EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1001082
Filing Year: 2024
Filename: 1001082_10-K_2024_0001558370-24-004386.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1.
BUSINESS
OVERVIEW
DISH Network is a holding company that was organized in 1995 as a corporation under the laws of the State of Nevada. Its subsidiaries, together with DISH Network Corporation, are referred to as “DISH Network,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and/or “our,” unless otherwise required by the context. DISH Network is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (“EchoStar”), a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) under the symbol “SATS.” Our principal executive offices are located at 9601 South Meridian Boulevard, Englewood, Colorado 80112 and our telephone number is (303) 723-1000. We refer readers of this report to EchoStar’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Recent Developments
Merger with EchoStar
On December 31, 2023, EchoStar completed the acquisition of DISH Network pursuant to the Amended and Restated Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of October 2, 2023 (the “Amended Merger Agreement”), by and among EchoStar, EAV Corp., a Nevada corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary (“Merger Sub”), and DISH Network, pursuant to which EchoStar acquired DISH Network by means of the merger of Merger Sub with and into DISH Network (the “Merger”), with DISH Network surviving the Merger as EchoStar’s wholly owned subsidiary.
On the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Amended Merger Agreement, on December 31, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. ET (the “Effective Time”), each share of DISH Network Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“DISH Network Class A Common Stock”) and DISH Network Class C common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“DISH Network Class C Common Stock”) outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time, was converted into the right to receive a number of validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable shares of EchoStar Class A common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“EchoStar Class A Common Stock”) equal to 0.350877 (the “Exchange Ratio”). On the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Amended Merger Agreement, at the Effective Time, each share of DISH Network Class B common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“DISH Network Class B Common Stock” and, together with DISH Network Class A Common Stock and DISH Network Class C Common Stock, “DISH Network Common Stock”), outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into the right to receive a number of validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable shares of EchoStar Class B common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “EchoStar Class B Common Stock” and, together with the EchoStar Class A Common Stock, the “EchoStar Common Stock”), equal to the Exchange Ratio.
Any shares of DISH Network Common Stock that were held in DISH Network’s treasury or held directly by EchoStar or Merger Sub immediately prior to the Effective Time were cancelled and cease to exist and no consideration was paid in respect thereof. All shares of the DISH Network Class A Common Stock were delisted from NASDAQ and deregistered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
The EchoStar Common Stock issued to the Ergen DISH Stockholders (as defined in the Amended Merger Agreement) as Merger consideration was issued through a private placement exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). At the Effective Time, each share of DISH Network Class A Common Stock owned by the Ergen DISH Stockholders immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into the right to receive a number of shares of EchoStar Class A Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio, and (b) each share of DISH Network Class B Common Stock owned by the Ergen DISH Stockholders immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into the right to receive a number of shares of EchoStar Class B Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio.
Concurrently with the entry into the Amended Merger Agreement, the Ergen EchoStar Stockholders (as defined in the Amended Merger Agreement), the Ergen DISH Stockholders (collectively, the “Ergen Stockholders”), EchoStar and DISH Network entered into an amended and restated support agreement (the “Amended Support Agreement”).
In connection with the completion of the Merger, and pursuant to the Amended and Restated Support Agreement, on December 31, 2023, EchoStar and the Ergen Stockholders entered into a registration rights agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”). The Registration Rights Agreement provides the Ergen Stockholders, and their affiliates who become parties thereto, with certain registration rights relating to the shares of EchoStar Common Stock, which they beneficially own, including (i) the right to demand shelf registration as well as registration on long and short form registration statements and (ii) “piggyback” registration rights to be included in future registered offerings by us of our equity securities, in each case, subject to certain requirements and customary conditions. The Registration Rights Agreement sets forth customary registration procedures, including an agreement by EchoStar to make appropriate officers available to participate in roadshow presentations and cooperate as reasonably requested in connection with any underwritten offerings. EchoStar also agreed to indemnify the Ergen Stockholders and their affiliates with respect to liabilities resulting from untrue statements or omissions in any registration statement used in any such registration, other than untrue statements or omissions based on or contained in information furnished to EchoStar for use in a registration statement by a participating stockholder.
For more information and a copy of the Amended Merger Agreement, the Amended Support Agreement and the Registration Rights Agreement, see the Form 8-K of EchoStar filed on October 3, 2023 and the Form 8-K of EchoStar filed on January 2, 2024.
With the Merger complete, we are currently focused on the process of integrating our and EchoStar’s business in a manner that facilitates synergies, cost savings, growth opportunities and achieves other anticipated benefits (the “Integration”).
Segments
DISH Network Corporation is a holding company. Its subsidiaries operate three primary business segments: (1) Pay-TV; (2) Retail Wireless and (3) 5G Network Deployment.
Pay-TV
We offer pay-TV services under the DISH® brand and the SLING® brand (collectively “Pay-TV” services). The DISH branded pay-TV service consists of, among other things, Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) licenses authorizing us to use direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) and Fixed Satellite Service (“FSS”) spectrum, our owned and leased satellites, receiver systems, broadcast operations, a leased fiber optic network, in-home service and call center operations, and certain other assets utilized in our operations (“DISH TV”). We also design, develop and distribute receiver systems and provide digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and other services to third-party pay-TV providers. The SLING branded pay-TV services consist of, among other things, multichannel, live-linear and on-demand streaming over-the-top (“OTT”) Internet-based domestic, international, Latino and Freestream video programming services (“SLING TV”). As of December 31, 2023, we had 8.526 million Pay-TV subscribers in the United States, including 6.471 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.055 million SLING TV subscribers.
Retail Wireless
We offer nationwide prepaid and postpaid retail wireless services to subscribers primarily under our Boost Mobile®, Boost postpaid and Gen Mobile® brands (“Retail Wireless” services), as well as a competitive portfolio of wireless devices. Prepaid wireless subscribers generally pay in advance for monthly access to wireless talk, text, and data services. Postpaid wireless subscribers are qualified to pay after receiving wireless talk, text, and data services and may also qualify for financing arrangements for wireless devices.
We are currently operating our Retail Wireless segment primarily as a mobile virtual network operator (“MVNO”) as we continue our 5G Network Deployment and commercialize our 5G Network, as defined below. We are transitioning our Retail Wireless segment to a mobile network operator (“MNO”) as our 5G Network becomes commercially available and we are currently activating subscribers onto our 5G Network in markets where we have reached voice over new radio (“VoNR”). As an MVNO, today we depend on T-Mobile and AT&T to provide us with network services under the amended Master Network Services Agreement (“MNSA”) and Network Services Agreement (the “NSA”), respectively. Under the NSA, we expect AT&T will become our primary network services provider. As of December 31, 2023, we had 7.378 million Wireless subscribers.
5G Network Deployment
We have invested a total of over $30 billion in Wireless spectrum licenses, which includes over $10 billion in initial noncontrolling investments in certain entities. The $30 billion of investments related to Wireless spectrum licenses does not include $9 billion of capitalized interest related to the carrying value of such licenses. See Note 2 and Note 13 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information. We plan to commercialize our Wireless spectrum licenses through the completion of the nation’s first cloud-native, Open Radio Access Network (“O-RAN”) based 5G network (our “5G Network Deployment”). We have committed to deploy a facilities-based 5G broadband network (our “5G Network”) capable of serving increasingly larger portions of the U.S. population at different deadlines, including 20% of the U.S. population by June 2022 and 70% of the U.S. population by June 2023.
On June 14, 2022, we announced we had successfully reached our 20% population coverage requirement. In addition, we announced and certified to the FCC that as of June 14, 2023, we offer 5G broadband service to over 73% of the U.S. population, or more than 246 million Americans nationwide. On September 29, 2023, the FCC confirmed we have met all of our June 14, 2023 band-specific 5G deployment commitments, and two of our three nationwide 5G commitments. The single remaining 5G commitment, that at least 70% of the U.S. population has access to average download speeds equal to 35 Mbps, was confirmed using the drive test methodology agreed to and approved by the FCC and overseen by an independent monitor. We now have the largest commercial deployment of 5G VoNR in the world reaching approximately 200 million Americans and 5G broadband service reaching approximately 250 million Americans.
PAY-TV
Business Strategy - Pay-TV
Our Pay-TV segment business strategy is to be the best provider of video services in the United States by providing products with the best technology, outstanding customer service, and great value. We promote our Pay-TV services by providing our subscribers with a better “price-to-value” relationship and experience than those available from other subscription television service providers. We market our SLING TV services to consumers who do not subscribe to traditional satellite and cable pay-TV services, as well as to current and recent traditional pay-TV subscribers who desire a lower cost alternative.
● Products with the Best Technology. We offer a wide selection of local and national HD programming and are a technology leader in our industry, offering award-winning DVRs (including our Hopper® whole-home HD DVR), multiple tuner receivers, video on demand and external hard drives. We offer several SLING TV services, including SLING Orange (our single-stream SLING domestic service), SLING Blue (our multi-stream SLING domestic service), International, Latino and Freestream, among others, as well as add-on extras, direct to consumer services, pay-per-view events and a cloud-based DVR service.
● Outstanding Customer Service. We strive to provide outstanding customer service by, among other things, improving the quality of the initial installation of subscriber equipment, improving the reliability of our equipment, better educating our customers about our products and services, and resolving customer problems promptly and effectively when they arise.
● Great Value. We have historically been viewed as the low-cost provider in the pay-TV industry in the United States. However, today with DISH TV, we are focused on a message of Service, Value and Technology. We also offer a differentiated customer experience with our award-winning Hopper® platform that integrates voice control powered by Google Assistant, access to apps including Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube, and the ability to watch live, recorded and On Demand content anywhere with the DISH Anywhere mobile application. As another example, our SLING Orange service and our SLING Blue service are two of the lowest priced live-linear online streaming services in the industry.
RETAIL WIRELESS
Business Strategy - Retail Wireless
We offer nationwide prepaid and postpaid Retail Wireless services to subscribers primarily under our Boost Mobile, Boost postpaid and Gen Mobile brands, as well as a competitive portfolio of wireless devices. We offer customers value by providing choice and flexibility in our Retail Wireless services. We offer competitive consumer plans with no annual service contracts. Prepaid wireless subscribers generally pay in advance for monthly access to wireless talk, text, and data services. Postpaid wireless subscribers are qualified to pay after receiving wireless talk, text, and data services, and may also qualify for financing arrangements for wireless devices.
Boost postpaid. In the fourth quarter of 2022, we launched our Boost postpaid wireless service, to a limited number of customers who had signed up for early registration. During 2023, we launched our nationwide expansion of our Boost postpaid wireless service, and at the end of the third quarter of 2023, we began offering the iPhone 15 on our 5G Network and expanded our Boost postpaid offering through a distribution partnership with Amazon.
We are currently operating our Retail Wireless segment primarily as an MVNO as we continue our 5G Network Deployment and commercialize and grow customer traffic on our 5G Network. We are transitioning our Retail Wireless segment to an MNO as our 5G Network becomes commercially available. We are currently activating Boost Mobile and Boost postpaid subscribers with compatible devices onto our 5G Network in markets where we have launched 5G voice services. Within our MVNO operations, today we depend on T-Mobile and AT&T to provide us with network services under the MNSA and NSA, respectively. Under the NSA, we expect AT&T will become our primary network services provider.
Our Retail Wireless business strategy is to expand our current target segments and profitably grow our subscriber base by acquiring and retaining high quality subscribers while we continue our 5G Network Deployment. We intend to acquire high quality subscribers by providing competitive offers, choice and outstanding customer service that better meet those subscribers’ needs and budget.
5G NETWORK DEPLOYMENT
Business Strategy - 5G Network Deployment
We have invested a total of over $30 billion in Wireless spectrum licenses, which includes over $10 billion in initial noncontrolling investments in certain entities. The $30 billion of investments related to Wireless spectrum licenses does not include $9 billion of capitalized interest related to the carrying value of such licenses. See Note 2 and Note 13 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
We will need to raise additional capital in the future, which may not be available on favorable terms, to fund the efforts described below, as well as, among other things, make any potential Northstar Re-Auction Payment and SNR Re-Auction Payment for the AWS-3 licenses retained by the FCC. There can be no assurance that we will be able to profitably deploy these Wireless spectrum licenses, which may affect the carrying amount of these assets and our future financial condition or results of operations. See Note 13 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
DISH Network Spectrum
We have invested a total of over $30 billion to acquire certain Wireless spectrum licenses. These Wireless spectrum licenses are subject to certain interim and final build-out requirements, as well as certain renewal requirements. Our 5G Network Deployment segment business strategy is to commercialize our Wireless spectrum licenses through the completion of the nation’s first cloud-native, Open Radio Access Network (“O-RAN”) based 5G network (our “5G Network Deployment”). We have committed to deploy our 5G Network capable of serving increasingly larger portions of the U.S. population at different deadlines, including 20% of the U.S. population by June 2022 and 70% of the U.S. population by June 2023. If by June 2023, we are offering 5G broadband service to at least 50% of the U.S. population but less than 70% of the U.S. population, the 70% June 2023 deadline will be extended automatically to June 2025; however, as a result, we may, under certain circumstances, potentially be subject to certain penalties. On June 14, 2022, we announced we had successfully reached our 20% population coverage requirement. In addition, we announced and certified to the FCC that as of June 14, 2023, we offer 5G broadband service to over 73% of the U.S. population, or more than 246 million Americans nationwide.
