Englewood, Colo. –
and said Wednesday they
have reached a deal to bring the DishWorld service to the Roku streaming
platform in the U.S.
The agreement will
enable
to offer more than 50
international programming channels, including the leading Hindi, Arabic, Urdu,
Bangla and Brazilian channels. The DishWorld service enables Dish to expand its
distribution of ethnic channels into urban and multi-dwelling unit markets
difficult to reach by satellite.
Additionally, Roku
selected Dish to manage the launch and expansion of future foreign language
channels and content on the Roku platform.
“Dish offers the
largest selection of international programming among major pay-TV providers and
its DishWorld service brings a tremendous amount of foreign language
entertainment to our platform,” stated Jim Funk, Roku business development VP.
“We see this partnership as the perfect marriage of content and technology for
streaming customers.”
“We view Roku’s
extensive product distribution and established platform as an excellent match
for our international content offerings as we look to develop markets that
historically have been difficult for us to reach,” said Chris Kuelling, Dish
international programming VP. “Consumers in apartment buildings, condos and
dormitories who seek ethnic programming now have an easy way to enjoy their
favorite channels without the need for a satellite dish.”
The DishWorld
service offers a variety of live foreign language programming, including
sports, movies, news, children’s programs, music, cooking shows, talk shows and
general entertainment.
Five languages are
available at launch, with plans for expansion of more languages and channels in
the near future.
At launch the
service includes:
• an extensive
offering of Arabic channels, including MBC, Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera;
• market-leading
Hindi channels, including Aapka Colors, Sony, SET Max, Star Plus, Zee TV, B4U
and Aaj Tak;
• Willow Cricket
and TEN Cricket with eight Cricket Boards and more than 150 days per year of
live cricket;
• seven of
Pakistan’s most popular television channels, including GEO TV, ARY Digital and
Hum TV;
• four popular
channels from Bangladesh, including ATN Bangla, Channel I, ETV Bangla and NTV
Bangla; and
• TV Globo
Internacional and PFC, which showcase Brazilian television programs and soccer
events.
The DishWorld
service will also include “48-hour Rewind,” which allows customers to watch any
show aired in the last 48 hours on any of the channels featured in their
subscription package.
The service uses an
application developed by Dish affiliate Move Networks for adaptive bit-rate
streaming that detects user bandwidth in real time and adjusts the video-stream
quality for a consistently clear picture, Dish said.
The DishWorld
service is available to purchase in the Roku Channel Store on Roku 2 and Roku
LT players and is expected to be available on the Roku HD player (model 2500R)
this summer.
