Dish Network
DISH Network LLC, often referred to as DISH, an abbreviation for Digital Sky Highway, formerly EchoStar Communications Corporation and DISH Network Corporation, is an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services and wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation.
The company operates 4 office locations, 3 in Colorado, 1 in Arizona, including locations in Englewood, Denver, Littleton, and Phoenix.
The company was originally established as EchoStar Communications, and first launched its satellite television services under the DISH Network brand in 1996, utilizing its EchoStar I satellite. In 2007, EchoStar spun off its infrastructural business and the brand itself under a separate entity under the EchoStar name with the existing company rebranding to DISH Network Corporation. Both companies would remain under the control of EchoStar's co-founder Charlie Ergen.
After the spin-off, the company pursued further acquisitions and business initiatives, including acquiring video rental chain Blockbuster in an attempt to compete with Netflix, releasing a new set-top digital video recorder with the controversial ability to automatically skip commercials in recordings. In 2015, the company launched over-the-top IPTV services via the new subsidiary Sling TV. In 2020, the company acquired the mobile virtual network operator Boost Mobile from Sprint Corporation as part of its merger with T-Mobile US, announcing an intent to develop a national 5G network in order to supplant Sprint as a fourth major carrier.
In 2023, DISH Network was merged back into EchoStar in an all-stock transaction.
History
Founding, early growth and launch of DBS services
The company was formed in 1980 as EchoStar Communications by Charlie Ergen, Candy Ergen, and Jim DeFranco, as a distributor of C-band satellite television systems. In 1987, EchoStar applied for a satellite television broadcast license with the FCC and was granted access to orbital slot 119° west longitude in 1992. A year after the launch of its first satellite, EchoStar I, EchoStar launched its DBS broadcast services under the DISH Network name on March 4, 1996. That launch marked the beginning of its television services under a subscription business model.Spin-off of infrastructural assets
In January 2007, EchoStar Communications completed the corporate spin-off of its technology and infrastructure assets into a separate company under the EchoStar name, and the remainder of the company was renamed DISH Network Corporation.Acquisitions and expansion
Joseph Clayton became president and chief executive officer of the company in June 2011, while Charlie Ergen remained chairman. Clayton remained in the position until March 31, 2015, when he retired, leaving Ergen to resume the post. In December 2017, Ergen was replaced by Erik Carlson. That same year, DISH Network spent over $3 billion in acquisitions of companies in bankruptcy, This included the April 6, 2011, purchase of Blockbuster in a bankruptcy auction for $322 million in cash and the assumption of $87 million in liabilities. DISH Network also acquired DBSD and TerreStar Corporation.In September 2011, DISH would leverage Blockbuster's existing video on-demand and DVD-by-mail services as part of a new offering known as "Blockbuster Movie Pass"—an add-on for DISH Network television service incorporating movie channels, access to Blockbuster On Demand, and DVD-by-mail with unlimited in-store exchanges. The offering was positioned as a competitor to Netflix, and Redbox, with Blockbuster having touted that it received new releases for rental sooner than its competitors due to agreements they had reached requiring a 28-day delay. DISH Network also made a bid to purchase Hulu in October 2011, but Hulu's owners chose not to sell the company.
In January 2013, DISH bid $5 billion for Clearwire to add wireless internet and mobile video services. In April 2013, it made a $25 billion bid for Sprint Corporation. In 2011, Dish petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to combine the S-Band spectrum it acquired from DBSD and Terrestar, and combine this spectrum with LTE. Unlike LightSquared, Dish's spectrum has minimal risk of disrupting Global Positioning Systems.
At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, DISH Network announced it would shorten its trade name to "DISH", to emphasize new developments such as its Hopper DVR and broadband services.
After changing the position of a satellite orbital position from being over Mexico to Brazil in 2011, DISH sought companies that could make a deal, among them Telefónica. However, nothing ever came of this, and DISH decided to enter the country itself. According to the Brazilian Agency of Telecommunications, they awaited the authorization of the application. In June 2019, nonetheless, DISH TV accepted to resign its satellite exploration rights assigned to EchoStar and thus ending the possibility of entering the Brazilian market.
In January 2015, the company launched a subsidiary, Sling TV—an IPTV service distributed as an over-the-top media service.
