Dish Network Teams up With Amazon Alexa: Dish Products Respond to Voice Commands

Dish Network is coming through on its promises by officially launching Amazon Alexa voice control for its Hopper and Wally set-top boxes (STBs), as well as Dish Anywhere remote viewing options on Amazon’s Fire TV.

Customers with a Dish STB and an Amazon Echo, Echo Dot or Amazon Tap can now watch hands-free TV with Alexa.

“Hopper and Alexa introduce next-level convenience that redefines the way TV fits into our lives,” says Niraj Desai, vice president of product management, Dish. “Instantly, it’s easier to read player stats on your phone while flipping between basketball games; to chop ingredients in the kitchen while rewinding a TV scene you just missed; to snack on popcorn while searching for your favorite film – the list goes on.”

 

“With Dish’s skill for Alexa, changing the channel, pausing, rewinding and searching for content will be as simple as asking Alexa.”

— Rob Pulciani, director, Amazon Alexa

 

Amazon’s Rob Pulciani, director of Amazon Alexa, points out that homeowners will appreciate the ease of use Alexa voice control brings to their Dish products.

“Customers love the convenience of interacting with their smart homes via Alexa, and now that includes live TV on Dish,” notes Pulciani. “With Dish’s skill for Alexa, changing the channel, pausing, rewinding and searching for content will be as simple as asking Alexa via an Echo family device. We think this is a big step forward for the television experience, and that customers will love this new voice functionality on Dish.”

Users with any generation Hopper or Wally that is connected to the Internet can ask Alexa to navigate, play, pause, fast-forward, rewind and search content based on channel, title, actor or genre. Universal search functionality works across Dish’s live, recorded and on-demand titles, as well as Netflix’s selection of TV shows and movies.

Here are a few example of the voice commands homeowners can ask their Dish STBs via Amazon Alexa:

• “Alexa, go to the History Channel”
• “Alexa, find the Big Bang Theory”
• “Alexa, search for Game of Thrones”
• “Alexa, show me Tom Hanks movies”
• “Alexa, skip forward”
• “Alexa, rewind 30 seconds”
• “Alexa, pause”
• “Alexa, resume”

Dish Anywhere Brings Broadcast to Fire TV

The Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick will become the first media players to offer Dish Anywhere. Having Dish Anywhere built into Fire TV gives users the ability to watch live and recorded content, on-demand from anywhere their mobile devices are connected to the Internet.

“While Dish Anywhere has historically been embraced on mobile devices, users are now getting even more of what they want – their Dish subscription on any TV at no extra cost,” says Desai. “Dish Anywhere on Fire TV is an excellent value that further brings choice and flexibility to our customers’ television experience.”

Customers with Hopper 3, Hopper 2 or a first-generation Hopper connected to the Internet or Sling Adapters will have access to live, recorded and on-demand content on Dish Anywhere. Customers with VIP receivers may use Dish Anywhere to watch on-demand titles.

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