EchoStar Europe goes 'beyond the box' with unique 'however, wherever and whenever' set-top box innovations at IBC2008

EchoStar plans added-value devices that combine Sling Media™ functionality, advanced diagnostics and advertising behavioural measurement to maximise ARPU and cut operational expenditure for EMEA’s cable, IPTV and satellite operators

IBC, AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands — EchoStar Europe (NASDAQ: SATS), a leading innovator and supplier of added value technologies, applications and service solutions to the digital television industry, plans to launch a unique range of device functionalities that are truly ‘beyond the box’ at IBC2008 (stand: 5. B21). These advanced offerings are designed to meet operators’ main goals – increase ARPU, decrease op-ex and provide the best possible consumer experience. The ‘beyond the box’ functionalities launched at IBC2008 include, ‘Set-top Box Health’ diagnostics, an ‘Advertising Behavioural Measurement’ system and exclusive Sling Media™ place-shifting and home-networking.

EchoStar Europe will release the first of a range of advanced set-top boxes in Q2 next year, all designed for the European market, and visitors to the EchoStar Europe stand (5.B21) will be given a preview of the advanced software technologies that network operators can use to add value. Drawing on its experience and very close relationship as a development and engineering resource for DISH Network, one of the world’s leading Pay TV providers with 14 million subscribers, EchoStar Europe will reveal how its set-top boxes can improve margins across an operator’s business. EchoStar Europe enables this by providing an improved customer experience, reduced subscriber churn, reduced total operational cost, reduced call centre loading and improved product lifecycle.

“We have a proud heritage of delivering innovative, reliable set-top boxes and digital video recorders for PayTV operators and an intimate understanding of how these solutions can improve a broadcast network business,” comments Rick Smith, Vice President Sales and Marketing EMEA, EchoStar Europe. “Our background means that we have unrivalled experience of working with large broadcasters to reduce opex and provide the best possible consumer experience. The launch of our ‘beyond the box’ solutions provides operators in EMEA with a portfolio of unique and attractive solutions that will help them achieve their business goals.”

At IBC 2008, EchoStar Europe is highlighting three solutions that illustrate how the company will add value to network operators by looking ‘beyond the box’:

• Set-top Box Health: a diagnostic system designed to minimize op-ex through reducing callcentre traffic and engineer visits
• Advertising Behavioural Measurement system: reports on how the consumer reacts and interacts with advertising and marketing initiatives
• Sling Media™: EchoStar Europe is the unique source of embedded Sling Media™ functionality in set-tops throughout EMEA

“Beyond the Box summarises our key objective perfectly, which is to provide additional functionality within our devices to enable EMEA’s digital television operators to save costs while offering consumers the best in-home entertainment solutions,” says Mark Goodburn, Director of Marketing and Communications, EchoStar Europe.

“We are the only company that can provide Sling Media™ branded place-shifting and home network enabled set-top boxes in EMEA. We have the most advanced set-top box diagnostics on the market, which reduces call-centre calls and engineer visits and lengthens the life of the STB. We also have the best behaviour reporting systems for advertisers and brands. Our ‘beyond the box’ strategy ensures that our customers can maximize the value of their set-top investment. At IBC, we will be in a position to show exactly how our expertise adds value to Pay TV operations on all platforms,” concludes Goodburn.

Set-top Box Health

Set-top Box Health enables network operators to proactively monitor the performance of customer premise equipment with a view to reducing customer complaints and keeping customer care costs to a minimum. This system was developed for DISH Network and has been thoroughly field-tested on its subscriber population. Using a broadband connection, the system can also help identify and debug field issues faster, and provide feedback for future STB design.

Set-top Box Health supports remote control of the set-top box so CSR (Customer Service Representative) agents can control the receiver via an IP connection. CSRs can navigate the user-interface and change receiver settings – making it faster and easier to solve complex customer enquiries. Less confident subscribers will be reassured by this ‘hand holding’ approach. Set-top Box Health can monitor the temperature of a digital video recorder’s (DVR) hard drive and predict a failure, sending an alert through the network so that customer care departments can respond with on-screen messages or telephone calls. The system offers many other features and can proactively determine the vast majority of problems seen in STBs and DVRs.

Advertising Behavioural Measurement system

EchoStar Europe has helped DISH Network create a customer tracking solution that tells the operator – and its broadcast and advertising partners – what subscribers are watching and when. This behavioural monitoring is aggregated and anonymous, but provides demographic profiles of viewers so that advertisers know how to reach their target audience at any given time.

Advertising monitoring is increasingly accepted by advertisers as a powerful guide to media buying and helps a Pay TV platform boost revenues directly via its own advertiser slots or indirectly by improving the health of channels on the platform. The Advertising Behavioural Measurement system is platform independent for use by cable, IPTV, satellite and digital TV operators. It provides detailed feedback on set-top box behaviour, including which channels they are tuned to, and for how long. This type of precise data, spread over a Pay TV subscriber population, can be very valuable to advertising sales departments as a complement to industry-accepted viewing data, which is based on audience samples.

Sling Media™ enabled set-top boxes

EchoStar Europe is the exclusive provider of Sling Media™ place-shifting functionality in set-top boxes outside North America, with the platform independent solution available for integration in cable, satellite and IPTV STBs. In partnership with Sling Media™, the company will be highlighting the benefits of Sling Media™ software for home networking. A Sling Media integrated STB will provide an instant solution to complex multi-room, multi-screen requirements as encrypted digital Pay TV content can be moved seamlessly over IP using wired or wireless networking technologies to second TVs, PCs, laptops and mobiles.

The Sling set-top box platform emphasises EchoStar Europe’s ability to offer broadcast network operators solutions that differentiate services, increase customer loyalty and potentially increase revenues. At IBC the company is outlining its pioneering achievements in helping develop some of the world’s first DVRs, HD-DVRs and hybrid satellite/IPTV DVRs as part of the EchoStar family and demonstrating its leading position in both time-shifting and place-shifting.

See EchoStar Europe stand 5.B21 at IBC 2008.