Charlie Ergen’s EchoStar finished the year “with a thud” according to a report from Quilty Analytics. EchoStar has as a subsidiary a fast-growing business in Hughes Network Systems. But despite this benefit the end-of-year results were a disappointment. Hughes service revenues decline some 2 per cent and representing the first fall since EchoStar acquired Hughes […]
Charlie Ergen, speaking to analysts following his company’s results announcement, said that without a merger between DirecTV and his own DISH Network the risk is that transmissions from the tow pay-TV operators “will just melt away”. Ergen repeated his previous statements that a merger was inevitable. “The regulatory reasons to not allow [a merger] don’t […]
Michael Dugan, President & CEO at EchoStar, is retiring after 30 years of working with Charlie Ergen and the EchoStar/Dish family of businesses. He is being replaced by Hamid Akhavan. Dugan will remain on the board of directors and will serve as a strategic advisor to the company. Akhavan will take over at the end […]
Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network says it will offer $2 billion-worth of convertible notes. Dish will also grant the initial purchaser of these notes an additional $300 million option. Dish says: “The net proceeds of the offering are intended to be used for general corporate purposes, including 5G network buildout costs.” The US DTH operator adds: […]
The FCC used Thanksgiving Eve to tell Charlie Ergen that his Dish Network had improperly received $3.3 billion in 5G licence fee discounts back in 2015. The 25 per cent fee discounts were tapped by Dish Network because Ergen’s team had claimed – successfully at the time – that it was a “designated entity” as […]
A report from Standard & Poors Market Intelligence (S&P) by Sarah Barry-James suggests that the potential for some sort of ‘merger’ between AT&T’s DirecTV and Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network poses risks. Ergen is on the record as saying that a combination of the two DTH pay-TV giants is “inevitable”. But S&P reminds readers that Constantine […]
Charlie Ergen’s pay-TV operation Dish Network is offering the financial market $1 billion of fresh financing in the form of new Senior Notes. The net proceeds of the offering are intended to be used for general corporate purposes. The offering of this fresh debt goes only to qualified institutional investors. Pricing and precise terms have […]
Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network move into wireless, helped by its $1.4 billion acquisition of Sprint’s Boost Mobile subsidiary, will close on July 1st. Part of the purchase agreement was payment by Dish of an additional $3.5 billion for T-Mobile’s spectrum licenses. A June 17th filing to the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) made by […]