Dish Network

Dish Network's long rumored Internet television service became real last month with the introduction of Sling TV, a service that allows subscribers to watch live channels streamed over the Internet. Upon introduction, the service brought with it a dozen channels (including those coveted sports channels), and now less than a month later the number of channels it offers has expanded. Sling TV has struck a new partnership with Univision, and under it will add several of the network's Spanish-language channels.

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When the FCC auction ended last week, Dish walked away with roughly $10 billion in spectrum. That spend was down from $13 billion, where Dish took advantage of $3 billion or so in discounts. Now, an FCC commissioner is questioning whether or not Dish should be entitled to those discounts. The rub is in how Dish actually acquired the spectrum, where they used a series of subsidiaries to snap up blocks of spectrum. In doing so, they took advantage of ‘small business’ discounts.

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Oh thank goodness the Dish team have come to their senses, turning their advertising-skipping feature "AutoHop" on its head for the Super Bowl. Instead of skipping the advertisements, Dish suggests you may want to skip the football. With Reverse AutoHop, the Hopper DVR device will allow you to watch the entire Super Bowl without all those tiresome, boring minutes of sports. Now you can just watch Kim Kardashian's T-Mobile USA ad instead - or the one with the rabbits. Or the one with the guy - the ad about the stuff!

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As I write this review, SportsCenter is on in the background. I’ve not watched ESPN in years — actual years — so this review is like revisiting a memory. I’m a bit of a cord cutter (I still get Internet via the cable company), and there are several reasons for that. Sling TV brings cable back into my life, but in the best way possible. I don’t have to re-up some cable contract, and it works with streaming devices I have on every TV. It’s must-have TV. Here’s why.

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In a recent court ruling, Dish Network was found to be liable for millions of telemarketing violations, including failure to honor Do Not Call requests. The ruling was made by the Central District of Illinois' district court, which says that Dish has "tens of millions" of calls under its belt that weren't made in line with the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule. This is a partial summary judgement victory for the FTC, which had a case filed on its behalf by the Justice Department back in early 2009.

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If you thought CES was dead, you’re wrong. It’s not the over-the-top extravaganza it once was, but there are still plenty of interesting things to be found. On day one, some heavy hitters brought their arsenal out, giving us something to think about for the rest of the week. TVs were a big deal (literally), while we also got a look at some new phones. In case you weren’t sure, CES also made it clear that 4K is the new normal.

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This week at CES 2015, Dish is bringing more than a Sling TV service to the market. They're also bringing a new DISH Hopper Voice Remote and a 4K Joey TV box as well. With the Hopper Voice Remote, you'll find a "streamlined customer experience," as they say, finding a sweet spot between the limited functionality (requiring more clicks) of the Apple TV remote and the overly-complicated universal remotes of the past. This remote will be present in most future Dish device setups.

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What is Sling TV? It’s not the Sling you might be thinking of for media consumption, but it’s close. While the Sling Player lets you broadcast content just about anywhere you like, Sling TV lets you subscribe to cable without having to go through a legacy Cable TV provider. It’s Internet cable, and comes courtesy of Dish. Maybe best of all, it only runs $20/month. For that spend, you get access to a variety of popular cable TV channels, including ESPN.

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It's not uncommon at all for negotiations in the cable and satellite TV industry to come to a standstill and for either the cable or satellite firm or the owner of a network that airs on the TV platform to remove channels from the line up as a negotiation tactic. This has happened several times to Dish Network over the years and its happening again now.

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Dish subscribers can now watch Netflix, all without having to bring in a second box. Both companies announced today that Netflix will make a home on Dish’s second-generation Hopper DVR, leading Dish to claim they’re the first major US pay-TV provider to offer Netflix. Dish also says the Netflix interface you might enjoy elsewhere will continue on inside Hopper, making a cross-platform existence a bit more palatable. Dish also says they will be rolling Netflix out to their other hardware in the coming months.

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Dish Network has announced the arrival of a software update for its Hopper DVR, which it says has wrapped up after rolling out nationwide over the past week. With the software update comes three new features, the most exciting of which allows users to restart (some) live shows from the beginning if they happen to catch it after it started. The update also feeds binge-watching addictions, and brings a vastly simplified way to turn on closed captioning.

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The CBS blackout set for Thursday had been postponed, but apparently only for a day. Dish Network subscribers in several large cities -- Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York among them -- have lost access to CBS stations, though Showtime and CBS Sports remains. The blackout is due to ongoing negotiation troubles between the two companies over fees, and was staved off twice by temporary extensions. The talks have been ongoing for six months, according to CBS.

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