ID 2D 01
| Key 0 MR | 218 077 227 051 009 008 038 096 DA 4D E3 33 09 08 26 60 |
| Key 1 MR | 222 072 043 144 099 233 198 084 DE 48 2B 90 63 E9 C6 54 |
| Key 0 MR | 218 077 227 051 009 008 038 096 DA 4D E3 33 09 08 26 60 |
| Key 1 MR | 222 072 043 144 099 233 198 084 DE 48 2B 90 63 E9 C6 54 |
| Key 0 MR | 031 185 017 065 111 008 077 036 1F B9 11 41 6F 08 4D 24 |
| Key 1 MR | 247 243 092 087 087 016 072 154 F7 F3 5C 57 57 10 48 9A |
| Key 0 MR | 225 003 028 110 023 160 110 168 E1 03 1C 6E 17 A0 6E A8 |
| Key 1 MR | 211 183 126 205 096 130 055 074 D3 B7 7E CD 60 82 37 4A |
| 0C DEC | F9 93 EA 5C 57 F5 36 C8 249 147 234 092 087 245 054 200 |
| 0D DEC | F5 4B 24 01 E3 26 3F 68 245 075 036 001 227 038 063 104 |
| 0E DEC | 04 DD 48 6E EE 8D 90 CE 004 221 072 110 238 141 144 206 |
| 0C DEC | 8B 9E 6D 42 6B B4 E4 EB 139 158 109 066 107 180 228 235 |
| 0D DEC | 1B AE 0E 9E BE 8B AF 03 027 174 014 158 190 139 175 003 |
| 0E DEC | 41 23 18 79 DF 14 45 A9 065 035 024 121 223 020 069 169 |
| 0C DEC | 39 AE 95 D3 BB B6 49 6D 057 174 149 211 187 182 073 109 |
| 0D DEC | 48 25 CD 9E 09 49 E2 CE 072 037 205 158 009 073 226 206 |
| 0E DEC | E3 7B 10 CC 2B 1A 6E 33 227 123 016 204 043 026 110 051 |
| 0C DEC | 7F 22 2F 08 56 7A 3B D7 127 034 047 008 086 122 059 215 |
| 0D DEC | 5F 4E A2 E9 90 16 DA 29 095 078 162 233 144 022 218 041 |
| 0E DEC | 53 96 A0 5D 97 7F 0D 9F 083 150 160 093 151 127 013 159 |
| 0C DEC | 9A 91 09 45 7F B5 E7 36 154 145 009 069 127 181 231 054 |
| 0D DEC | 93 96 A4 00 76 C9 3D 10 147 150 164 000 118 201 061 016 |
| 0E DEC | 7E 36 C0 A6 A0 8A 51 50 126 054 192 166 160 138 081 080 |
| 0C DEC | 5B 52 C9 EF 2C 84 57 1C 091 082 201 239 044 132 087 028 |
| 0D DEC | BA 91 EC 9C 71 FE 99 1F 186 145 236 156 113 254 153 031 |
| 0E DEC | D0 2F 36 F0 C5 B4 2F 23 208 047 054 240 197 180 047 035 |
| 0C DEC | 0E 7B CE 43 B7 D5 C3 72 014 123 206 067 183 213 195 114 |
| 0D DEC | 94 76 71 5A FA 37 D8 5B 148 118 113 090 250 055 216 091 |
| 0E DEC | 51 86 93 40 59 04 1C 4F 081 134 147 064 089 004 028 079 |
| 86 DEC | 97 84 96 B1 C7 53 42 5C 5A 45 B0 4F 1F 54 94 07 151 132 150 177 199 083 066 092 090 069 176 079 031 084 148 007 |
| 96 | UNKOWN |
| 0C DEC | 5B 52 C9 EF 2C 84 57 1C 091 082 201 239 044 132 087 028 |
| 0D DEC | BA 91 EC 9C 71 FE 99 1F 186 145 236 156 113 254 153 031 |
| 0E DEC | D0 2F 36 F0 C5 B4 2F 23 208 047 054 240 197 180 047 035 |
| 0C DEC | 0E 7B CE 43 B7 D5 C3 72 014 123 206 067 183 213 195 114 |
| 0D DEC | 94 76 71 5A FA 37 D8 5B 148 118 113 090 250 055 216 091 |
| 0E DEC | 51 86 93 40 59 04 1C 4F 081 134 147 064 089 004 028 079 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 2F B6 02 39 D4 D8 C4 D6 |
| remote | 047 182 002 057 212 216 196 214 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 03 A8 57 61 0B 5F 12 69 |
| remote | 1400 3131 6802 7203 1414 6815 2306 7217 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 5B 14 1E 38 9C 46 24 5F |
| remote | 091 020 030 056 156 070 036 095 |
| 09 | 60 6C 85 DA 02 41 90 61 |
| remote | 096 108 133 218 002 065 144 097 |
| 0A | 71 15 CE 2E F8 36 42 20 |
| remote | 113 021 206 046 248 054 066 032 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | BB 75 58 C5 7F A8 30 B4 |
| remote | 187 117 088 197 127 168 048 180 |
