Can You Say EchoBox?
The Slingbox is downright cool. It’s one of those devices that you never realize how much you like until you actually use it to remotely watch your home television over the Web.
As much I love the Slingbox, I always had two questions about the company. Is it possible to build a big enough business by selling a $100 to $250 product that may not have mainstream appeal? And who would eventually buy Sling Media at a high enough price to justify the more than $50-milllion of venture capital it has received?
Not sure if the first question will be answered soon but the second answer is: EchoStar Communications, which has scooped up Sling for $380-million. Along with Goldman Sachs, Liberty Media, Allen & Co., Doll Capital, Mobius Venture Capital and The Hearst Corp., EchoStar participated in Sling’s $46.6-million financing round in January 2006.
EchoStar must figure it can use the Sling platform to meet the needs of mobile couch potatoes, especially those who use its DISH pay-TV service. And it’s a nice marketing tool to compete against rivals such as DirecTV, Comcast and Time-Warner.
Sling is one of those cool companies that you’re happy to see succeed but kind of sad to see snapped up. As much as the product will continue to be part of the landscape, I’m not sure it will have the same cache now that it’s owned by a large, established company.
More: PaidContent has an interview with Sling co-founder Blake Krikorian, who said Sling was about to do a “pretty healthy” financing round before it was approached by several buyers. Jeremy Toeman, who was VP of marketing with Sling, calls the deal a “pretty solid win-win relationship” that will help both parties.
