DISH Announces Nationwide Availability of 'Hopper with Sling' Whole-Home HD DVR

CES “Best of Show” winner debuts to consumers with new capabilities and a national ad campaign featuring the “Boston Guys”

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — 2013 International CES — Today DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) announced nationwide consumer availability of its all-new Hopper™ with Sling® Whole-Home HD DVR, winner of the 2013 CES “Best of Show” award. Consumers will be introduced to the latest Hopper via a new multimillion-dollar national marketing campaign featuring DISH’s “Boston Guys.”

As part of its “Only the Hopper” campaign, DISH is launching a series of television, radio, print and digital advertisements that follow the Boston Guys as they demonstrate how the second-generation Hopper delivers a complete entertainment experience by enabling customers to:

• Take the at-home DISH TV experience anywhere using the Hopper’s new built-in Sling capabilities and the new DISH Anywhere™ app. With these features customers can watch their live and recorded home television content on Internet-connected tablets, smartphones and PCs at no additional charge.
• Download DVR content to mobile devices. With the free Hopper Transfers™ app, viewers can move recorded television to an iPad for viewing without an Internet connection.
• Receive all the great features of the previous Hopper like AutoHopTM, PrimeTime Anytime™ and up to 500 hours of high-definition (2,000 hours of standard definition) recording capability.

“These lovable characters from Boston helped put the first generation of the ‘Hawpah’ on the map and made nearly three out of four consumers aware of the Hopper,” said James Moorhead, DISH chief marketing officer and senior vice president. “This campaign takes the Boston family out of the house to show the world that only Hopper with Sling can provide a truly unique entertainment experience.”

DISH first introduced Hopper with Sling at last month’s 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show where the cutting-edge set-top box was recognized as a CES Innovations 2013 Design and Engineering Award honoree and, notably, won the “Best of Show” award.

“The magic of Hopper with Sling is that it redefines how customers think about their pay-TV experience,” said Joe Clayton, DISH president and CEO. “No other provider can offer the experience that is now available to our customers anytime, anywhere.”

Sling technology is now built into each new generation Hopper. It works by encoding and redirecting – or place-shifting – a live or recorded TV signal from the Hopper to Internet-connected iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. The DISH Anywhere experience is also available on PCs and Macs.

Customers can also use the Sling feature to watch DVR recordings stored on Hopper’s hard drive, including major network shows recorded using DISH’s PrimeTime Anytime feature.

New DISH customers who subscribe to DISH’s America’s Top 200 or DishLATINO Dos programming packages or greater can receive one Hopper and up to three Joey units for free, including a standard professional installation. The Hopper system requires a whole-home DVR fee of $10 per month and $7 per month for each Joey.