On September 29, 2023, the FCC confirmed we have met all of our June 14, 2023 band-specific 5G deployment commitments, and two of our three nationwide 5G commitments. The single remaining 5G commitment, that at least 70% of the U.S. population has access to average download speeds equal to 35 Mbps, was confirmed using the drive test methodology agreed to and approved by the FCC and overseen by an independent monitor. We now have the largest commercial deployment of 5G VoNR in the world reaching approximately 200 million Americans and 5G broadband service reaching approximately 250 million Americans.
As a result of us providing 5G broadband service to over 50% of the U.S. population by June 14, 2023, the final build-out deadlines have been extended automatically to June 14, 2025 for us to offer 5G broadband service to at least 70% of the population in each Economic Area for the 700 MHz Licenses and AWS-4 Licenses and at least 75% of the population in each Economic Area for the H Block Licenses.
We may need to make significant additional investments or partner with others to, among other things, continue our 5G Network Deployment and further commercialize, build-out and integrate these licenses and related assets and any additional acquired licenses and related assets, as well as to comply with regulations applicable to such licenses. Depending on the nature and scope of such activities, any such investments or partnerships could vary significantly. In addition, as we continue our 5G Network Deployment, we have and may continue to incur significant additional expenses related to, among other things, research and development, wireless testing and ongoing upgrades to the wireless network infrastructure, software and third-party integration. As a result of these investments, among other factors, we plan to raise additional capital, which may not be available on favorable terms. We may also determine that additional wireless spectrum licenses may be required for our 5G Network Deployment and to compete effectively with other wireless service providers. See Note 13 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
DISH Network Noncontrolling Investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities Related to AWS-3 Wireless Spectrum Licenses
During 2015, through our wholly-owned subsidiaries American AWS-3 Wireless II L.L.C. (“American II”) and American AWS-3 Wireless III L.L.C. (“American III”), we initially made over $10 billion in certain noncontrolling investments in Northstar Spectrum, LLC (“Northstar Spectrum”), the parent company of Northstar Wireless, L.L.C. (“Northstar Wireless,” and collectively with Northstar Spectrum, the “Northstar Entities”), and in SNR Wireless HoldCo, LLC (“SNR HoldCo”), the parent company of SNR Wireless LicenseCo, LLC (“SNR Wireless,” and collectively with SNR HoldCo, the “SNR Entities”), respectively. On October 27, 2015, the FCC granted certain AWS-3 wireless spectrum licenses (the “AWS-3 Licenses”) to Northstar Wireless and to SNR Wireless, respectively, which are recorded in “Regulatory authorizations, net” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Under the applicable accounting guidance in Accounting Standards Codification 810, Consolidation (“ASC 810”), Northstar Spectrum and SNR HoldCo are considered variable interest entities (“VIEs”) and, based on the characteristics of the structure of these entities and in accordance with the applicable accounting guidance, we consolidate these entities into our financial statements. On October 12, 2023, the FCC consented to the sale of Northstar Manager, LLC’s (“Northstar Manager”) ownership interests in Northstar Spectrum, which we purchased for a total of approximately $109 million. This purchase resulted in the elimination of all of our redeemable noncontrolling interest as it related to Northstar Spectrum as of the purchase date and we continue to consolidate the Northstar Entities as wholly-owned subsidiaries. Subsequent to December 31, 2023, the FCC consented to the sale of SNR Wireless Management, LLC’s (“SNR Management”) ownership interests in SNR HoldCo, which was purchased by our parent’s direct wholly-owned subsidiary EchoStar SNR HoldCo L.L.C. for a total of approximately $442 million on February 16, 2024. This purchase resulted in the conversion of our outstanding redeemable noncontrolling interest as it relates to SNR HoldCo to noncontrolling interest, which is now held by our parent, EchoStar, as of the purchase date. See Note 2 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
WEBSITE ACCESS
As a result of the merger, we are no longer subject to the informational requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act and accordingly voluntarily file with the SEC. Our SEC filings may be accessed free of charge through the website of our parent, EchoStar, as soon as reasonably practicable after we have electronically filed such material with, or furnished it to, the SEC. The address of that website is https://ir.echostar.com/.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing us. If any of the following events occur or evolve in a way different than expected, our business, financial condition and/or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Risks Related to the Integration
Although we expect that the Merger will result in synergies and other benefits, those synergies and benefits may not be realized in the amounts anticipated, or may not be realized within the anticipated timeframe, or at all, and risks associated with the foregoing may also result from any extended delay in the Integration of the companies.
Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Merger will depend, to a large extent, on our ability to integrate EchoStar’s and our business in a manner that facilitates growth opportunities and achieves the anticipated benefits. In addition, some of the anticipated synergies are not expected to occur for a significant time period following the completion of the Merger and will require substantial capital expenditures to achieve. There can be no guarantee we will achieve any of these benefits on the anticipated timeframe or at all.
The combination of two separate companies is complex, costly and time-consuming and may require significant management attention and resources which may divert attention from our business and operations. The failure to meet the challenges involved in combining the two companies and to realize the anticipated benefits of the Merger could, among other things, cause an interruption of, or a loss of momentum in, our activities and could adversely affect our results of operations. The overall combination of the two companies may also result in, among other things, material unanticipated problems, expenses, liabilities, competitive responses and loss of customer and other business relationships. The difficulties of combining our operations include, among others:
● diversion of management and employee attention to Integration matters;
● difficulties in integrating operations and systems, including, but not limited to, communications systems, administrative and information technology infrastructure, financial reporting and internal control systems;
● challenges in conforming standards, controls, procedures and accounting and other policies, business cultures and compensation structures between the two companies;
● difficulties in integrating employees and teams of the respective businesses and attracting and retaining key personnel;
● challenges in retaining and obtaining customers, suppliers and other commercial relationships;
● difficulties in managing the expanded operations of a larger and more complex company; and
● potential unknown liabilities, adverse consequences and unforeseen increased expenses associated with the Integration.
Many of these factors are outside of our control and any of them could result in lower revenues, higher costs and diversion of management time and energy, which could materially impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, even if the operations of the companies are integrated successfully, the full benefits of the Merger may not be realized, including, among others, the synergies, cost savings or sales or growth opportunities that are expected. These benefits may not be achieved within the anticipated time frame or at all. As a result, it cannot be assured that the Integration will result in the realization of the full benefits expected from the Merger within the anticipated time frames, or at all.
Competition and Economic Risks
We face intense and increasing competition from providers of video, broadband and/or wireless services, which may require us to further increase subscriber acquisition and retention spending or accept lower subscriber activations and higher subscriber churn.
Our Pay-TV business faces substantial competition from established pay-TV providers and broadband service providers and increasing competition from companies providing/facilitating the delivery of video content via the Internet to computers, televisions, and other streaming and mobile devices, including, but not limited to, wireless service providers. In recent years, the traditional pay-TV industry has matured, and industry consolidation and convergence have created competitors with greater scale and multiple product/service offerings. Some of these services charge nominal or no fees for access to their content, which could adversely affect demand for our Pay-TV services. Moreover, new technologies have been, and will likely continue to be, developed that further increase the number of competitors we face with respect to video services, including, but not limited to, competition from piracy-based video offerings. These developments, among others, have contributed to intense and increasing competition, which we expect to continue.
We face increasing competition from content providers and other companies who distribute video directly to consumers over the Internet. These content providers and other companies, as well as traditional satellite television providers, cable companies and large telecommunication companies, are rapidly increasing their Internet-based video offerings. See “Item 7. Management’s Narrative Analysis of Results of Operations - Trends in our Pay-TV Segment - Competition” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
Mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances among cable television providers, telecommunications companies, programming providers and others may result in, among other things, greater scale and financial leverage and increase the availability of offerings from providers capable of bundling video, broadband and/or wireless services in competition with our services, and may exacerbate the risks described herein. Such providers may be able to, among other things, utilize their increased leverage over third-party content owners and programmers to withhold online rights from us and reduce the price they pay for programming at the expense of other MVPDs, including us; thwart our ability to compete in the wireless market, by, among other things, refuse to enter into data roaming agreements; underutilize key orbital spectrum resources that could be more efficiently used by us; foreclose or degrade our online video offerings at various points in the broadband pipe; and impose data caps on consumers who access our online video offerings. See “Item 7. Management’s Narrative Analysis of Results of Operations - Trends in our Pay-TV Segment - Programming” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
We believe that the availability and extent of programming, including, but not limited to, unique programming services such as foreign language, sports programming and original content, and other value-added services such as access to video via mobile devices, continue to be significant factors in consumers’ choice among pay-TV providers. Other pay-TV providers may have more successfully marketed and promoted their programming packages and value-added services and may also be better equipped and have greater resources to increase their programming offerings and value-added services to respond to increasing consumer demand. We may be required to make substantial additional investments in infrastructure to respond to competitive pressure to deliver enhanced programming and other value-added services, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to compete effectively with offerings from other pay-TV providers.
Furthermore, this increasingly competitive environment may require us to increase subscriber acquisition and retention spending or accept lower subscriber activations and higher subscriber churn. Increasingly, we must seek to attract a greater proportion of new subscribers from our competitors’ existing subscriber bases rather than from first-time purchasers of pay-TV services. In addition, because other pay-TV providers may be seeking to attract a greater proportion of their new subscribers from our existing subscriber base, we may be required to increase retention spending and/or provide greater discounts or credits to acquire and retain subscribers who may spend less on our services. Our SLING TV subscribers on average purchase lower-priced programming services than do DISH TV subscribers. Accordingly, an increase in SLING TV subscribers has a negative impact on our Pay-TV average monthly revenue per subscriber (“Pay-TV ARPU”). If our Pay-TV ARPU decreases or does not increase commensurate with increases in programming or other costs, our margins may be reduced and the long-term value of a subscriber would then decrease and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In addition, as a result of this increased competitive environment and the maturation of the pay-TV industry, future growth opportunities of our DISH TV business may be limited and our margins may be reduced, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations continue to be negatively impacted by stricter subscriber acquisition policies (including, but not limited to, a focus on attaining higher quality subscribers) and increased competitive pressures, including, but not limited to, aggressive marketing, more aggressive retention efforts, bundled discount offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers. In addition, we face increased competitive pressures from content providers and other companies who distribute video directly to consumers over the Internet. These content providers and other companies, as well as traditional satellite television providers, cable companies and large telecommunication companies, are rapidly increasing their Internet-based video offerings and direct-to-consumer exclusive and non-exclusive content. There can be no assurance that our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, net DISH TV subscriber additions, and DISH TV churn rate will not continue to be negatively impacted and that the pace of such negative impact will not accelerate. In the event that our DISH TV subscriber base continues to decline or such decline accelerates, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Changing consumer behavior and new technologies in our Pay-TV business may reduce our subscriber activations and may cause our subscribers to purchase fewer services from us or to cancel our services altogether, resulting in less revenue to us.
New technologies, products and services are driving rapid changes in consumer behavior as consumers seek more control over when, where and how they consume content and access communication services. In particular, through technological advancements and with the large increase in the number of consumers with broadband service, a significant amount of video content has become available through online content providers for users to stream and view on their personal computers, televisions, phones, tablets, video game consoles and other devices, in some cases without a fee required to access the content. While our subscribers can use their traditional video subscription to access mobile programming, an increasing number of subscribers are also using mobile devices as the sole means of viewing video, and an increasing number of non-traditional video providers is developing content and technologies to satisfy that demand. For example, these technological advancements, changes in consumer behavior, and the increasing number of choices available to consumers regarding the means by which consumers obtain video content may cause DISH TV subscribers to disconnect our services (“cord cutting”), downgrade to smaller, less expensive programming packages (“cord shaving”) or elect to purchase through online content providers a certain portion of the services that they would have historically purchased from us. These technological advancements and changes in consumer behavior and/or our failure to effectively anticipate or adapt to such changes, could reduce our gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations and increase our subscriber churn rate and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
New technologies could also create new competitors for us. For instance, we face increasing consumer demand for the delivery of digital video services via the Internet. We expect to continue to face increased competition from companies who use the Internet to deliver digital video services as the speed and quality of broadband and wireless networks continue to improve.
We face certain risks competing in the wireless services industry and operating a facilities-based wireless services business.
As a result of certain acquisitions, we have entered the retail wireless business. We have made substantial investments to acquire certain wireless spectrum licenses. We plan to commercialize our Wireless spectrum licenses through the completion of our 5G Network Deployment. A Wireless services business presents certain risks. Any of the following risks, among others, may have a material adverse effect on our future business, results of operations and financial condition.