| 09 | 20 15 E1 76 3F E9 ED 27 |
| remote | 032 021 225 118 063 233 237 039 |
| 0A | 1A A9 57 22 DA 22 22 AA |
| remote | 026 169 087 034 218 034 034 170 |
| 0B | 4F C0 61 86 E4 8C 35 7C |
| remote | 079 192 097 134 228 140 053 124 |
| 0C | 8A 00 CB 94 FB 8A 49 2D |
| remote | 138 000 203 148 251 138 073 045 |
| 0D | 12 4B 6C 81 86 1E 02 B3 |
| remote | 018 075 108 129 134 030 002 179 |
| 0E | CE 2F 7E BA 0A A4 DD 51 |
| remote | 206 047 126 186 010 164 221 081 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 8B E3 AA 25 9E 56 38 33 |
| remote | 139 227 170 037 158 086 056 051 |
| 09 | 45 DC 00 0D AB 93 E2 61 |
| remote | 069 220 000 013 171 147 226 097 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 3C 42 D4 C8 C0 A1 1B 9C |
| remote | 060 066 212 200 192 161 027 156 |
| 09 | 46 42 E2 96 3B 94 98 64 |
| remote | 070 066 226 150 059 148 152 100 |
| 0A | 19 BD A5 C7 54 0F 9C 97 |
| remote | 025 189 165 199 084 015 156 151 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 8B E8 E0 A4 01 04 98 B6 |
| remote | 1430 7131 7122 3523 1204 1505 2136 4727 |
| 09 | 3C 94 8B 11 A7 9A 58 EF |
| remote | 060 148 139 017 167 154 088 239 |
| 0A | 22 26 67 AD 9E 4C 90 2B |
| remote | 034 038 103 173 158 076 144 043 |
| 0B | 6F B3 AD 89 28 F4 9F 7F |
| remote | 111 179 173 137 040 244 159 127 |
| 0C | C5 13 9E FC 83 61 1A 43 |
| remote | 197 019 158 252 131 097 026 067 |
| 0D | B4 D3 21 21 62 35 53 41 |
| remote | 180 211 033 033 098 053 083 065 |
| 0E | E4 32 99 65 5A 31 15 BE |
| remote | 228 050 153 101 090 049 021 190 |
| 0F | A3 F3 F8 91 C7 28 2F 25 |
| remote | 3420 8421 8132 2223 5824 3115 3816 3607 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | FA AA 53 89 B5 63 0B 21 |
| remote | 8330 3331 6402 1233 4624 7405 1416 3207 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 74 68 1A 84 CC C6 00 DF |
| remote | 8500 7111 2312 1523 5534 5725 1106 6837 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 42 13 C8 FA 80 FC CD 75 |
| remote | 5300 2401 5132 8333 1124 8535 5636 8607 |
| 0B | unknown |
| remote | unknown |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 47 D4 D7 1B EC 58 B6 83 |
| remote | 5800 6521 6822 2413 7534 6115 4726 1427 |
| 0D | F6 59 FA 69 9E A7 48 C7 |
| remote | 8720 6211 8332 7213 2734 3825 5116 5827 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 55 7E DF EB A2 9A 56 82 |
| remote | 6600 8711 6832 7433 3324 2335 6706 1327 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 98 34 03 60 02 33 73 60 |
| remote | 2130 4501 1402 7103 1304 4405 8406 7107 |
| 09 | 00 06 E3 8D 7E C8 EC 94 |
| remote | 1100 1701 7422 1633 8714 5135 7536 2527 |
| 0A | FB 62 D6 A6 CB 3E 95 16 |
| remote | 8430 7301 6722 3723 5434 4715 2626 2707 |
| 0C | 65 70 29 D7 EA 7D D9 26 |
| remote | 7600 8101 3212 6823 7334 8615 6236 3707 |
| 0F | 0C 4F C5 43 69 90 FB 8A |
| remote | 1510 5811 5622 5403 7214 2125 8436 1337 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 69 26 CA 06 E0 FC DE 39 |
| remote | 7210 3701 5332 1703 7124 8535 6736 4217 |
| 09 | 88 A5 B4 15 42 85 BD D7 |
| remote | 1130 3621 4522 2603 5304 1625 4636 6827 |
| 0A | 45 C0 1B 14 97 12 D6 65 |
| remote | 5600 5121 2412 2503 2824 2305 6726 7607 |
| Index | HEX key |
| 08 | 2B 5A 05 03 F8 43 23 54 |
