Charles Ergen of Dish
Andrew Haller Bloomberg | Getty Images
Dish’s “Seinfeld” strategy appears to have ended exactly like the real show, with its finale being a generally accepted disappointment.
In 2011, Dish co-founder Charlie Ergen mentioned “Seinfeld” for the first time during an earnings call, answering an analyst’s question about the company’s various assets. Ergen noted that half-hour episodes of 1990s sitcoms typically began with multiple plotlines without a clear direction, “but everything seemed to come together in the last few minutes.” said. “So I think we just have to wait and see how everything comes together in terms of where we go strategically.”
The conclusions were made public on Monday, subject to regulatory approval.
echo starDish’s parent company sold the pay-TV provider to DirecTV for a nominal price of $1 and associated debt associated with the business of $9.75 billion. Echostar stock fell more than 11% on Monday.
In recent years, Dish has tried and failed to become a national wireless carrier, while also preventing millions of pay-TV subscribers from canceling their carriers, including streaming services and high-speed broadband. I saw it with my own eyes. comcast and charter.
Dish and DirecTV have lost a combined 63% of their video subscribers since 2016.
“Times have changed,” EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan said in a CNBC interview on Monday. “The content distribution industry is in decline and is rapidly losing customers.”
The company’s corporate value has now plummeted.
When Dish and DirecTV discussed a merger in 2014, DirecTV’s market capitalization was about $40 billion, and Dish’s market valuation was more than $28 billion.
DirecTV was sold to AT&T a year later for a stock value of $49 billion. Dish remained independent, but lost nearly all of its value as its business shrank and satellite television became increasingly anachronistic.
EchoStar and Dish separated in 2008 and remerged earlier this year. CNBC reported last week that EchoStar was willing to remove Dish and its debt from its outstanding debt as $2 billion in debt comes due in November.
wireless gambit
When talking about Dish and its future trajectory, Ergen would sometimes hold out his hand, fingers outstretched, as a metaphor for different paths forward. For years, he has worked to merge Dish’s pay-TV business with its wireless services, buying up spectrum at auction and applying for licenses from regulators.
Dish ultimately acquired Boost Mobile from T-Mobile in 2019 for $1.4 billion. Still, without a partner, it would be difficult for Dish to find the capital to run its pay-TV business and build a national network to compete. and AT&T, verizon and T-Mobile — Satellite TV in particular loses millions of subscribers and gradually declines every year.
“We couldn’t adequately supply the (wireless) business,” Akhavan said Monday. “The company’s focus in multiple directions was also hampering its operations.”
The actual series finale of “Seinfeld” was widely panned, compared to the show’s best episodes. It’s hard not to view Dish’s current path as a similar disappointment.
WATCH: CNBC Exclusive Interview with EchoStar CEO on Dish-DirecTV Partnership