● The wireless services industry is dominated by incumbents. We have limited experience in the wireless services industry, which is an industry with increasing subscriber demands for data services that require increasing capital resources to maintain a robust network. The wireless services industry has incumbent and established competitors such as Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile with substantial market share. These companies have, among other things, greater financial, marketing and other resources than us, and have existing cost and operational advantages that we lack. Market saturation is expected to continue to cause subscriber growth rates in the wireless services industry to moderate in comparison to historical growth rates, leading to increased competition for subscribers. As the industry matures, competitors increasingly must seek to attract a greater proportion of new subscribers from each other’s existing subscriber bases rather than from first-time purchasers of wireless services. Furthermore, the cost of attracting a new subscriber is generally higher than the cost associated with retaining an existing subscriber. In addition, we face increasing competition from wireless telecommunications providers who offer mobile video offerings or partner with others to create bundled offerings. Wireless mobile video offerings have become more prevalent in the marketplace as wireless telecommunications providers have expanded the fifth generation of wireless communications. As previously noted, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances among cable television providers, telecommunications companies, programming providers and others may result in, among other things, greater scale and financial leverage and increase the availability of offerings from providers capable of bundling video, broadband and/or wireless services in competition with our services. Such companies may be able to, among other things, pressure third-party content owners and programmers to withhold online rights from us; utilize their increased leverage over third-party content owners and programmers to reduce the price they pay for programming at the expense of other MVPDs, including us; thwart our ability to compete in the wireless market, by, among other things, refusing to enter into data roaming agreements with us; foreclose or degrade our online video offerings at various points in the broadband pipe; and impose data caps on consumers who access our online video offerings. See “Item 1. Business - Overview - Retail Wireless” and “Item 7. Management’s Narrative Analysis of Results of Operations - Retail Wireless Segment” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
● Our ability to compete effectively in the wireless services industry is dependent on a number of factors. Our ability to compete effectively in the wireless services industry depends on, among other things, our network quality, capacity and coverage; the pricing of our products and services; the quality of subscriber service; our development of new and enhanced products and services; the reach and quality of our sales and distribution channels; our ability to predict and adapt to future changes in technologies and changes in consumer demands; and our capital resources. It also depends on how successfully we anticipate and respond to various competitive factors affecting the industry, including, among others, new technologies and business models, products and services that may be introduced by competitors, changes in consumer preferences, the demand for and usage of data, video and other voice and non-voice services, demographic trends, economic conditions, and discount pricing and other strategies that may be implemented by competitors. It may be difficult for us to differentiate our products and services from other competitors in the industry, which may limit our ability to attract and retain subscribers. Our success also may depend on our ability to access and deploy adequate spectrum, deploy new technologies and offer attractive products and services to subscribers. For example, we may not be able to obtain and offer certain technologies, features or services that are subject to competitor patents or other exclusive arrangements. Our success and financial results also depend on, among other factors, our ability to achieve a lower cost structure in our 5G Network Deployment and commercialization of our network. As we complete our 5G Network Deployment and transition a portion of our business to a MNO from an MVNO, our results of operations and financial performance will depend in part on our ability to offer wireless services more cost effectively than we are able to do so through the use of our current MVNO agreements.
● We depend on certain third parties to provide us with infrastructure and products and services. We depend on various key suppliers and vendors to provide us, directly or through other suppliers, with infrastructure, equipment and services, such as switch and network equipment, handsets and other devices and equipment that we would need in order to operate a wireless services business and provide products and services to our subscribers. For example, handset and other device suppliers often rely on one vendor for the manufacture and supply of critical components, such as chipsets, used in their devices. If these suppliers or vendors fail to provide equipment or services on a timely basis, or at all or fail to meet performance expectations, we may be unable to provide products and services as and when expected by our subscribers. Any difficulties experienced with these suppliers and vendors could result in additional expense and/or delays in operating our Wireless services. Our efforts involve significant expense and require strategic management decisions on, and timely implementation of, among other things, equipment choices, network deployment and management, and service offerings. In addition, these suppliers and vendors may also be subject to litigation with respect to technology on which we depend, including, but not limited to, litigation involving claims of patent infringement. In addition, our 5G Network Deployment utilizes an O-RAN architecture, which is designed to, among other things, incorporate components sourced from various third-party suppliers. Generally, these third-party suppliers do not ensure that their products will integrate with components provided by other third-party suppliers. As a result, we generally serve as the overall system integrator. Failure of these products to, among other things, effectively interoperate with one another could adversely affect our financial performance, including, but not limited to, our ability to complete our 5G Network Deployment on a cost-effective or timely basis or at all.
● Wireless services and our Wireless spectrum licenses are subject to government regulation. Wireless services and our Wireless spectrum licenses are subject to regulation by the FCC and other federal, state and local, as well as international, governmental authorities. These governmental authorities could adopt regulations or take other actions that would adversely affect our business prospects, making it more difficult and/or expensive to complete our 5G Network Deployment and to further commercialize our Wireless spectrum licenses or acquire additional licenses. The licensing, construction, operation, sale and interconnection arrangements of wireless telecommunications systems are regulated by the FCC and, depending on the jurisdiction, other federal and international, state and local regulatory agencies. In particular, the FCC imposes significant regulation on licensees of wireless spectrum with respect to, among other things, how radio spectrum is used by licensees, the nature of the services that licensees may offer and how the services may be offered, and resolution of issues of interference between spectrum bands. The FCC grants wireless licenses for terms of generally 10-12 years that are subject to renewal or revocation based on certain factors depending on the license including, among others, public interest considerations, level and quality of services and/or operations provided by the licensee, frequency and duration of any interruptions or outages of services and/or operations provided by the licensee, and the extent to which service is provided to, and/or operation is provided in, rural areas and tribal lands.
There can be no assurances that our Wireless spectrum licenses will be renewed or that we will be able to obtain additional licenses. Failure to comply with FCC requirements in a given license area could result in revocation of the license for that license area. In addition, the FCC uses its transactional “spectrum screen” to identify prospective wireless transactions that may require additional competitive scrutiny. If a proposed transaction would exceed the spectrum screen threshold, the FCC undertakes a more detailed analysis of relevant market conditions in the impacted geographic areas to determine whether the transaction would reduce competition without offsetting public benefits. If a proposed spectrum acquisition exceeds the spectrum screen trigger, such additional review could extend the duration of the regulatory review process and there can be no assurance that such proposed spectrum acquisition would ultimately be completed, in whole or in part.
Our pay-TV competitors may be able to leverage their relationships with programmers to reduce their programming costs and/or offer exclusive content that will place them at a competitive advantage to us.
The cost of programming represents the largest percentage of our overall Pay-TV costs. Certain of our competitors own directly, partner with, and/or are affiliated with companies that own programming content that may enable them to obtain lower programming costs or offer exclusive programming that may be attractive to prospective subscribers. Unlike our larger cable and satellite competitors, some of which also provide internet or broadband based pay-TV services, we have not made significant investments in programming providers. In addition, certain programmers have begun offering a greater amount of their content on a direct-to-consumer basis, including, but not limited to, exclusive and non-exclusive content. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to obtain access to such programming networks on nondiscriminatory and fair terms, or at all. See “Item 1. Business - Government Regulations - FCC Regulations Applicable to Our Operations - Cable Act and Program Access” in EchoStar’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 for further information.
Through the MNSA and the NSA, we depend on T-Mobile and AT&T to provide network services to our Wireless subscribers. Our failure to effectively manage these relationships, including without limitation, our minimum commitments, any system failure in their wireless networks, interruption in the services provided to us, and/or the termination of the MNSA or the NSA could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In July 2021, we entered into the NSA with AT&T to provide us with wireless network services. Under the NSA, we expect AT&T will become our primary network services provider. In addition, under the NSA, we have committed to activate on AT&T a minimum percentage of certain of our Wireless subscribers and to utilize AT&T’s network for a minimum specified percentage of our domestic roaming data usage. We have agreed to pay AT&T at least $5 billion over the course of the 10-year term of the NSA, subject to certain terms and conditions. In 2020 in connection with the Asset Purchase Agreement, we entered into a master network services agreement with T-Mobile to provide us with wireless network services for a period of seven years (the “Prior MNSA”). In June 2022, we and T-Mobile entered into the MNSA, which amended the Prior MNSA. Under the MNSA, we agreed to a minimum purchase commitment to T-Mobile of $3.3 billion over the course of the MNSA, subject to certain terms and conditions.
As a result, failure to meet the minimum commitments to AT&T or T-Mobile could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, failure to meet our minimum commitments would result in, among other things, the acceleration of financial commitments and potential termination of the NSA or the MNSA, respectively.
As we continue our 5G Network Deployment, we currently depend on T-Mobile and AT&T to provide us with network services pursuant to the MNSA and the NSA, respectively, to offer Retail Wireless services. We rely on T-Mobile and AT&T to, among other things, maintain their wireless facilities and government authorizations and to comply with government policies and regulations. If T-Mobile or AT&T fails to do so, our subscriber activations and churn rate could be negatively impacted, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. As a result, failure to manage these relationships, including, but not limited to, effectively activating subscribers on the optimal network, transitioning subscribers to a different network, managing the existing subscriber base and vendor relationships and meeting certain minimum commitments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In the event that a termination under the NSA or the MNSA were to occur, our Wireless subscribers may need to obtain a new device, a new SIM card or receive a software update to continue receiving Wireless services from us. These required measures would cause significant disruption to our Wireless subscriber base which could result in, among other things, a significant increase in our churn rate. A termination of either the NSA or the MNSA, respectively, could result in significant financial and operational challenges to mitigate such termination, and there can be no assurances that any attempts to mitigate a termination event would be successful on an acceptable timeframe or at all.
We compete with the MNOs whose networks we rely on to provide wireless services to our customers, and they may seek to limit, reduce or terminate our network access to the extent that it becomes competitively advantageous to do so.
We are able to offer wireless services to our customers through the 5G Network, and through our existing agreements with AT&T and T-Mobile, both of whom are competitors of ours. While our agreements with AT&T and T-Mobile currently have ten and seven-year terms from the date of signing, respectively, to the extent that either network service provider experiences, among other things, network capacity challenges, it is possible that our subscribers could be de-prioritized for access to those networks. Further, AT&T and/or T-Mobile may decide not to renew their agreements with us at acceptable rates, or at all. Any reduction in, or loss of, access to those networks in the future could significantly impact our ability to provide services to our subscribers and in turn have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in how network operators handle and charge for access to data that travels across their networks could adversely impact our Pay-TV business.
With respect to our Pay-TV business, we rely upon the ability of consumers to access our SLING TV services and certain DISH TV functionality through the Internet. If network operators block, restrict, slow-down or throttle or otherwise impair access to our services over their networks, our business could be negatively affected. To the extent that network operators implement usage-based pricing including, but not limited to, meaningful bandwidth caps, or otherwise try to monetize access to their networks by data providers, we could incur greater operating expenses and our SLING TV subscriber count could be negatively impacted. Furthermore, to the extent network operators create tiers of Internet access service and either charge us for or prohibit us from being available through these tiers, our SLING TV business could be negatively impacted.
In addition, many network operators that provide consumers with broadband service also provide these consumers with video programming, and these network operators may have an incentive to use their network infrastructure in a manner adverse to our continued growth and success. These risks may be exacerbated to the extent network operators are able to provide preferential treatment to their data, including, for example, by offering wireless subscribers access to owned video content over the Internet without counting against a subscriber’s monthly data caps, which may give an unfair advantage to the network operator’s own video content.
We cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our business that may result from changes in how network operators handle and charge for access to data that travels across their networks.
Economic weakness and uncertainty may adversely affect our ability to grow or maintain our business.
Our ability to grow or maintain our business may be adversely affected by economic weakness and uncertainty, which could result in the following:
● Fewer subscriber activations and increased subscriber churn rate. We could face fewer subscriber activations and increased subscriber churn rate due to, among other things: (i) certain economic factors that impact consumers, including, among others, inflation, rising interest rates, a potential downturn in the housing market in the United States (including a decline in housing starts) and higher unemployment, which could lead to a lack of consumer confidence and lower discretionary spending; (ii) increased price competition for our products and services; and (iii) the potential loss of independent third-party retailers, who generate a meaningful percentage of our gross new DISH TV and Wireless subscriber activations, because many of them are small businesses that are more susceptible to the negative effects of economic weakness. In particular, our DISH TV churn rate and Wireless churn rate may increase with respect to subscribers who purchase our lower tier programming packages and Retail Wireless services, and who may be more sensitive to economic weakness, including, among others, our pay-in-advance subscribers.
● Higher subscriber acquisition and retention costs. Our profits may be adversely affected by increased subscriber acquisition and retention costs necessary to attract and retain high-quality subscribers during a period of economic weakness.