| remote | 3410 6311 1602 1403 8134 5405 3406 6507 |
| 09 | 04 01 EA 91 15 B3 87 E1 |
| remote | 1500 1201 7332 2223 2604 4425 1826 7227 |
| 0A | 7F E1 12 6A 70 14 BC 3F |
| remote | 127 225 018 106 112 020 188 063 |
| 0B | 3A 5B E2 D3 DA 37 71 FB |
| remote | 058 091 226 211 218 055 113 251 |
| 0C | 37 EA 1A 0C 29 A6 32 27 |
| remote | 4800 7331 2312 1513 3214 3725 4306 3807 |
| 0D | 90 9B 72 08 1E 91 5E CD |
| remote | 144 155 114 008 030 145 094 205 |
| 0E | DF 99 D3 79 EF 1C 8C C5 |
| remote | 223 153 211 121 239 028 140 197 |
| 0F | 9C D1 93 B9 75 A8 43 29 |
| remote | 156 209 147 185 117 168 067 041 |
In the more than three years since April 2004, when Rupert Murdoch shut down the more than two mil. pirates attacking his newly-acquired DirecTV, the DirecTV system has remained “hack free” (which is another way of saying no one has yet found a way to break into the system that secures the DirecTV boxes and signals). Yet, like water that flows into and eventually around a dam, that most-effective 2Q 2004 DirecTV shut down was the bane of rival EchoStar, because it meant pirate resources were consequently shifted from DirecTV to the now more vulnerable DISH Network. Since 2004, there has been a large expansion in the number of pirates that target the Digital Broadcast Video (DVB) set-top box standard that supports the DISH Network programming. These pirates use the so-called Free-To-Air (FTA) set-top boxes to view, for free, subscription TV services for which the overwhelming majority of normal, legal DISH Network subscribers pay monthly.
FTA pirates tapping into the 13 mil. legal subscriber DISH Network, as well as into the 2.3 mil. legal subscriber Bell ExpressVu (BEV) system (which is the Canadian satellite operator that uses the conditional access system supplied by the EchoStar and Nagra joint venture company, called NagraStar), have now distributed their illegal services and products to an estimated two million illegal TV Households (TVHHs) in the U.S. and Canada, at an average hardware unit price of around $200, accounting for almost $350 mil. in total cumulative revenues. (See chart, below). The top three distributors of FTA devices for the EchoStar and BEV systems are, in order, Sun Valley, CA-based PanSat; South San Francisco, CA-based Coolsat; and Mississauga, ON, Canada-based Fortec. Among just these top three FTA providers, they have already distributed an estimated 1.385 mil. units, representing sales of well over $200 mil. in estimated cumulative revenues since 2004. The Carmel Group believes that the top eight FTA manufacturer/distributors listed in the chart below account for three-quarters of the FTA business in North America. In short, FTA today in North America is big business. Take the NFL Sunday Ticket that is carried on BEV in Canada, and the level of hacking is even more disturbing.
European FTA Roots
So, just what is FTA? Well, sometimes it’s extremely helpful to compare domestic U.S. practices and infrastructures to those in other parts of the world. Perspective, understanding and point of view are just a few of the resulting benefits. In the case of North American FTA TV, the comparison to tens of millions of European FTA set-top boxes and systems seems apropos.
