DISH, DirecTV in CES Limelight

[Gregg Lengling]

Las Vegas and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) were in full swing as attendees greeted exhibitors for the first time Thursday on the open trade show floor. And, the news was flowing from the satellite TV providers.

Sister Web site SkyRETAILER.com had the scoops and coverage today as DirecTV and EchoStar's DISH Network let multiple cats out of tightly secured bags. Digital video recorders were flying left and right, Charlie Ergen (EchoStar CEO) and Mitch Stern (DirecTV CEO) were in attendance, and the interactive landscape on satellite TV became more robust.

Among the newsworthy announcements:

* DISH Network release of its newest high-definition (HD) satellite TV receiver, the DISH Player-DVR 942 ($749). The company also introduced two HD, liquid-crystal display (LCD), thin-panel TVs.

*DISH said it will offer a video-on-demand service called DISH On Demand. The company will roll out the VOD service by March to new customers with DISH Network's new digital video recorder (DVR), the DISH Player-DVR 625.

*DirecTV introduced a new dual tuner, interactive DirecTV digital video recorder (DVR), which will be available in mid-2005. Users of the new DVR can record and store up to 100 hours of DirecTV programming and directly access interactive services.