We are also subject to inflationary cost pressures, and if inflation continues or worsens, it could negatively impact us by increasing, among other things, our operating expenses. Inflation may lead to cost increases in multiple areas across our business, for example, rises in the prices of raw materials and manufactured goods, increased energy rates, as well as increased wage pressures and other expenses related to our labor, programming and other costs. While we attempt to increase our revenue to offset increases in costs, there is no assurance that we will be able to do so on an acceptable timeline or at all. Therefore, costs could rise faster than associated revenue, thereby resulting in a negative impact on our operating results, cash flows and liquidity.
If we are unable to take advantage of technological developments on a timely basis, or at all, we may experience a decline in demand for our services or face challenges in implementing or evolving our business strategy.
In order to grow and remain competitive, we will need to adapt to changes in available technology, including, but not limited to, artificial intelligence and machine learning, continually invest in our 5G Network Deployment, increase 5G Network capacity, enhance our existing service offerings and introduce new offerings to meet our current and potential subscribers’ changing service demands. Enhancing our 5G Network, including, but not limited to, our ongoing 5G Network Deployment, is subject to risks related to, among other things, equipment choices, network deployment and management, and service offerings. In addition, our 5G Network Deployment utilizes an O-RAN architecture, which is designed to, among other things, incorporate components sourced from various third-party suppliers. Generally, these third-party suppliers do not ensure that their products will integrate with components provided by other third-party suppliers. Therefore, we generally serve as the overall system integrator.
As a result, adopting new and sophisticated technologies may result in implementation issues, such as scheduling and supplier delays, unexpected or increased costs, technological constraints, regulatory permitting issues, actual or perceived subscriber dissatisfaction and other issues that could cause delays in launching new technological capabilities, which in turn could result in significant costs or reduce the anticipated benefits of the upgrades. If our new services fail to retain or gain acceptance in the marketplace or if costs associated with these services are higher than anticipated, this could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.
Operational and Service Delivery Risks
Any deterioration in our operational performance and subscriber satisfaction could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our operational performance and subscriber satisfaction with respect to our Pay-TV and/or Wireless businesses were to deteriorate, we may experience a decrease in subscriber activations and an increase in our subscriber churn rate, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. To improve our operational performance, we continue to make investments in staffing, training, information systems and other initiatives, primarily in our call center and in-home service operations and our Retail Wireless business operations. These investments are intended to, among other things, help combat inefficiencies introduced by the increasing complexity of our business, improve subscriber satisfaction, reduce subscriber churn, increase productivity and allow us to scale better over the long run. We cannot, however, be certain that our spending will ultimately be successful in improving our operational performance, and if unsuccessful, we may have to incur higher costs to improve our operational performance. While we believe that such costs will be outweighed by longer-term benefits, there can be no assurance when or if we will realize these benefits at all.
If our subscriber activations decrease, or if our subscriber churn rate, subscriber acquisition costs or retention costs increase, our financial performance will be adversely affected.
We may incur increased costs to acquire new subscribers and retain existing subscribers to some or all of our Pay-TV or Wireless businesses. For example, with respect to our Pay-TV business, our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, net DISH TV subscriber additions, and DISH TV churn rate continue to be negatively impacted by stricter subscriber acquisition and retention policies for our DISH TV subscribers. Retention costs with respect to our DISH TV services may be driven higher by, among other things, increased upgrades of existing subscribers’ equipment.
Although we expect to continue to incur expenses, such as providing retention credits and other subscriber acquisition and retention expenses, to attract and retain subscribers there can be no assurance that our efforts will generate new subscribers or result in a lower churn rate.
For our Retail Wireless business, we are currently in the process of integrating our Retail Wireless operations and making certain operational changes to enhance profitability. We are working to ensure that certain subscribers we acquire and retain are profitable under our MVNO economics. As an example, certain subscribers that use high amounts of data may be profitable for a MNO but are not profitable under a MVNO. This has caused our net Wireless subscriber additions to be negatively impacted. In addition, as we transition from a MVNO to a MNO, our subscriber acquisition costs may increase due to, among other factors, certain differences between prepaid and postpaid subscribers.
Although we expect to continue to incur expenses, such as providing retention credits and other subscriber acquisition and retention expenses, including, but not limited to, devices subsidy and upgrade discounts, to attract and retain subscribers, there can be no assurance that our efforts will generate new subscribers or result in a lower churn rate. Our subscriber acquisition costs and our subscriber retention costs can vary significantly from period to period and can cause material variability to our net income (loss) and free cash flow. Any material increase in subscriber acquisition or retention costs from current levels could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
With respect to our Pay-TV business, programming expenses are increasing, which may adversely affect our future financial condition and results of operations.
Our programming costs represent a significant component of our total expense and we expect these costs to continue to increase on a per subscriber basis. The pay-TV industry has continued to experience an increase in the cost of programming, especially local broadcast channels and sports programming. In addition, certain programming costs are rising at a much faster rate than wages or inflation. These factors may be exacerbated by, among other factors, the increasing trend of consolidation in the media industry, partnerships between companies that offer pay-TV services and programmers and increased direct-to-consumer offerings of both exclusive and non-exclusive content, which may further increase our programming expenses. Our ability to compete successfully will depend, among other things, on our ability to continue to obtain desirable programming and deliver it to our subscribers at competitive prices.
In addition, increases in programming costs cause us to increase the rates that we charge our Pay-TV subscribers, which could in turn cause our existing Pay-TV subscribers to disconnect our service. Therefore, we may be unable to pass increased programming costs on to our subscribers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We depend on others to provide the programming that we offer to our Pay-TV subscribers and, if we fail to obtain or lose access to certain programming, our Pay-TV subscriber activations and our subscriber churn rate may be negatively impacted.
We depend on certain third parties to provide us with programming services. Our programming agreements have remaining terms ranging from less than one to up to several years and contain various renewal, expiration and/or termination provisions. We may not be able to renew these agreements on acceptable terms or at all, and these agreements may be terminated prior to expiration of their original terms. In addition, our ability to provide services under these agreements and negotiate acceptable terms depends on, among other things, the number of Pay-TV subscribers we have, our actual, perceived or anticipated financial condition and our negotiating power against each programmer, which can vary depending on the size and scale of such programmer.
Negotiations over programming carriage contracts are generally contentious, and certain programmers have, in the past, limited our access to their programming in connection with those negotiations and the scheduled expiration of their programming carriage contracts with us. In recent years, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions have been negatively impacted as a result of programming interruptions and threatened programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of programming carriage contracts with content providers. In addition, certain content providers have begun making a greater percentage of their content available as a stand-alone product available direct-to-consumer and acceleration of this trend may result in lower net Pay-TV subscriber additions, higher net Pay-TV subscriber losses and increased DISH TV churn rate.
We cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate resulting from programming interruptions or threatened programming interruptions that may occur in the future. As a result, we may at times suffer from periods of lower net Pay-TV subscriber additions or higher net Pay-TV subscriber losses.
We typically have a few programming contracts with major content providers up for renewal each year and if we are unable to renew any of these agreements on acceptable terms or at all, or the other parties terminate the agreements, there can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain substitute programming, or that such substitute programming would be comparable in quality or cost to our existing programming. In addition, failure to obtain access to certain programming or loss of access to programming, particularly programming provided by major content providers and/or programming popular with our subscribers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including, among other things, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions.
Our programming signals in our Pay-TV business are subject to theft, and we are vulnerable to other forms of fraud that could require significant expenditures to remedy. Increases in theft of our signal or our competitors’ signals could, in addition to reducing gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, also cause our DISH TV churn rate to increase.
We may not be able to obtain necessary retransmission consent agreements at acceptable rates, or at all, from local network stations.
The Copyright Act generally gives satellite companies a statutory copyright license to retransmit local broadcast channels by satellite back into the market from which they originated, subject to obtaining the retransmission consent of local broadcast television stations that do not elect “must carry” status, as required by the Communications Act. If we fail to reach retransmission consent agreements with such broadcasters, we cannot carry their signals. This could have an adverse effect on our strategy to compete with cable and other satellite companies that provide local signals. While we have generally been able to reach retransmission consent agreements with most of these local network stations, from time to time there are stations with which we have not been able to reach an agreement, resulting in the removal of their channels primarily from our DISH TV lineup. There can be no assurance that we will secure these agreements or that we will secure new agreements on acceptable terms, or at all, upon the expiration of our current retransmission consent agreements, some of which are short-term. In recent years, national broadcasters have used their ownership of certain local broadcast stations to require us to carry additional cable programming in exchange for retransmission consent of their local broadcast stations. These requirements may place constraints on available capacity on our satellites for other programming. Furthermore, the rates we are charged for retransmitting local channels have been increasing substantially and may exceed our ability to increase our prices to our subscribers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have limited satellite capacity and failures or reduced capacity could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Operation of our Pay-TV business requires that we have adequate satellite transmission capacity for the programming we offer. While we generally have had in-orbit satellite capacity sufficient to transmit our existing channels and some backup capacity to recover the transmission of certain critical programming, our backup capacity is limited.
Our ability to earn revenue from our Pay-TV business depends on, among other things, the usefulness of our owned and leased satellites, each of which has a limited useful life. A number of factors affect the useful lives of the satellites, including, among other things, the quality of their construction, the durability of their component parts, the ability to continue to maintain proper orbits and the control over the satellites’ functions, the efficiency of the launch vehicles used, and the remaining on-board fuel following in-orbit insertion. Generally, the minimum design life of each of our owned and leased satellites ranges from 12 to 15 years. We can provide no assurance, however, as to the actual useful lives of any of these satellites. Our operating results could be adversely affected if the useful life of any of our owned or leased satellites was significantly shorter than the minimum design life.
See “Item 1A. Risk Factors - Risks Related to our Satellites” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
Extreme weather may result in risk of damage to our infrastructure and therefore our ability to provide services, and may lead to changes in federal, state and foreign government regulation, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Extreme weather has the potential to directly damage our network facilities and other infrastructure and/or disrupt our ability to build and maintain portions of our network, and could potentially disrupt suppliers’ ability to, among other things, provide the products and services we require to support our operations. Any such disruption could delay our 5G Network Deployment plans, interrupt service for our customers, increase our costs and have a negative effect on our operating results. The potential physical effects of extreme weather, such as storms, floods, fires, freezing conditions, sea-level rise and other adverse weather events, could negatively affect our operations and infrastructure and, as a result, our financial results. Operational impacts resulting from extreme weather, such as, among other things, damage to our network infrastructure, could result in increased costs and loss of revenue. We could be required to incur significant costs to improve the resiliency of our infrastructure and otherwise prepare for, respond to and mitigate such weather events. It is impossible to accurately predict the materiality of any potential losses or costs associated with extreme weather.
Our failure to effectively invest in, introduce, and implement new competitive products and services could cause our products and services to become obsolete and could negatively impact our business.
Technology in the pay-TV and wireless industries changes rapidly as new technologies are developed, which could cause our products and services to become obsolete. We and our suppliers may not be able to keep pace with technological developments. Our operating results are dependent to a significant extent upon our ability to continue to introduce new products and services, to upgrade existing products and services on a timely basis, and to reduce costs of our existing products and services. We may not be able to successfully identify new product or service opportunities or develop and market these opportunities in a timely or cost-effective manner.
The research and development of new, technologically advanced products is a complex and uncertain process requiring high levels of innovation and investment. The success of new product and service development depends on many factors, including among others, the following:
● the difficulties and delays in the development, production, timely completion, testing and marketing of products and services;
● the cost of the products and services;
● the proper identification of subscriber need and subscriber acceptance of products and services;
● the development of, approval of and compliance with industry standards;
● the amount of resources we must devote to the development of new technologies; and
● the ability to differentiate our products and services and compete with other companies in the same markets.
If the new technologies on which we focus our research and development investments fail to achieve acceptance in the marketplace, our competitive position could be negatively impacted, causing a reduction in our revenues and earnings. For example, our competitors could use proprietary technologies that are perceived by the market as being superior. In addition, delays in the delivery of components or other unforeseen problems associated with our technology may occur that could materially and adversely affect our ability to generate revenue, offer new products and services and remain competitive. Furthermore, after we have incurred substantial costs, one or more of the products or services under our development, or under development by one or more of our strategic partners, could become obsolete prior to it being widely adopted.
If our products and services are not competitive, our business could suffer and our financial performance could be negatively impacted. Our products and services may also experience quality problems, including, but not limited to, outages and service slowdowns, from time to time. If the quality of our products and services does not meet our subscribers’ expectations, then our business, and ultimately our reputation, could be negatively impacted.
