EchoStar/Dish raises doubts about 'ability to continue as a going concern'

[Tampa8]

Just thinking out loud..

Nothing has changed that I can see from many years ago to today. How does it benefit either provider to merge. They would have to come up with money to provide millions of receivers to customers who may still decide to leave as they have been,
Will Dish customers even stay if it isn't the Hopper because the greater cost would seem to be replacing equipment for Direct TV subscribers.

If they aren't going to do any of that, what is the benefit? Two separate companies under the same roof I think solves nothing really. And if it was a gradual changeover, may be too late for that?

I do agree that streaming may have reached a point where they won't gain like they did. But that doesn't change that too many people just can not afford the big bills anymore for TV. Easier to cut back and get a streaming service that is a fraction of the cost, but gives less like Hulu and maybe MAX, along with trying harder to get locals ota.

 

[N6BY]

Just thinking out loud..

Nothing has changed that I can see from many years ago to today. How does it benefit either provider to merge. ...

The combined company might have more bargaining power with the providers.

And they would only have to maintain one set of satellites

Then there is the efficiency of scale. They could combine various departments to avoid duplication, like accounting, tech support, sales, etc. Layoffs would probably be the result.

But besides the receivers, they would also have to replace the dishes and probably the LNBs (I don't know the LNB specs).

Overall, I think it would reduce their average cost per customer.

 

[telstar_1]

I hope it works out for Charlie. It would be nice to see the company keep on going.

I guess, if you weren't one of those he stepped over

 

[dishdude]

The combined company might have more bargaining power with the providers.

And they would only have to maintain one set of satellites

Then there is the efficiency of scale. They could combine various departments to avoid duplication, like accounting, tech support, sales, etc. Layoffs would probably be the result.

But besides the receivers, they would also have to replace the dishes and probably the LNBs (I don't know the LNB specs).

Overall, I think it would reduce their average cost per customer.

They'd have to switch all the hardware from one provider to the other which would be an incredible expense and cause churn. A merger makes zero sense and won't happen for a long list of reasons.

 

[tanman]

I already posted that, have the $20 year special, that is with ads.

If they do not have a similar deal, I will drop the service.

There is not one show I watch from NBC or any of the Universal cable channels (new content on them is pretty limited anyways).

Missed the "with ads" bit .All the other services you listed were without ads so my brain went that way.

 

[AntiMoz]

For years, live TV on Southwest Airlines was “Powered by Dish”. It was that way a couple of weeks ago. Today when I flew Southwest live TV is now powered by DirecTV. This has to be another significant loss of revenue for Dish. (Assuming they weren’t paying or heavily discounting the service for Southwest as a promotion.)

 

[dishdude]

For years, live TV on Southwest Airlines was “Powered by Dish”. It was that way a couple of weeks ago. Today when I flew Southwest live TV is now powered by DirecTV. This has to be another significant loss of revenue for Dish. (Assuming they weren’t paying or heavily discounting the service for Southwest as a promotion.)

I don't think Dish has anything to do with getting programming to the plane, I think they paid for that marketing.

 

[nelson61]

Couple days ago, United inked a deal where Starlink will be the provider for their "free" wifi service. Fleet wide.

 

[Bruce]

Dish/Echostar wants an extension from the FCC for their 5G Network.

Once again, from this article also-

EchoStar has $2 billion of debt maturing on November 14 and has previously said it does not have the necessary cash on hand to fund Q4 operations or the coming debt maturity.

4th Quarter is less then 2 weeks away.

Dish seeks more time for 5G buildout

Dish's parent company, EchoStar, is seeking a waiver from the FCC that will extend the deadline for its 2025 5G network buildout commitments. In exchange, the company is proposing several new commitments, including accelerated deployments in certain markets.

www.lightreading.com

 

[Bruce]

And it looks like the merger rumors were fake, my guess, to drive up interest in the company.

it appears the information for Bloomberg’s weekend scoop came from some at Dish Network, a high-level DirecTV executive told The Desk over the weekend. The executive, who agreed to speak with The Desk on condition of anonymity, said they were “not aware of any conversations with Dish” about a merger, adding they would “definitely be in those meetings” at some point.

The executive said the conversation was “probably casual banter…that someone at Dish decided was newsworthy.” Efforts to reach Dish for comment were not successful.

Rumor mill again swirls around unlikely Dish-DirecTV merger

Officials at Dish Network and DirecTV are downplaying reports of a possible merger of the two satellite television platforms.

thedesk.net

 

[Radioguy41]

I guess, if you weren't one of those he stepped over

Oh boo hoo. Nobody gets to the top without climbing over people who aren't as willing to take the chance. If nobody made the effort this country would be bankrupt.

 

[AZ.]

Oh boo hoo. Nobody gets to the top without climbing over people who aren't as willing to take the chance. If nobody made the effort this country would be bankrupt.

I guess thats why we outsource everything now? Even phone banks. We stepped all over the American worker.

 

[Bruce]

Oh boo hoo. Nobody gets to the top without climbing over people who aren't as willing to take the chance. If nobody made the effort this country would be bankrupt.

I guess thats why we outsource everything now? Even phone banks. We stepped all over the American worker.

Can we stop this now before it becomes more political, this stuff belongs in the pit, it is not about Dish .

 

[AZ.]

Can we stop this now before it becomes more political, this stuff belongs in the pit, it is not about Dish .

It has been explained to you before that a comment like that is not political. You cant understand the difference? Your going to say the phone banks are not out of our country? Would it be better to bash the country that is answering phones?

 

[meStevo]

They'd have to switch all the hardware from one provider to the other which would be an incredible expense and cause churn. A merger makes zero sense and won't happen for a long list of reasons.

Unless they don't. Run it as 2 different DBS configurations under one company for the time being, merging redundant management and support to reduce cost, prioritize one over the other when it comes to marketing, customer acquisition, etc. When it makes sense you make the transition you talk about - but if neither of them are on a path to viability this could be a stopgap that lets them both limp along for a time.

Still think it'll require bankruptcy by one or both to get there though, to get out from under of some of the debt. The debt could just kinda sink everything as those bills come due, either literally or while fighting over them in court with those who stand to lose out by attempts to mitigate it.

 

[navychop]

At my last employer, we had all our CSRs in one building. Part of that building was rented out to another company, that had their CSRs there.

 

[Bruce]

It has been explained to you before that a comment like that is not political. You cant understand the difference? You’re going to say the phone banks are not out of our country? Would it be better to bash the country that is answering phones?

It is very political when you put in statements like this-

We stepped all over the American worker.

Does not belong in a thread about Dish.

 

[MikeD-C05]

So no merger with Directv, so Bankruptcy it is! I don't see Charlie getting any $2 billion dollars by Nov. 14th.

 

[nelson61]

So no merger with Directv, so Bankruptcy it is! I don't see Charlie getting any $2 billion dollars by Nov. 14th.

I'd bet they will find the funds. And, also likely will get the FCC extensions/modifications referenced in earlier post since the long term objective of the FCC is to create more competition in wireless - not less.

 

[strikes2k]

I'd bet they will find the funds. And, also likely will get the FCC extensions/modifications referenced in earlier post since the long term objective of the FCC is to create more competition in wireless - not less.

Yep.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fcc-grants-echostars-5g-buildout-201900173.html