EchoStar Not For Sale

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EchoStar not up for sale

"I'm in my dream job. It's my hobby to do satellite."
By Kimberly S. Johnson
Denver Post Staff Writer

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_3375734

Its all code to Tom Hanks, right, who jokes with Sony chief executive Howard Stringer, left, about using his Sony digital camera Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. (Bloomberg / Neal Ulevich)

Las Vegas - Despite analyst speculation that EchoStar Communications Corp. could be an acquisition target for telecommunications giant AT&T Corp., Charlie Ergen, chairman and chief executive for Doug las County-based EchoStar, said Thursday he is not looking to sell the company.

"These rumors are false. I'm happy being the largest shareholder of EchoStar," Ergen said after a news conference at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show. "I'm in my dream job. It's my hobby to do satellite."

Ergen has an estimated net worth of $7.1 billion, ranking 30th on the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans. He controls a majority of the voting shares of EchoStar, meaning any decision to sell the public company is his alone.

EchoStar, which employs 5,000 people in Colorado, has a market capitalization of $12.8 billion.

Ergen said 2005 was a "solid" year for EchoStar and the satellite industry overall. He said that although there's a growing consensus that cable- TV companies have the upper hand over satellite, 2006 will prove that EchoStar can deliver services that can effectively compete against cable providers and DirecTV, with 15 million subscribers the nation's largest satellite-TV provider.

EchoStar announced this week that it added 1 million new subscribers in 2005 for a total of 12 million.

EchoStar unveiled several new high-definition television offerings Thursday, positioning itself as the provider of more HDTV channels than any other pay-TV company in the nation and claiming 1,700 hours a week of HD content.

The company's Dish Network subscribers will be able to receive five new Voom HD channels beginning in February. The new channels are available


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EchoStar has signed up about 12 million subscribers while competitor DirecTV has about 15 million.


Echostar's Dish Network subscribers will be able to receive five new Voom HD channels beginning in February. The new channels are available to customers who upgrade to new set-top boxes capable of receiving MPEG4. The new HDTV lineup, called DishHD, will offer 25 national high-definition channels, plus local ones - where available - for $54.99 a month. That price also includes 70 standard-definition channels.


In addition to the Voom HD channels and HD channels from ESPN and NBC Universal, Echo Star will broadcast local channels in high-definition in select cities. Local channels in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York will be available in high-definition in February, with Echo Star planning to offer 50 by year-end.


The the new ViP622 PVR, is the world's first MPEG4 multi-room high definition and digital video recorder satellite TV receiver. It has the ability to view independent programs -- one in high definition and one in standard definition programming -- on two televisions at once.



DIRECTV and Microsoft announced an alliance to develop new ways to expand the reach of digital music, television and movies throughout the home and to portable devices.


Under the agreement, announced at the CES in Las Vegas, DIRECTV and Microsoft will work together to enable the flow of digital content among Windows-based PCs, DIRECTV's set-top boxes, PlaysForSure-compatible devices and the Xbox 360.


DIRECTV and Intel also announced a deal that would enable remote viewing of DIRECTV's entertainment services on PC screens, laptops, portable media players and set-top boxes using Intel Viiv technology later in 2006. Samsung announced a DirecTV receiver with an integrated 10.2-inch screen.