We rely on a single vendor or a limited number of vendors to provide certain key products or services to us, and the inability of these key vendors to meet our needs could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Historically, we have contracted with and rely on a single vendor or a limited number of vendors to provide certain key products or services to us such as information technology support, billing systems, security access devices, and many components that we provide to subscribers in order to deliver services from our Pay-TV and Wireless businesses. We also rely on a limited number of vendors to supply our wireless devices and wireless network equipment used in connection with our 5G Network Deployment. If these vendors are unable to meet our needs because, among other things, they fail to perform adequately, are no longer in business, are experiencing shortages or supply chain issues or discontinue a certain product or service we need, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
We have experienced in the past and may continue to experience shortages driven by raw material availability (which may be negatively impacted by, among other things, COVID-19 policies, trade protection policies such as tariffs and or/escalating trade tensions, particularly with countries in Asia), manufacturing capacity, labor shortages, industry allocations, natural disasters, logistical delays and significant changes in the financial or business conditions of its suppliers that negatively impact our operations.
While alternative sources for these products and services exist, we may not be able to develop these alternative sources quickly and cost-effectively or at all, which could materially impair our ability to timely deliver our products to our subscribers or operate our business. Furthermore, our vendors may request changes in pricing, payment terms or other contractual obligations between the parties, which could require us to make substantial additional investments.
We depend on independent third parties to solicit orders for our services that represent a meaningful percentage of our total gross new subscriber activations.
While we offer products and services through direct sales channels, a meaningful percentage of our total gross new subscriber activations are generated through independent third parties such as small retailers, direct marketing groups, local and regional consumer electronics stores, nationwide retailers, and telecommunications companies. Most of our independent third-party retailers are not exclusive to us and some of our independent third-party retailers may favor our competitors’ products and services over ours based on the relative financial arrangements associated with marketing our products and services and those of our competitors. Furthermore, most of these independent third-party retailers are significantly smaller than we are and may be more susceptible to economic weaknesses that make it more difficult for them to operate profitably. From time to time, we may adjust the economic terms of agreements with our independent third-party retailers to, among other things, further align our interests with theirs. It may be difficult to better align our interests with our independent third-party retailers because of their capital and liquidity constraints. In addition, any changes we may make may not result in the intended benefits and, as a result, negatively affect our operating results. Loss of these relationships could have an adverse effect on our subscriber base and certain of our other key operating metrics because we may not be able to develop comparable alternative distribution channels.
Risks Related to our Human Capital
We rely on highly skilled personnel for our business, and any inability to hire and retain key personnel or to hire qualified personnel may negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We believe that our future success depends to a significant extent upon the performance of Mr. Charles W. Ergen, our Chairman, and certain other key executives. The loss of Mr. Ergen or certain other key executives, the ability to effectively provide for the succession of our senior management, or the ability of Mr. Ergen or such other key executives to devote sufficient time and effort to our businesses could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Although some of our key executives may have agreements relating to their equity compensation that limit their ability to work for or consult with competitors, we generally do not have employment agreements with them.
In addition, the success of the Integration will depend in part on the retention of personnel critical to our business and operations due to, for example, their technical skills or management expertise. Competition for qualified personnel can be intense and qualified personnel can be in high demand. Current and prospective employees may experience uncertainty about their future role until strategies regarding these employees are announced or executed, which may impair our ability to attract, retain and motivate key management, technical and other personnel following the Merger. If we are unable to attract and retain personnel, including key management, who are critical to the successful Integration and future operations of the companies, we could face, among other risks, disruptions in their operations, loss of existing customers, loss of key information, expertise or know-how and unanticipated additional recruitment and training costs. In addition, the loss of key personnel could diminish the anticipated benefits of the Merger.
Our business growth and customer retention strategies rely in part on the work of technically skilled employees.
Our response to technological developments depends, to a significant degree, on the work of technically skilled employees. In addition, we have made and will continue to make significant investments in, among other things, research, development and marketing for new products, services, satellites and related technologies, as well as entry into new business areas. Investments in new technologies, satellites and business areas are inherently dependent on these technically skilled employees as well. Competition for the services of such employees has become more intense as demand for these types of employees grows. We compete with other companies for these employees and although we strive to attract, retain, motivate and manage these employees, we may not succeed in these respects. Additionally, if we were to lose certain key technically skilled employees, the loss of knowledge and intellectual capital might have an adverse impact on our business. Furthermore, we believe that our Wireless business, including, but not limited to, our ability to complete our 5G Network Deployment, is dependent on our ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain a team of highly skilled personnel with knowledge of the wireless industry. Our Wireless business will be adversely affected if we fail to effectively hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled personnel with knowledge of the wireless industry.
The success of our business is also dependent on our ability to recruit engineers and other professionals, including those who are citizens of other countries. Immigration laws in the U.S. and other countries in which we operate are subject to legislative and regulatory changes, as well as variations in the standards of application and enforcement due to, among other things, political forces and economic conditions. It is difficult to predict the political and economic events that could affect immigration laws, or the restrictive impact they could have on obtaining or renewing work visas for our professionals. If immigration laws are changed or if new and more restrictive government regulations are enacted or increased, our access to qualified and skilled professionals may be limited.
Risks Related to our Satellites
Our owned and leased satellites in orbit are subject to significant operational and environmental risks that could limit our ability to utilize these satellites.
Satellites are subject to significant operational risks while in orbit. These risks include, but are not limited to, malfunctions, commonly referred to as anomalies, which have occurred and may occur in the future in our satellites and the satellites of other operators. Any single anomaly could materially and adversely affect our ability to utilize the satellite. Anomalies may also reduce, among other things, the expected capacity, commercial operation and/or useful life of a satellite, thereby reducing the revenue that could be generated by that satellite, or create additional expenses due to the need to provide replacement or back-up satellites or satellite capacity earlier than planned and could have a material adverse effect on our business. We may not be able to prevent or mitigate the impacts of anomalies in the future.
Meteoroid events, decommissioned satellites, increased solar activity and other adverse events also pose a potential threat to all in-orbit satellites. We may be required to perform maneuvers to avoid collisions and these maneuvers may prove unsuccessful or could reduce the useful life of the satellite through the expenditure of fuel to perform these maneuvers.
Generally, the minimum design life of each of our satellites is 15 years. We can provide no assurance, however, as to the actual operational lives of our satellites, which may be shorter or longer than their design lives. Our ability to earn revenue depends on the continued operation of our satellites, each of which has a limited useful life.
We generally do not carry in-orbit insurance on our satellites or payloads because we have assessed that the cost of insurance is not economical relative to the risk of failures. If one or more of our in-orbit uninsured satellites or payloads fail, we could be required to record significant impairment charges for the satellite or payload.
Our satellites under construction are subject to risks related to, among other things, construction, technology, regulations and launch that could limit our ability to utilize these satellites, increase costs and adversely affect our business.
Satellite construction and launch are subject to significant risks, including, but not limited to, manufacturing and delivery delays, anomalies, launch failure and incorrect orbital placement. The technologies in our satellite designs are very complex and difficulties in constructing our designs could result in delays in the deployment of our satellites or increased or unanticipated costs. There can be no assurance that the technologies in our existing satellites or in new satellites that we design, acquire and build will work as we expect, will not become obsolete, that we will realize any or all of the anticipated benefits of our satellite designs or our new satellites, and/or that we will obtain all regulatory approvals required to operate our new or acquired satellites on an acceptable timeline or at all. Launch anomalies and failures can result in significant delays in the deployment of satellites because of the need both to construct replacement satellites, which can take significant amounts of time, and to obtain other launch opportunities. Such significant delays have and could in the future materially affect, among other things, our business, our ability to meet regulatory or contractual required milestones, the availability and our use of other or replacement satellite resources and our ability to provide services to customers. In addition, significant delays in a satellite program could give customers who have purchased or reserved capacity on that satellite a right to terminate their service contracts relating to the satellite. We may not be able to accommodate affected customers on other satellites until a replacement satellite is available. In addition, we generally do not carry in-orbit insurance on our satellites or payloads because we have assessed that the cost of insurance is not economical relative to the risk of failures. If we do obtain launch or in-orbit insurance, it may not cover the full cost of constructing and launching or replacing a satellite nor fully cover our losses in the event of a launch failure or significant degradation.
Our use of certain satellites is often dependent on satellite coordination agreements, which may be difficult to obtain.
Satellite operators are required to enter into international spectrum coordination agreements with other affected satellite operators and must be approved by the relevant governments. If a required agreement cannot be concluded, we may have to operate the applicable satellite(s) in a manner that does not cause harmful radio frequency interference with the affected satellite. If we cannot do so, we may have to cease operating such satellite(s) at the affected orbital locations.
We may face interference from other services sharing satellite spectrum.
The FCC and other national, state, local and international regulators have adopted rules or may adopt rules in the future that require us to share spectrum on a basis with other radio services. There can be no assurance that these operations would not interfere with our operations and adversely affect our business. In the event that the FCC and/or another regulator determines that our spectrum interferes with another service, we may be required to, among other things, find or develop a solution. We cannot make any assurance that we will be able to do so on an acceptable timeline or at all, or that such solution will not adversely affect our business.
Risks Related to our Products and Technology
Our business depends on certain intellectual property rights and on not infringing the intellectual property rights of others.
We rely on our patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, as well as licenses and other agreements with our vendors and other parties, to use our technologies, conduct our operations and sell our products and services. Legal challenges to our intellectual property rights and claims of intellectual property infringement by third parties could require that we enter into royalty or licensing agreements on unfavorable terms, incur substantial monetary liability or be enjoined preliminarily or permanently from further use of the intellectual property in question or from the continuation of our business as currently conducted, which could require us to change our business practices or limit our ability to compete effectively or could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Even if we believe any such challenges or claims are without merit, they can be time consuming and costly to defend and divert management’s attention and resources away from our business. Moreover, because of the rapid pace of technological change, we rely on technologies developed by or licensed from third parties, and if we are unable to obtain or continue to obtain licenses from these third parties on reasonable terms or at all, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
In addition, we work with certain third parties such as vendors, contractors and suppliers for the development and manufacture of components that are integrated into our products and services, and our products and services may contain technologies provided to us by these third parties or other third parties. We may have little or no ability to determine in advance whether any such technology infringes the intellectual property rights of others. Our vendors, contractors and suppliers may not be required to indemnify us if a claim of infringement is asserted against us, license the potential infringing technology from other third parties or they may be required to indemnify us only up to a maximum amount, above which we would be responsible for any further costs or damages.
Legal challenges to these intellectual property rights may impair our ability to use the products, services and technologies that we need in order to operate our business and may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, our digital content offerings depend in part on effective digital rights management technology to control access to digital content. If the digital rights management technology that we use is compromised or otherwise malfunctions, content providers may be unwilling to provide access to their content. Changes in the copyright laws or how such laws may be interpreted could impact our ability to deliver content and provide certain features and functionality, particularly over the Internet.
We are, and may become, party to various lawsuits which, if adversely decided, could have a significant adverse impact on our business, particularly lawsuits regarding intellectual property.
We are, and may become, subject to various legal proceedings and claims which arise in the ordinary course of business, including, among other things, intellectual property disputes. Many entities, including some of our competitors, have or may in the future obtain patents and other intellectual property rights that may cover or affect products or services related to those that we offer. In general, if a court determines that one or more of our products or services infringes on intellectual property held by others, we may be required to cease developing or marketing those products or services, to obtain licenses from the holders of the intellectual property at a material cost, or to redesign those products or services in such a way as to avoid infringing the intellectual property. If those intellectual property rights are held by a competitor, we may be unable to obtain the intellectual property at any price, which could adversely affect our competitive position. See “Item 1. Business - Patents and Other Intellectual Property” in EchoStar’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 for further information. We may not be aware of all intellectual property rights that our services or the products used in connection with our services may potentially infringe. In addition, patent applications in the United States are confidential until the Patent and Trademark Office either publishes the application or issues a patent (whichever arises first). Therefore, it is difficult to evaluate the extent to which our services or the products used in connection with our services may infringe claims contained in pending patent applications. Furthermore, it is sometimes not possible to determine definitively whether a claim of infringement is valid.
If our products contain defects, we could be subject to significant costs to correct such defects and our product and network service contracts could be delayed or cancelled, which could adversely affect our revenue.
Our products and networks we deploy are highly complex, and some may contain defects when first introduced or when new versions or enhancements are released, despite testing and our quality control procedures. Defects may also occur in components and products that we purchase from third parties. In addition, many of our products and network services are designed to interface with our customers’ existing networks, each of which has different specifications and utilizes multiple protocol standards. Our products and services must interoperate with the other products and services within our customers’ networks, as well as with future products and services that might be added to these networks, to meet our customers’ requirements. There can be no assurance that we will be able to detect and fix all defects in the products and networks we sell, in a timely manner or at all. The occurrence of, and failure to remedy, any defects, errors or failures in our products or network services could materially affect our business.
Risks Related to Cybersecurity
Any failure or inadequacy of our information technology infrastructure and communications systems or those of third parties that we use in our operations, including, without limitation, those caused by cyber-attacks or other malicious activities, could disrupt or harm our business.
