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–Funding Round Led by Liberty Media, EchoStar

Sling Media has closed a $46.6 million funding round that was led by Goldman, Sachs & Co., Liberty Media (whose holdings include premium programmer, Starz, and interactive TV middleware and applications provider, OpenTV), and EchoStar Communications (the company behind the DISH satellite-TV service). Also participating in the round were Allen & Co, existing investors Doll Capital Management, Mobius Venture Capital, and The Hearst Corporation (note: Sling Media raised $11.5 million in its previous funding round, which took place in late 2004), as well as various undisclosed parties. "We are delighted to receive financial backing from some of the true pioneers in the industry," Sling Media co-founder and CEO, Blake Krikorian, said in a statement. "Over the past several decades these leaders have played an integral role in building and shaping the media world we live in today. It is refreshing to work with such established players who continue to push for new ways to delight and empower the consumer. In summary, we are stoked." The company has stated that it plans to use the funding for new product development, international expansion, and, possibly, for acquisitions. It has not said whether Liberty’s and EchoStar’s investments presage some form of technology collaboration between itself and one or both of the companies.

Sling Media’s flagship product is the Slingbox, a small-footprint consumer electronics device, priced at around $250, that allows consumers to watch their living room TV programming remotely–literally, from almost anywhere in the world–via an Internet-connected PC or laptop or a Windows Mobile-based PDA or smartphone (it can also be used to access recorded programming, photos and other media stored on a DVR or home media center). The Slingbox redirects or "placeshifts" a single, live TV stream from a basic cable connection, cable box, satellite receiver or DVR to those platforms via the Internet. The device has received a fair amount of positive notice in recent months from personal technology reviewers, including columnists for the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, MSNBC and the Financial Times. It has also received an array of industry awards, including Time Magazine’s "Best Inventions of 2005," and BusinessWeek’s "Best Products of 2005." Sling Media claims that the Slingbox is now sold in 3,000 retail outlets.

(Note: this article was published in the February 6th issue of the InteractiveTV Today [itvt] email newsletter.)

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