Financial discussions about a potential merger between the two declining DTH operators over North America could be on again. Indeed, those discussions have gone on for years and despite changes in ownership of DirecTV and enthusiasm from Charlie Ergen, founder of EchoStar/Dish Network, have come to nothing. But comments last week within Investor’s Business Daily […]

Charlie Ergen, founder and chairman of the EchoStar/DISH combination, is reported to be negotiating with some of the company’s bond and debt-holders for extensions to its debt payment obligations. However, some debt interest payment obligations have – or are about to be – met. But there are still challenges. For example, the FCC is pushing […]

Charlie Ergen’s EchoStar share price rocketed 43 per cent on June 13th on news that Donald Trump has intervened with FCC chair Brendan Carr over the dispute between the FCC and EchoStar. June 16th saw EchoStar’s share price (Nasdaq:SATS) finish the day at $25.11 (€21.72). A week ago they were $15.99. In a nutshell, the […]

The Charlie Ergen-backed pay-TV operation EchoStar, which includes DISH as well as Hughes Network Systems, is reportedly contemplating the option of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. EchoStar firmly denies the report, which originated in The WSJ. This move is perhaps a last-ditch part of the company’s strategy to protect its valuable wireless spectrum licences, which […]

Charlie Ergen-backed Dish Network has sold off its fibre division. Mereo Networks has acquired Dish Fibre Internet LLC for an undisclosed sum. Dish Fiber is a bulk fibre internet and video content provider serving over 25,000 residential units across 33 US states. The deal will strengthen Mereo’s target growth markets in the Sun Belt, Mountain […]

Charlie Ergen’s EchoStar satellite operation, despite losing subscribers on its Hughes Network Systems subsidiary, seems committed to launching its own Low Earth Orbiting fleet of satellites. EchoStar Corp CEO Hamid Akhavan has spoken in the past that Direct-To-Device connectivity from satellite to consumers is a huge opportunity. Now, in releasing the company’s full-year results, he […]

ThinkAnalytics has announced that DISH Network, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar, has selected the Think360 content discovery platform, along with ThinkContentExplorer, to optimise its editorial operations, accelerate time to market, and boost viewer engagement in the US. By leveraging Think360’s advanced AI, intelligent search and a dataset enriched with ThinkAnalytics 40,000 metadata video tags, DISH will […]

Sling TV, the US streaming service and subsidiary of EchoStar, has rolled out an enhancement to its DVR Plus add-on: unlimited DVR storage for $5 per month. Effective immediately, Unlimited DVR will allow customers to record as much content as they want, with recordings saved for up to nine months. “With Unlimited DVR and our […]

DirecTV has acquired the majority ownership of Invidi Technologies, a specialist in providing addressable television advertising solutions that increase the value of advertising inventory for programmers and distributors by allowing marketers to target specific audiences on television without wasting ad impressions.  “DirecTV has been a trailblazer in addressable TV for nearly 15 years. Our longstanding […]

The planned merger between two US pay-TV satellite broadcasters is definitely off – at least for the moment. A deadline set by DirecTV passed without fresh discussions or progress happening. The blame for the decision falls on Charlie Ergen’s Dish/EchoStar and its bond (debt) holders. Under the complex merger deal, which would have created the […]