The capacity, reliability and security of our information technology hardware and software infrastructure (including, but not limited to, our billing systems) and communications systems, or those of third parties that we use in our operations, are important to the operation of our business, which has in the past and would in the future suffer in the event of system failures or cyber-attacks. Likewise, our ability to expand and update our information technology infrastructure in response to, among other things, our growth and changing needs is important to the continued implementation of our new service offering initiatives. Our inability to expand or upgrade our technology infrastructure could have adverse consequences, which could include, among other things, the delayed implementation of new service offerings, service or billing interruptions, and the diversion of management and developmental resources.
We rely on certain third parties for developing key components of our information technology and communications systems and ongoing service, all of which affect our Pay-TV and Wireless businesses. Some of our key systems and operations, including, but not limited to, those supplied by certain third-party providers, are not fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities. Interruption and/or failure of any of these systems could, among other things, disrupt our operations, interrupt our services, result in significant financial expenditures and damage our reputation, thus adversely impacting our ability to provide our services, retain our current subscribers and attract new Pay-TV and Wireless subscribers and complete our 5G Network Deployment.
In addition, although we take protective measures designed to secure our information technology systems and endeavor to modify such protective measures as circumstances warrant, our information technology hardware and software infrastructure and communications systems, or those of third parties that we use in our operations, may be vulnerable to a variety of interruptions, including, without limitation, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, telecommunications failures, cyber-attacks and other malicious activities such as unauthorized access, physical or electronic break-ins, misuse, computer viruses or other malicious code, computer denial of service attacks and other events that could disrupt or harm our business. These protective measures may not be sufficient for all eventualities and may themselves be vulnerable to hacking, malfeasance, system error or other irregularities.
For example, certain parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or subscribers into disclosing usernames, passwords or other sensitive information, which may in turn be used to access our information technology systems. In addition, third-party providers of some of our key systems may also experience interruptions to their information technology hardware and software infrastructure and communications systems that could adversely impact us and over which we may have limited or no control. We may obtain certain confidential, proprietary and personal information about our subscribers, personnel and vendors, and may provide this information to third parties in connection with our business. If one or more of such interruptions or failures occur to us or our third-party providers, it potentially could jeopardize such information and other information processed and stored in, and transmitted through, our or our third-party providers’ information technology hardware and software infrastructure and communications systems, or otherwise cause interruptions or malfunctions in our operations, which could result in, among other things, lawsuits, government claims, investigations or proceedings, significant losses or reputational damage. Due to the fast-moving pace of technology, it may be difficult to detect, contain and remediate every such event on an acceptable timeline or at all.
Our 5G Network Deployment utilizes an O-RAN architecture, which is designed to, among other things, incorporate components sourced from various third-party suppliers. Generally, these third-party suppliers do not ensure that their products will integrate with components provided by other third-party suppliers. As a result, we generally serve as the overall system integrator. We may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify our protective measures or to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures, and we may be subject to financial losses. In addition, this may divert management’s attention and resources away from our business, and therefore adversely affect our business. Furthermore, the amount and scope of insurance we maintain may not cover all expenses related to such activities or all types of claims that may arise.
As a result of the increasing awareness concerning the importance of safeguarding personal information, the potential misuse of such information and legislation that has been adopted or is being considered regarding the protection, privacy and security of personal information, the potential liability associated with information-related risks is increasing, particularly for businesses like ours that handle personal subscriber data. The occurrence of any network or information system related events or security breaches could have a material adverse effect on, among other things, our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. Significant incidents could result in a disruption of our operations, subscriber dissatisfaction, damage to our reputation or a loss of subscribers and revenues.
We have experienced and may experience in the future cyber-attacks and other attempts to gain unauthorized access to our systems on a consistent basis.
We have experienced and may experience in the future security issues, whether due to, among other things, insider error or malfeasance or system errors or vulnerabilities in our or our third parties’ systems, which could result in, among other things, substantial legal and financial exposure, government inquiries and enforcement actions, litigation, diversion of management time and attention from our existing businesses and unfavorable media coverage. We may be unable to anticipate or detect attacks or vulnerabilities or implement adequate preventative measures on an acceptable timeframe or at all. Attacks and security issues could also compromise trade secrets and other sensitive information. In February 2023, we disclosed that our systems were subject to a cyber-security incident that compromised certain data. During the first quarter of 2023, we incurred certain cyber-security- related expenses, including, but not limited to, costs to remediate the incident and provide additional customer support. Subsequent to the first quarter of 2023, we have not incurred material expenses resulting from the cyber-security incident and do not expect to incur material expenses in future periods.
We are subject to persistent cyber-security incidents and threats to our networks and systems. Although we take protective measures designed to secure our information technology systems and endeavor to modify such protective measures as circumstances warrant, our information technology hardware and software infrastructure and communications systems, or those of third parties that we use in our operations, may be vulnerable to a variety of interruptions, including, without limitation, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, telecommunications failures, cyber-attacks and other malicious activities such as unauthorized access, physical or electronic break-ins, misuse, computer viruses or other malicious code, computer denial of service attacks and other events that could disrupt or harm our business. The protective measures we take may not be sufficient for all eventualities and may themselves be vulnerable to hacking, malfeasance, system error, or other irregularities. For example, certain parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or subscribers into disclosing usernames, passwords or other sensitive information, which may in turn be used to access our information technology systems.
The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our services and products depends on the continuing operation of our information technology and other enabling systems.
Our systems are vulnerable to damage, intrusion, or disruption from, among other things, criminal and/or terrorist attacks, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, ransomware attacks, digital denial of service attacks, phishing, and/or other attempts to injure or maliciously access our systems. Some of our systems are not fully redundant, and disaster recovery planning cannot account for all possibilities. In addition, our products and services are highly technical and complex and may contain errors or vulnerabilities, which could result in interruptions in or failure of our services or systems. Failure to respond, mitigate and/or remedy any cyber-attack or other information technology failure on a timely basis or at all, could materially affect our business.
Our ongoing investments in security will likely continue to identify new vulnerabilities within our services and products.
In addition to our efforts to, among other things, mitigate cyber-attacks and improve our products and services, we are making significant investments to assure that our products are resistant to compromise. As a result of these efforts, we could discover new vulnerabilities within our products and systems that would be undesirable for our users and customers. We have discovered and remediated, and may discover new vulnerabilities due to the scale of activities on our platforms, and may not be able to mitigate or fix such vulnerabilities on acceptable timeframes or at all, due to other factors, including, but not limited to, issues outside of our control such as natural disasters/climate change such as sea level rise, drought, flooding, wildfires, increased storm severity, pandemics like COVID-19 and power loss, and we may be notified of such vulnerabilities via third parties. Any of the foregoing developments may, among other things, negatively affect user and customer trust, harm our reputation and brands, and adversely affect our business and financial results.
Any such developments may also subject us to litigation and regulatory inquiries, which could result in monetary penalties and damages, distract management’s time and attention, and lead to enhanced regulatory oversight.
Acquisition and Capital Structure Risks
We have substantial debt outstanding and may incur additional debt.
As of December 31, 2023, our total long-term debt and finance lease obligations (including current portion) outstanding, including the debt of our subsidiaries, was $21.220 billion. Our debt levels could have significant consequences, including, but not limited to;
● making it more difficult to satisfy our obligations;
● a dilutive effect on our future earnings;
● increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic conditions, including, but not limited to, changes in interest rates;
● requiring us to devote a substantial portion of our cash to make interest and principal payments on our debt, thereby reducing the amount of cash available for other purposes. As a result, we would have limited financial and operating flexibility to changing economic and competitive conditions;
● limiting our ability to raise additional debt because it may be more difficult for us to obtain debt financing on attractive terms or at all; and
● placing us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors that are less leveraged.
In addition, we will incur additional debt in the future. The terms of the indentures relating to our senior notes, senior secured notes and our Convertible Notes permit us to incur additional debt. If new debt is added to our current debt levels, the risks we now face could intensify.
We have made substantial investments to acquire certain wireless spectrum licenses and other related assets, and we may be unable to realize a return on these assets.
We have invested a total of over $30 billion to acquire certain Wireless spectrum licenses. We may need to make significant additional investments or partner with others to, among other things, complete our 5G Network Deployment and further commercialize, build-out and integrate these licenses and related assets and any additional acquired licenses and related assets, as well as to comply with regulations applicable to such licenses. Depending on the nature and scope of such activities, any such investments or partnerships could vary significantly. In addition, as we complete our 5G Network Deployment, we have and will continue to incur significant additional expenses related to, among other things, research and development, wireless testing and ongoing upgrades to the wireless network infrastructure, software and third-party integration. As a result of these investments, among other factors, we plan to raise additional capital, which may not be available on favorable terms. We may also determine that additional wireless spectrum licenses may be required to complete our 5G Network Deployment and to compete effectively with other wireless service providers.
We may need to make significant additional investments or partner with others to, among other things, complete our 5G Network Deployment and further commercialize, build-out and integrate these licenses and related assets and any additional acquired licenses and related assets, as well as to comply with regulations applicable to such licenses. Depending on the nature and scope of such activities, any such investments or partnerships could vary significantly.
There is no assurance that the FCC will find our 5G Network Deployment sufficient to meet the build-out requirements to which our Wireless spectrum licenses are subject. Failure to comply with FCC build-out requirements and/or renewal requirements in a given license area could result in, among other things, revocation of the license for that license area. The revocation of a material portion of our Wireless spectrum licenses would have a significant material adverse effect on our 5G Network Deployment and our future business, results of operations and financial condition.
We will need to raise additional capital in the future, which may not be available on favorable terms, to fund the efforts described above, as well as, among other things, make any potential Northstar Re-Auction Payment and SNR Re-Auction Payment for the AWS-3 licenses retained by the FCC. There can be no assurance that we will be able to profitably deploy these Wireless spectrum licenses, which may affect the carrying amount of these assets and our future financial condition or results of operations.
Furthermore, the fair values of wireless spectrum licenses may vary significantly in the future. In particular, valuation swings could occur if:
● the consolidation in the wireless industry allows or requires wireless carriers to sell significant portions of their wireless spectrum holdings, which could in turn reduce the value of our spectrum holdings;
● the sale of spectrum by one or more wireless providers occurs;
● the FCC pursues certain policies designed to increase the number of wireless spectrum licenses available in each of our markets; or
● the FCC conducts additional wireless spectrum auctions.
If the fair value of our Wireless spectrum licenses were to decline significantly, the value of these licenses could be subject to impairment charges. We assess potential impairments to our indefinite-lived intangible assets annually or more often if indicators of impairment arise to determine whether there is evidence that indicates an impairment condition may exist.
We capitalize our interest expense associated with the acquisition or construction of certain assets including, among others, our Wireless spectrum licenses. As the carrying amount of these licenses exceeds the carrying value of our long-term debt, substantially all of our interest expense is being capitalized. This capitalized interest increases the carrying amount of these licenses for purposes of impairment testing, under which we consider whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of these licenses exceeds the carrying amount of these licenses. An increase in the carrying amount of these licenses combined with other changes in circumstances and/or market conditions could result in an increased risk of an impairment of these licenses in the future, and an impairment of these assets may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We may pursue acquisitions, dispositions, capital expenditures, the development, acquisition and launch of new satellites and other strategic initiatives to complement or expand our business, which may not be successful and we may lose a portion or all of our investment in these acquisitions and transactions.
Our future success may depend on opportunities to buy or otherwise invest in other businesses or technologies that could complement, enhance or expand our current business or products or that might otherwise offer us growth opportunities. To pursue this strategy successfully, we must identify attractive acquisition or investment opportunities and successfully complete transactions, some of which may be large and complex. We may not be able to identify or complete attractive acquisition or investment opportunities due to, among other things, the intense competition for these transactions. If we are not able to identify and complete such acquisition or investment opportunities, our future results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.
We may be unable to obtain in the anticipated time frame, or at all, any regulatory approvals required to complete proposed acquisitions and other strategic transactions. Furthermore, the conditions imposed for obtaining any necessary approvals could delay the completion of such transactions for a significant period of time or prevent them from occurring at all. We may not be able to complete such transactions, and such transactions, if executed, pose significant risks and could have a negative effect on our operations. Any transactions that we are able to identify and complete may involve a number of risks, including, but not limited to:
● the risks associated with developing and constructing new satellites;
● the diversion of management’s attention from our existing business onto a strategic initiative;
● the possible adverse effects on our and our targets’ and partners’ business, financial condition or operating results during the Integration process;
● the high degree of risk inherent in these transactions, which could become substantial over time, and higher exposure to significant financial losses if the underlying ventures are not successful on an acceptable timeline or at all;
● the possible inability to achieve the intended objectives of the transaction; and
● the risks associated with complying with contractual provisions and regulations applicable to the acquired business, which may cause us to incur substantial expenses; and
● the disruption of relationships with employees, vendors or customers.
