This isn’t your father’s satellite-TV company.
That’s the message from Dish CEO Joe Clayton, who declared 2012 a turnaround year for the company after unveiling a new super-fast Internet service and a powerful DVR system.
The “Hopper” DVR syncs with up to four rooms through smaller devices called Joeys — all named as part of a new marketing campaign featuring a kangaroo mascot.
The company will launch a surprisingly fast Internet service, called Dish Broadband, to appeal to users in rural areas with limited access to high-speed service.
Dish is also banking that it can woo consumers by bundling its recently acquired Blockbuster movie business with its satellite TV service.
“We’re taking on Netflix, we’re taking on cable, we’re taking on Hulu,” Clayton said after delivering his CES pitch that basically relaunched the entire company.
Clayton, who took over around the time Blockbuster was acquired about six months ago, said the integration has gone more slowly than he expected.
“When you have a $1 billion company, Blockbuster and a $14 billion company, Dish, which one do you think gets priority?” he asked us.
And then Clayton has the movie studios to deal with, who are changing their deals all the time, most recently looking to extend the window for hit movies to get to Blockbuster and other services.
The company also forged some new content partnerships, with HBO, Univision and Sirius.