Free-To-Air in Europe today is a thoroughly legitimate infrastructure, supporting an estimated 30 mil.-40 mil. unscrambled subscribers, who buy their systems for several hundred Euros each, then watch advertising-supported free TV from their homes in Europe. This way, they get scores of channels—albeit almost all ad-supported—without having to pay a monthly subscription fee. Indeed, when one travels through continental Europe, the strong majority of the dishes mounted on houses in continental Europe are from the FTA ad-based business model. The United Kingdom is an exception to the FTA rule, because the Murdoch-controlled BSkyB satellite system is the dominant multichannel TV provider, and is instead a subscription-based service with more than eight mil. subscribers. France and Germany also have relatively smaller satellite subscription businesses, with a total of about five mil. subs each.
Conversely, in North America, there are a fair number of FTA programming channels, but unlike the general fare in Europe, the North American versions offer mostly free ethnic and religious programs, which are of interest to only very limited audiences. Turning to piracy, industry pundits note that such limited programming sources are not capable of justifying the more than two mil. volume of FTA sales sold in North America to date.
How It Works
The way piracy works in North America, consumers turn their FTA receivers into FTA units that steal DISH Network. Also, because DISH Network utilizes the universal DVB standard, and DirecTV does not, the former operator is more vulnerable. Conversely, pirates can’t steal high definition signals from DISH, yet.
Once the FTA manufacturers get their hardware into North America and into the hands of North American consumers, their success depends substantially on the support they provide customers. “FTA support,” in this case, means providing the best scripts (or codes to open the boxes to “free” programming), the best picture quality, the fastest response after an operator’s Electronic Counter Measure (ECM) has disabled all FTA units, and the best features and functions, including program guides, and doing so at the best price. That is the battle ground among the different FTA competitors.
As it relates to providing the needed code to consumers, a one-time script writer, nicknamed Blacklist, is a good example of its importance to the manufacturers. Blacklist worked for a time with the then-leading FTA manufacturer, Blackbird. As a result, Blackbird retained the Number One spot for FTA sales for the time it was associated with the effective script writer, Blacklist. Blacklist was known to have done a most effective job of releasing pirate scripts for Blackbird’s FTA units. Indeed, later, when Blacklist switched to a Blackbird rival, PanSat, the latter’s sales shot up and PanSat then became the Number One North American FTA seller. The Carmel Group believes today that the FTA manufacturer, Oceanside, CA-based ViewSat, is one of the top four FTA sellers, in large measure because of its superior customer service and support. PanSat and ViewSat have become so popular through the years that clone – or copy – units, ironically, made in China, entered the U.S. market several years ago. Another provider, CoolSat, with its card reader, has also become very popular and its FTA unit is very effective in stealing DISH Network signals.
China Connection
As mentioned immediately above and as is true of most of today’s FTA set-top boxes, they are made in and shipped to the U.S. from locales in mainland China. South Korea is the other center for FTA set-top box manufacturing.
Indeed, there is substantial irony in this situation involving the Chinese. The Chinese government seeks to control content delivered to its citizens and to those abroad, yet, at the same time, the government seems unable to control the set-top boxes produced in their own country, which, in turn, are then used to steal content.
Bottom Line
Where is this all going? Whichever manufacturer provides the best piracy support, best features and functions at a price below $200.00/FTA unit, is going to sell a lot of FTA units. This means companies like DISH Network in the U.S. and Bell Express Vu in Canada are losing a lot of subscriber revenues. Moreover, as noted above, the FTA manufacturers and others associated with the multichannel TV piracy business, are delivering a lot of ill-gotten gains.
Source of Our Data
The process for the primary research involved surveying executives of leading FTA manufacturers, as well as respected industry experts. Each executive was asked nearly a dozen questions that included how many FTA receivers have been shipped, price points and thoughts about FTA’s future growth. Our secondary research process included gathering in-house data and utilizing our in-depth database for industry projections. Between our primary and secondary research, we believe the data gathered on the FTA market is among the most thorough and complete in the industry.
With an average retail price of just under $200 for FTA receivers, the eight major manufacturers generated approximately $348 million in sales. We estimate the eight top FTA manufacturers account for about 75% of the total FTA industry in North America.
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