DirectTV, owned by telco giant AT&T and Charlie Ergen’s DISH Network are reportedly in “early stage” talks to merge their pay-TV businesses. The report from Bloomberg says a successful merger would create the largest pay-TV platform in North America with around 16 million subscribers. There have been talks about a merger between the two players […]

Dish Network, the troubled US satellite-TV provider with more than $20 billion (€18.3bn) in debt, is holding talks with some of its convertible holders about potential new financing, according to a Bloomberg report. Dish is said to have received financing offers from convertible noteholders to provide fresh capital tied to wireless spectrum held at a […]

EchoStar, the Charlie Ergen-owned pay-TV and satellite operator, is struggling. CEO Hamid Akhavan told analysts in the company’s post-results call with analysts that the company has $1.98 billion (€1.84bn) of debt maturing in November 2024, and is forecasting negative cash flows for the remainder of the calendar year. Current trading is not helping. It reported […]

Not the first time, merger reports between North America’s two DTH operators have emerged, but a Bloomberg report states that Charlie Ergen’s DISH Network (now part of his EchoStar business) is very open to merging with AT&T’s DirecTV. Shares of Dish Network rose 6.3 per cent on March 22nd while AT&T stock went up 1.9 […]

A report on EchoStar from analysts at Bond research specialist, Gimme Credit, looks at the newly-merged operation (with EchoStar absorbing DISH Network) and is blunt saying they expect the company to continue losing subscribers during 2024, which would lead to a decrease in revenue of around 6 per cent. The report expects EchoStar to be […]

EchoStar – already facing complaints from some shareholders over how owner Charlie Ergen restructured the DISH Network broadcasting business into a new operation – is facing another major legal hurdle which, this time, is the US Senate. Investment fund manager Buxton Helmsley Grp (BHG), which has holdings in EchoStar, has written to US Senators Elizabeth […]

As Mark Twain said when a newspaper incorrectly published his obituary, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” The same phrase could be used for last week’s commentaries on EchoStar’s results with more than a few experts suggesting that bankruptcy was more likely than ever. Even EchoStar’s own Form 10K SEC filing admitted that […]

More detail has emerged on the news that a number of Dish Network creditors have written to the company alleging that the Charlie Ergen-backed pay-TV broadcaster engaged in an “illegal” restructuring when it – in effect – merged with EchoStar. They are demanding that the merger be reversed. This is unlikely to happen so the […]

EchoStar, having recently merged with Dish Network, has upset some investors and creditors in Dish. An Ad-hoc grouping of Dish Network investors and holders of the company’s debt have reportedly met and drafted an agreement to band together in potential negotiations with the company. The groups are exploring legal options, including default notices under certain […]

Charlie Ergen’s EchoStar is reportedly looking to swap around $4.9 billion (€4.4bn) of debt for new bonds that will be backed by the company’s extensive portfolio of 5G wireless spectrum. The plan was announced after the market closed on January 12th and in essence said that holders of existing convertible debt – already significantly downgraded […]