In addition, we may not be able to successfully or profitably integrate, operate, maintain and manage our newly acquired operations or employees on an acceptable timeline or at all. We may not be able to maintain uniform standards, controls, procedures and policies, and this may lead to, among other things, operational inefficiencies. In addition, the Integration process may strain our financial and managerial controls and reporting systems and procedures.
New acquisitions, joint ventures and other transactions may require the commitment of significant capital that would otherwise be directed to investments in our existing business. To pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions, we may need to raise additional capital in the future, which may not be available on favorable terms, or at all.
In addition to committing capital to complete the acquisitions, substantial capital may be required to operate the acquired businesses following their acquisition. These acquisitions may result in significant financial losses if the intended objectives of the transactions are not achieved. Some of the businesses that we have acquired have experienced significant operating and financial challenges in their recent history, which in some cases resulted in these businesses commencing bankruptcy proceedings prior to our acquisition. We may acquire similar businesses in the future.
There is no assurance that we will be able to successfully address the challenges and risks encountered by these businesses following their acquisition. If we are unable to successfully address these challenges and risks, our business, financial condition and/or results of operations may suffer.
We will need additional capital, which may not be available on favorable terms to fund current obligations, to continue investing in our business and to finance acquisitions and other strategic transactions.
We do not currently have the necessary cash on hand and/or projected future cash flows to fund the November 2024 debt maturity. To address our capital needs, we are in active discussions with funding sources to raise additional capital and refinance our outstanding debt. We cannot provide assurances that we will be successful in obtaining such new financing and/or refinancing the existing debt obligations necessary for us to have sufficient liquidity. If we are not successful in these endeavors, then capital expenditures to meet future FCC build out requirements and wireless customer growth initiatives will be adversely affected.
Adverse changes in the credit markets including, but not limited to, rising interest rates and macro-economic conditions, could increase our borrowing costs and/or make it more difficult for us to obtain financing for our operations or for us to refinance existing indebtedness on favorable terms.
Continued rising interest rates could increase our cost of capital and require us to devote a higher percentage of our cash flow to interest payments, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial results.
In addition, economic weakness, weak results of operations or other factors may limit our ability to, among other things, generate sufficient internal cash to fund investments, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other strategic transactions, as well as to fund ongoing operations and service our debt. We may be unable to generate cash flows from operating activities sufficient to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our debt and other obligations. If we are unable to service our debt and other obligations from cash flows from operating activities, we may need to refinance or restructure all or a portion of such obligations prior to maturity.
Any refinancing or restructuring could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and/or financial condition. In addition, we cannot guarantee that any refinancing or restructuring would sufficiently meet any debt or other obligations then due. If we do not pay interest or otherwise fulfill our debt obligations when due, our business, cash flows, results of operations and financial condition would be materially adversely impacted. In addition, the going concern qualification issued by our auditors could adversely impact investors as well as our relationships with employees and suppliers.
Furthermore, our borrowing costs can be affected by short and long-term debt ratings assigned by independent rating agencies, which are based, in significant part, on, among other factors, our performance as measured by their credit metrics. A decrease in these ratings would likely increase our cost of borrowing and/or make it more difficult for us to obtain financing.
A severe disruption in the global financial markets could impact some of the financial institutions with which we do business, and such instability could also affect our access to financing. As a result, these conditions could make it difficult for us to accurately forecast and plan future business activities because we may not have access to funding sources necessary for us to pursue organic and strategic business development opportunities.
The conditional conversion features of our Convertible Notes, if triggered, may adversely affect our financial condition.
In the event the conditional conversion features of the Convertible Notes are triggered, holders of the Convertible Notes will be entitled to convert the Convertible Notes at any time during specified periods at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their Convertible Notes, unless EchoStar elects to satisfy its conversion obligation by delivering solely shares of EchoStar’s Class A common stock, EchoStar would be required to make cash payments to satisfy all or a portion of its conversion obligation based on the conversion rate, which could adversely affect our liquidity.
In addition, even if holders do not elect to convert their Convertible Notes, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or a portion of the outstanding principal of the Convertible Notes as a current rather than long-term liability, which could result in a material reduction of our net working capital.
The convertible note hedge and warrant transactions that we entered into in connection with the offering of the Convertible Notes due 2026 may affect the value of the Convertible Notes due 2026 and EchoStar’s Class A common stock.
In connection with the offering of the Convertible Notes due 2026, we entered into convertible note hedge transactions with certain option counterparties (each an “option counterparty”). The convertible note hedge transactions are expected generally to reduce the potential dilution to EchoStar upon conversion of the Convertible Notes due 2026 and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted Convertible Notes due 2026, as the case may be. We also entered into warrant transactions with each option counterparty. The warrant transactions could separately have a dilutive effect on EchoStar’s Class A common stock to the extent that the market price per share of its Class A common stock exceeds the strike price of the warrants, unless we elect to settle the warrants in cash. In connection with establishing its initial hedge of the convertible note hedge and warrant transactions, each option counterparty or an affiliate thereof may have entered into various derivative transactions with respect to EchoStar’s Class A common stock concurrently with or shortly after the pricing of the Convertible Notes due 2026.
This activity could increase (or reduce the size of any decrease in) the market price of EchoStar’s Class A common stock or the Convertible Notes due 2026 at that time. In addition, each option counterparty or an affiliate thereof may modify its hedge position by entering into or unwinding various derivatives with respect to EchoStar’s Class A common stock and/or purchasing or selling EchoStar’s Class A common stock or other securities of EchoStar’s in secondary market transactions prior to the maturity of the Convertible Notes due 2026 (and is likely to do so during any observation period related to a conversion of the Convertible Notes due 2026). This activity could also cause or avoid an increase or a decrease in the market price of EchoStar’s Class A common stock or the Convertible Notes due 2026. In addition, if any such convertible note hedge and warrant transactions fail to become effective, each option counterparty may unwind its hedge position with respect to EchoStar’s Class A common stock, which could adversely affect the value of EchoStar’s Class A common stock and the value of the Convertible Notes due 2026.
We are subject to counterparty risk with respect to the convertible note hedge transactions.
Each option counterparty to the convertible note hedge transactions is a financial institution, and we will be subject to the risk that it might default under the convertible note hedge transaction. Our exposure to the credit risk of an option counterparty will not be secured by any collateral. Global economic conditions have from time to time resulted in the actual or perceived failure or financial difficulties of many financial institutions, including, but not limited to, the bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and its various affiliates. If an option counterparty becomes subject to insolvency proceedings, we will become an unsecured creditor in those proceedings with a claim equal to our exposure at that time under our transactions with the option counterparty. Our exposure will depend on many factors but, generally, the increase in our exposure will be correlated to the increase in the market price and in the volatility of EchoStar’s Class A common stock. In addition, upon a default by an option counterparty, we may suffer adverse tax consequences and more dilution than we currently anticipate with respect to EchoStar’s Class A common stock. We can provide no assurances as to the financial stability or viability of any option counterparty.
From time to time a portion of our investment portfolio may be invested in securities that have limited liquidity and may not be immediately accessible to support our financing needs.
From time to time a portion of our investment portfolio may be invested in strategic investments, and as a result, a portion of our portfolio may have restricted liquidity. If the credit ratings of these securities deteriorate or there is a lack of liquidity in the marketplace, we may be required to record impairment charges. Moreover, the uncertainty of domestic and global financial markets can greatly affect the volatility and value of our marketable investment securities. In addition, a portion of our investment portfolio may include strategic and financial investments in debt and equity securities of public companies that are highly speculative and that may experience volatility. Typically, these investments are concentrated in a small number of companies. The fair value of these investments can be significantly impacted by the risk of adverse changes in securities markets generally, as well as risks related to the performance of the companies whose securities we have invested in, risks associated with specific industries, and other factors. These investments are subject to significant fluctuations in fair value due to the volatility of the securities markets and of the underlying businesses. The concentration of these investments as a percentage of our overall investment portfolio fluctuates from time to time based on, among other things, the size of our investment portfolio and our ability to liquidate these investments. In addition, because our portfolio may be concentrated in a limited number of companies, we may experience a significant loss if any of these companies, among other things, defaults on its obligations, performs poorly, does not generate adequate cash flow to fund its operations, is unable to obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms, or at all, or files for bankruptcy, or if the sectors in which these companies operate experience a market downturn. To the extent we require access to funds, we may need to sell these securities under unfavorable market conditions, record impairment charges and fall short of our financing needs.
Covenants in our and our subsidiaries’ Indentures restrict our business in many ways.
There are restrictive covenants in our and our subsidiaries’ Indentures that restrict us and our subsidiaries (as applicable), under certain circumstances, from taking certain actions such as, among other things:
● incur additional debt;
● allow to exist certain restrictions on certain subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends, make distributions, make other payments or transfer assets;
● restrict our ability to make investments or make other payments in respect of our other indebtedness;
● limit our ability to incur indebtedness that is senior to, equal or subordinate to certain Indebtedness, or to engage in certain sale/leaseback transactions;
● enter into certain transactions with affiliates;
● merge or consolidate with another company;
● restrict our ability to repurchase or prepay any other of our securities or other indebtedness; and
● restrict our ability to enter into highly leveraged transactions.
Our ability to, among other things, recapitalize, incur additional debt, secure existing or future debt or take a number of other actions may be limited by the terms of the our Indentures, business and tax considerations and legal restrictions, including, but not limited to, repurchasing indebtedness or paying dividends, and could have the effect of diminishing our ability to make payments on our outstanding Indebtedness when due.
Our parent, EchoStar, is controlled by one principal stockholder who is also our Chairman.
Charles W. Ergen, our and EchoStar’s Chairman, beneficially owns approximately 54% of EchoStar’s total equity securities (assuming conversion of the Class B common stock beneficially owned by Mr. Ergen into Class A common stock and giving effect to the exercise of options held by Mr. Ergen that are either currently exercisable as of, or may become exercisable within 60 days after, February 27, 2023) and beneficially owns approximately 91.4% of the total voting power of all classes of EchoStar’s shares (assuming no conversion of any Class B common stock and giving effect to the exercise of options held by Mr. Ergen that are either currently exercisable as of, or may become exercisable within 60 days after, February 27, 2023). Through his beneficial ownership of EchoStar’s equity securities, Mr. Ergen has the ability to elect a majority of EchoStar’s directors and to control all other matters requiring the approval of its stockholders. As a result of Mr. Ergen’s voting power, EchoStar is a “controlled company” as defined in the NASDAQ listing rules and, therefore, is not subject to NASDAQ requirements that would otherwise require EchoStar to have (i) a majority of independent directors; (ii) a nominating committee composed solely of independent directors; (iii) compensation of EchoStar’s executive officers determined by a majority of the independent directors or a compensation committee composed solely of independent directors; (iv) a compensation committee charter which provides the compensation committee with the authority and funding to retain compensation consultants and other advisors; and/or (v) director nominees selected, or recommended for EchoStar’s Board of Directors selection, either by a majority of the independent directors or a nominating committee composed solely of independent directors.
Risks Related to the Regulation of Our Business
Our services depend on FCC licenses that can expire or be revoked or modified and applications for FCC licenses that may not be granted.
If the FCC were to cancel, revoke, suspend, restrict, significantly condition, or fail to renew any of our licenses or authorizations, or fail to grant our applications for FCC licenses that we may file from time to time, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. As an example, a loss of a frequency authorization would reduce the amount of spectrum available to us, potentially reducing the amount of DISH TV and/or Wireless offerings available to our DISH TV and/or Wireless subscribers. The materiality of such a loss of authorizations would vary based upon, among other things, the location of the frequency used, or the availability of replacement spectrum. In addition, Congress and other Administrative and Regulatory agencies often consider and enact legislation that affects us and FCC proceedings to implement the Communications Act and enforce its regulations are ongoing. We cannot predict the outcomes of these legislative or regulatory proceedings or their effect on our business.
Wireless services and our Wireless spectrum licenses are subject to regulation by the FCC and, depending on the jurisdiction, other federal, state and local, as well as international, governmental authorities and regulatory agencies, including, among other things, regulations governing the licensing, construction, operation, sale and interconnection arrangements of wireless telecommunications systems. In particular, the FCC imposes significant regulation on licensees of wireless spectrum with respect to, among others, how radio spectrum is used by licensees, the nature of the services that licensees may offer and how the services may be offered, and resolution of issues of interference between spectrum bands. The FCC grants wireless licenses for terms of generally 10-12 years that are subject to renewal or revocation.
There can be no assurances that our Wireless spectrum licenses will be renewed. Failure to comply with FCC build-out requirements in a given license area may result in acceleration of other build-out requirements or in the modification, cancellation, or non-renewal of licenses. See Note 13 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
Changes in levels of U.S. government spending or overall spending priorities could impact, among other things, our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We derive a portion of our revenue from subscribers who receive benefits under the Affordable Connectivity Program (“ACP”), an FCC benefit program that helps ensure that households can afford access to broadband. Levels of U.S. government spending are very difficult to predict and may be impacted by numerous factors such as, among others, the political environment, macroeconomic conditions and the ability of the U.S. government to enact relevant legislation such as authorization and appropriations bills.
