DISH app delivers Hopper experience on LG Smart TVs

Monday, January 6th, 2014
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Software-based “Virtual Joey” client delivers DISH Hopper experience and control on LG Smart TVs

LAS VEGAS — DISH Network L.L.C., a subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH), today announced that it has developed a “Virtual Joey” software application that delivers the DISH Hopper® HD-DVR experience on 2013 and 2014 LG Smart TVs. The app can be used instead of DISH’s hardware-based Joey, increasing installation options where coaxial or Ethernet wiring may be difficult to access.

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“Television placement is so often dictated by where the set-top box can be and where the wires are — this new application literally unleashes the TV,” said Joseph P. Clayton, DISH president and CEO. “Together, we are giving our customers more choice and control over their entire television experience.”

“By offering DVR capability directly through LG’s Smart TV platform, DISH’s Virtual Joey app gives consumers even more options to customize their viewing experience. Our collaboration with DISH is consistent with our philosophy of making Smart TV simple and more intuitive,” said Sam Chang, vice president in charge of the LG Electronics Silicon Valley Lab, which developed LG’s new webOS Smart TV platform.

This new Virtual Joey app provides a nearly identical experience to the Hopper Whole-Home HD DVRs currently available to DISH customers. When loaded on an LG Smart TV, the app offers access to and control of the Hopper Whole-Home HD DVR — including live TV, recordings and navigation of the electronic program guide. The software-based clients operate on users’ wireless or wired home networks.

DISH expects to release the app in the first quarter of 2014.

DISH will provide Virtual Joey demos on LG Smart TVs in the Las Vegas Convention Center in Central Hall at booth #8243.