DISH Network and Hughes Network Systems, both EchoStar companies, have unveiled a new bundled service offering that brings the power of DISH satellite TV together with Hughesnet satellite Internet to create what they describe as a superior solution in TV and Internet for rural America. With this bundle, they say that rural consumers – who […]

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 […]

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 […]

James DeFranco, a co-founder with Charlie Ergen of the EchoStar/Dish satellite businesses, has paid $1.48 million buying shares in the company, and representing about 2.4 per cent of the share issue. DeFranco is a director of EchoStar, which now owns Dish Network. He paid an average of $13.48 per share. DeFranco bought 110,000 shares on […]

EchoStar-owned Hughes Network Systems has been selected by Cairo-based Nilesat for a local gateway which will use Nilesat’s 301 satellite. Hughes will supply one of its Jupiter Gateways and installation will begin shortly and be complete by the end of Q3. Commenting on the deal, Sameh Katta, Chairman/CEO of Nilesat, said: “The Nilesat vision is […]

EchoStar-owned Hughes Network Systems is supplying Kazakhstan with satellite equipment to help connect more than 200 villages throughout the country, and help bridge the ‘digital divide’. Kazakhstan’s Republican Center of Space Communication (RCSC), via the Ministry of Digital Development, is placing the order which calls for Hughes Jupiter System ground platforms. The order is being […]

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 […]

Net pay-TV subscribers fell by 314,000 to 8.53 million as Echostar posted a $2.03 billion (€1.87bn) loss for Q4. The company said the loss was primarily attributable to a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $758 million, and an adjustment to the carrying value of the 800 MHz purchase option totalling approximately $1.6 billion. Revenue fell […]

EchoStar, which now owns Dish Network, and having suffered two reversals in its plans to raise fresh borrowings, is now contemplating raising $3 billion (€2.78bn) by issuing debt which is backed by its spectrum assets. A report from Bloomberg says that EchoStar could issue new notes backed by 20 MHz of its AWS-4 terrestrial spectrum, […]