In 2019, EchoStar transferred the portion of its business which managed and provided broadcast satellite services, referred to as the BSS business, to DISH to concentrate on broadband services and other initiatives.
Wireless
In 2019, as part of the merger of Sprint Corporation and T-Mobile US, DISH reached an agreement to acquire Sprint's prepaid wireless businesses, including Boost Mobile, in order to quell antitrust concerns. After the merger was approved by the Justice Department, DISH stated that it intended to supplant Sprint as a fourth major national wireless carrier, and had committed to building out a 5G network serving at least 70% of the U.S. population by June 2023. As part of the agreement, DISH would receive access to the T-Mobile network for seven years while it builds out its 5G-specific network. The $1.4 billion sale was completed on July 1, 2020.With this purchase it officially launched its wireless business, DISH Wireless, offering prepaid service through the Boost brand as an MVNO on the T-Mobile network. DISH stated intentions to offer branded postpaid service in the future with the build-out of their own network.
DISH purchased Ting Mobile from Tucows on August 1, 2020, Republic Wireless on March 8, 2021, and Gen Mobile on September 1, 2021. On July 19, 2021, DISH announced a 10-year, non-exclusive agreement with AT&T Mobility for 4G and 5G roaming on its network, accompanying the existing T-Mobile agreement. The $5 billion deal also includes sharing of DISH wireless spectrum with AT&T.
In May 2022, DISH Wireless began to launch its self-developed 5G network, codenamed "Project Genesis", in Las Vegas; the company stated that it planned to serve at least 120 cities by the June 2023 deadline. In June 2022, DISH announced it had met a milestone requiring it to provide coverage to 20% of the U.S. population by June 2022. In December 2022, DISH Wireless launched a postpaid service under the spin-off brand Boost Infinite. In June 2023, the company announced that it had met the requirement to provide coverage to 70% of the U.S. population by June 14, 2023.
EchoStar merger
In August 2023, EchoStar announced that it would acquire DISH Network in an all-stock purchase, undoing their previous split. The acquisition, which was completed December 31, 2023, was part of an effort to bolster the company's wireless business, with Ergen stating that it would allow them to offer "an enhanced consumer connectivity business". As Ergen already held 90% of the voting stock in both companies, the FCC considered the "acquisition" to be a reorganization of assets with no change in effective control.In July 2024, amid declines in subscribers, Boost Mobile underwent a relaunch with an updated brand identity, and Boost Infinite merged into the Boost Mobile business as part of a new plan lineup. EchoStar began referring to its 5G wireless network as the "Boost Mobile Network" and discontinued its usage of the DISH Wireless brand.
On June 6, 2025, it was reported that EchoStar Corporation was preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the Federal Communications Commission suspended EchoStar's ability to plan out strategic decisions for its Boost Mobile subsidiary. In addition, other factors contributing to this decision included missing over $500 million in interest payments and the termination of the Dish Network acquisition by DirecTV.
Attempted acquisition by DirecTV
On September 30, 2024, DirecTV announced its intent to acquire DISH Network, under an arrangement under which TPG Inc. will acquire the remaining stake of DirecTV it does not already own from AT&T, and then acquire DISH Network's video business from Echostar for $1 while assuming its net debt. The combined company would have had a total of approximately 20 million television subscribers. DirecTV stated that it had no plans for any changes to the DISH or SlingTV services following the purchase. The sale comes amid declines in both services' customer bases amid cord-cutting and other factors. EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan stated that the agreement would allow the company to place a larger focus on expanding its wireless Boost Mobile network. In November, DirecTV abandoned the deal due to opposition from EchoStar's bondholders.Criticism and legal issues
DISH and its subsidiaries have faced legal action for some of its questionable practices, including fines for telemarketing tactics such as failure to disclose fees with full transparency. In 2012, DISH and a group of the United States' major television networks filed lawsuits over "AutoHop", a feature in its recently released Hopper set-top boxes that allowed users to detect and automatically skip commercials in their recordings. DISH later reached agreements with ABC, CBS, and Fox, under which it agreed to disable the feature for a certain window of time after a program's first airing.In 2023 DISH was fined $150,000 by the FCC for failing to de-orbit its EchoStar VII satellite according to the terms of its license; this was the first fine ever issued to a company over the matter of "space debris".