said.

Strand also said that other Radio Shack owners he has talked to across the state, in places like Havre and Malta, are too scared to try similar promotions.

“There is a risk involved,” Strand said.

Dish Network allots advertising dollars to the store to promote Dish, but the gun promotion has made them skittish.

“They’ve never had a gun promotion before, so they’re a little nervous about it,” Strand said. “It’s been an uphill battle with Dish.”

After a few months of volleying with the company, however, Strand was given the go-ahead to start advertising.

“If we can get that promotion out there, things could go crazy,” Strand said.

They aren’t sure how much longer they will continue the promotion, but they will be doing the same deal next month with Direct TV packages.

“I kind of thought this promotion was a joke at first, but as things picked up, I realized it was working,” Levy said.

For some satellite aficionados– or sat nuts– one dish is not enough.

The Register-Herald of Bethany, West Virginia reports how Al Jessup’s fascination with satellites changed his life– and his house:

Are 20 movie channels on demand just not enough?

Do constant reruns of “I Love the ’80s” on VH1 have you ready to gouge out your eyeballs?

Then come to Al Jessup’s house — where his 5,000-plus radio and television stations from around the world beamed in by his 12 satellite dishes are bound to keep you entertained somehow.

Since 1998, the Beckley resident has amassed a collection of 12 dishes around his James Street home. He said he first just began subscribing to Direct TV and Dish Network, but he later learned that by purchasing special satellite receivers he could receive “free to air” programming from several different satellites swirling the globe. The information on how to adjust a dish and set up a receiver to pick up programming from these stations such as Galaxy 10, AMC 2 and Telestar 5 is included with these receivers.

“Up in the sky, there’s lots of free stuff,” he said.

Over the years, the 54-year-old disabled former ice cream salesman collected more and more dishes so he could pick up more and more “free to air” channels. Neighbors, he said, never complained about his large display of dishes in front of his house. In fact, some of his dishes were hand-me-downs from his neighbors.

The last time he counted, he received more than 5,000 channels.

Read the entire article here.