One year after embracing an Internet-only distribution model, Mr. Beck is repositioning his streaming network, TheBlaze TV, as an offering for cable and satellite operators — in other words, TV the old-fashioned way.
On Wednesday, he will announce an agreement with the Dish Network, the
first of what his company hopes will be many such deals.
TheBlaze TV, an Internet television network, will remain available via
the Web for its 300,000 paying subscribers, including those not
subscribing to Dish. But the distribution deal with Dish gives Mr. Beck,
formerly a host on Fox News, a new way to reach viewers that may be
adopted by other Internet entrepreneurs seeking a way into traditional
television.
“Our success over the past year has given us the ability to go on
traditional television while maintaining complete creative control and
freedom and remaining at the center of the Internet revolution,” Mr.
Beck said.
Despite all the hoopla about online viewing and devices to connect the
Internet to television sets — TheBlaze TV promised online subscribers it
was easy to do — a lot of people still just want to see what is on TV
the easy traditional way.
“We’d like to make that as simple for them as possible,” said Chris
Balfe, the president of Mr. Beck’s media company, Mercury Radio Arts, in
a blog post that will accompany the announcement on Wednesday. The
channel will begin on Dish at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
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