Discontinuation, amendment or repeal of ACP, or replacement of ACP with one having different eligibility requirements and/or funding levels could negatively impact, among other things, our net Wireless subscriber activations, which may impact our decision to continue to participate in the program. We cannot predict whether or when any future changes to the ACP may occur, or whether or to what extent those changes may affect our operations or impose additional costs on our business. In addition, the timing of any changes or modifications to ACP could affect our operations and results of operations. For example, a temporary lapse in funding for ACP, as a result of, among other things, temporary government shutdown, could, among other things, result in lower net Wireless subscriber activations, even if ACP is ultimately fully funded and approved.
In particular, reduced government funding for benefits programs such as ACP would result in a reduction in reimbursements to us. Amendments to or repeal of ACP in whole or in part and/or decisions by the FCC could affect us and the manner in which we are reimbursed by such programs, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Following the FCC’s announcement, ACP stopped accepting new applications and enrollments on February 7, 2024. Barring congressional action to fund ACP, funding may run out as soon as April 2024.
The risk of non-compliance with laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, the risk of changes to laws and regulations, could adversely affect our business.
Our business is regulated by numerous governmental agencies and other regulatory bodies, both domestically and internationally. Violations of these laws and regulations could result in fines or penalties or other sanctions which could have a material adverse impact on our business. Additionally, our ability to operate and grow our business depends on laws and regulations that govern the frequency bands and/or orbital locations we operate in or may operate in in the future.
These laws and regulations are subject to the administrative and political process and do change from time to time. Our business could suffer a material adverse impact if laws and regulations change and we are not able to adapt to these changes efficiently.
If our internal controls are not effective, our business, EchoStar’s stock price and investor confidence in our financial results may be adversely affected.
We periodically evaluate and test our internal control over financial reporting to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2023. We depend on our third-party vendors’ internal controls and rely on these controls when evaluating the effectiveness of our internal controls. If in the future we are unable to report that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, investors, subscribers and business partners could lose confidence in the accuracy of our financial reports, which could in turn have a material adverse effect on our business.
We may face other risks described from time to time in periodic and current reports we file with the SEC.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Item 2. PROPERTIES
The following table sets forth certain information concerning our principal properties related to our business segments as of December 31, 2023.
Leased From
Description/Use/Location
Segment(s)
Using Property
Owned
EchoStar
Other
Third
Party
Corporate headquarters, Englewood, Colorado (1)
All
X
General offices, Littleton, Colorado
Retail Wireless/5G Network Deployment
X
Customer call center, warehouse, service, and remanufacturing center, El Paso, Texas
Pay-TV
X
Data Center, Cheyenne, Wyoming
Pay-TV/5G Network Deployment
X
Digital broadcast operations center, Cheyenne, Wyoming
Pay-TV
X
Digital broadcast operations center, Gilbert, Arizona
Pay-TV
X
Engineering offices and service center, Englewood, Colorado
Pay-TV
X
Warehouse, Denver, Colorado
Pay-TV
X
Warehouse and distribution center, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Pay TV/5G Network Deployment
X
Warehouse and distribution center, Denver, Colorado
Pay TV/5G Network Deployment
X
Warehouse and distribution center, Atlanta, Georgia
Pay TV/5G Network Deployment
X
(1) See Note 17 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on our Related Party Transactions with our parent, EchoStar.
In addition to the principal properties listed above, we operate numerous facilities for, among other things, our in-home service operations, customer call centers and digital broadcast operations centers strategically located in regions throughout the United States. Furthermore, our Pay-TV segment owns or leases capacity on nine satellites, which are a major component of our DISH TV services. See Note 7 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
See Note 13 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for information regarding certain legal proceedings in which we are involved.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
As of March 11, 2024, all 1,000 issued and outstanding shares of our common stock were held by EchoStar. There is currently no established trading market for our common stock.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
As a result of the merger with EchoStar effective December 31, 2023, this plan was terminated as all of the outstanding shares of the DISH Network are held by EchoStar.
The following table provides information regarding purchases of our Class A common stock made by us for the period from October 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023.
Total Number of
Maximum Approximate
Total
Shares Purchased
Dollar Value of Shares
Number of
Average
as Part of Publicly
that May Yet be
Shares
Price Paid
Announced
Purchased Under the
Period
Purchased
per Share
Programs
Programs (1)
(In thousands, except share data)
October 1, 2023 - October 31, 2023
-
$
-
-
$
1,000,000
November 1, 2023 - November 30, 2023
-
$
-
-
$
1,000,000
December 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023
-
$
-
-
$
1,000,000
Total
-
$
-
-
$
1,000,000
(1) DISH Network’s Board of Directors previously authorized stock repurchases of up to $1.0 billion of its outstanding Class A common stock. On October 21, 2023, DISH Network’s Board of Directors extended this authorization to repurchase up to $1.0 billion of its outstanding Class A common stock through and including December 31, 2024. However, this program expired December 31, 2023 as a result of DISH Network’s merger with EchoStar. During the three months ended December 31, 2023, there were no repurchases of DISH Network’s Class A common stock.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item 6. [Reserved]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following management’s narrative analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes to our financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This management’s narrative analysis is intended to help provide an understanding of our financial condition, changes in financial condition and results of our operations and contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections about our industry, business and future financial results. Our actual results could differ materially from the results contemplated by these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Furthermore, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and we expressly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Overview
Recent Developments
Merger with EchoStar
On December 31, 2023, we completed the Merger with EchoStar. On the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Amended Merger Agreement, on December 31, 2023 at the Effective Time each share of DISH Network Common Stock outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time, was converted into the right to receive a number of validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable shares of EchoStar Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio. Any shares of DISH Network Common Stock that were held in DISH Network’s treasury or held directly by EchoStar or Merger Sub immediately prior to the Effective Time were cancelled and cease to exist and no consideration was paid in respect thereof. All shares of the DISH Network Class A Common Stock were delisted from NASDAQ and deregistered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
The EchoStar Common Stock issued to the Ergen DISH Stockholders (as defined in the Amended Merger Agreement) as Merger consideration was issued through a private placement exemption from registration under the Securities Act. At the Effective Time, each share of DISH Network Class A Common Stock owned by the Ergen DISH Stockholders immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into the right to receive a number of shares of EchoStar Class A Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio, and (b) each share of DISH Network Class B Common Stock owned by the Ergen DISH Stockholders immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into the right to receive a number of shares of EchoStar Class B Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio.
Concurrently with the entry into the Amended Merger Agreement, the Ergen Stockholders, EchoStar and DISH Network entered into the Amended Support Agreement.
In connection with the completion of the Merger, on December 31, 2023, EchoStar and the Ergen Stockholders entered into the Registration Rights Agreement. See Note 1 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
For more information and a copy of the Amended Merger Agreement, the Amended Support Agreement and the Registration Rights Agreement, see the Form 8-K of EchoStar filed on October 3, 2023 and the Form 8-K of EchoStar filed on January 2, 2024.
With the Merger complete, we are currently focused on the Integration.
Segments
We currently operate three primary business segments: (1) Pay-TV; (2) Retail Wireless; and (3) 5G Network Deployment.
Our Pay-TV segment business strategy is to be the best provider of video services in the United States by providing products with the best technology, outstanding customer service, and great value. We offer Pay-TV services under the DISH® brand and the SLING® brand. We promote our Pay-TV services by providing our subscribers with a better “price-to-value” relationship and experience than those available from other subscription television service providers. We market our SLING TV services to consumers who do not subscribe to traditional satellite and cable pay-TV services, as well as to current and recent traditional pay-TV subscribers who desire a lower cost alternative.
Our Retail Wireless segment offers Retail Wireless services as well as a competitive portfolio of wireless devices. We offer customers value by providing choice and flexibility in our Retail Wireless services. We offer competitive consumer plans with no annual service contracts. Our Retail Wireless business strategy is to expand our current target segments and profitably grow our subscriber base by acquiring and retaining high quality subscribers while we continue our 5G Network Deployment. We intend to acquire high quality subscribers by providing competitive offers, choice and outstanding customer service that better meet those subscribers’ needs and budget.
We are currently operating our Retail Wireless segment primarily as a MVNO as we continue our 5G Network Deployment and commercialize our 5G Network. We are transitioning our Retail Wireless segment to a MNO as our 5G Network becomes commercially available and we are currently activating subscribers onto our 5G Network in markets where we have reached VoNR. As an MVNO, today we depend on T-Mobile and AT&T to provide us with network services under the MNSA and the NSA, respectively. Under the NSA, we expect AT&T will become our primary network services provider.
Our 5G Network Deployment segment business strategy is to commercialize our Wireless spectrum licenses through the completion of our 5G Network Deployment. We have committed to deploy our 5G Network capable of serving increasingly larger portions of the U.S. population at different deadlines, including 20% of the U.S. population by June 2022 and 70% of the U.S. population by June 2023. If by June 2023, we are offering 5G broadband service to at least 50% of the U.S. population but less than 70% of the U.S. population, the 70% June 2023 deadline will be extended automatically to June 2025; however, as a result, we may, under certain circumstances, potentially be subject to certain penalties. On June 14, 2022, we announced we had successfully reached our 20% population coverage requirement. In addition, we announced and certified to the FCC that as of June 14, 2023, we offer 5G broadband service to over 73% of the U.S. population, or more than 246 million Americans nationwide. On September 29, 2023, the FCC confirmed we have met all of our June 14, 2023 band-specific 5G deployment commitments, and two of our three nationwide 5G commitments. The single remaining 5G commitment, that at least 70% of the U.S. population has access to average download speeds equal to 35 Mbps, was confirmed using the drive test methodology agreed to and approved by the FCC and overseen by an independent monitor. We now have the largest commercial deployment of 5G VoNR in the world reaching approximately 200 million Americans and 5G broadband service reaching approximately 250 million Americans.
As a result of us providing 5G broadband service to over 50% of the U.S. population by June 14, 2023, the final build-out deadlines have been extended automatically to June 14, 2025 for us to offer 5G broadband service to at least 70% of the population in each Economic Area for the 700 MHz Licenses and AWS-4 Licenses and at least 75% of the population in each Economic Area for the H Block Licenses.
Future Capital Requirements
We expect to fund our future working capital, capital expenditures, other investments, and debt service requirements from cash generated from operations, existing cash, restricted cash, cash equivalents and marketable investment securities balances, and cash generated through raising additional capital. We may need to make significant additional investments to, among other things, continue our 5G Network Deployment and further commercialize, build-out and integrate our Wireless spectrum licenses and related assets. The amount of capital required to fund our future working capital, capital expenditure and other investment needs varies, depending on, among other things, the rate at which we complete our 5G Network Deployment, the purchase of additional wireless spectrum licenses and the rate at which we acquire new subscribers and the cost of subscriber acquisition and retention. Certain of our capital expenditures for 2024 are expected to be driven by the rate of our 5G Network Deployment as well as costs associated with subscriber premises equipment. These expenditures are necessary for our 5G Network Deployment as well as to operate and maintain our DISH TV services. Consequently, we consider them to be non-discretionary.
We used our cash, cash equivalents and marketable investment securities, cash flow from operations and funds from certain strategic transactions, including the sale of our wholly-owned subsidiary which holds the 700 MHz Spectrum to a wholly-owned subsidiary of our parent, EchoStar, on March 12, 2024, to pay the March 2024 debt maturity. We do not currently have the necessary cash, cash equivalents and marketable investment securities and/or projected future cash flows to fund the November 2024 debt maturity. To address our capital needs, we are in active discussions with funding sources to raise additional capital and restructure our outstanding debt.
Our capital expenditures vary depending on, among other things, the number of satellites leased or under construction at any point in time and could increase materially as a result of increased competition, significant satellite failures, or economic weakness and uncertainty. Our DISH TV subscriber base has been declining and there can be no assurance that our DISH TV subscriber base will not continue to decline and that the pace of such decline will not accelerate. In the event that our DISH TV subscriber base continues to decline, it will have a material adverse long-term effect on our cash flow.
On November 15, 2021 the SNR Put Right was exercised. As of December 31, 2023, the aggregate value of SNR Management’s ownership interest in SNR HoldCo was $438 million, recorded as “Redeemable noncontrolling interests” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Subsequent to December 31, 2023, the FCC consented to the sale of SNR Wireless Management, LLC’s (“SNR Management”) ownership interests in SNR HoldCo, which was purchased by our parent’s direct wholly-owned subsidiary EchoStar SNR HoldCo L.L.C. for a total of approximately $442 million on February 16, 2024. In addition, the remaining balance of $951 million on our 2 3/8% Convertible Notes matured on March 15, 2024 and was paid with our cash, cash equivalents and marketable investment securities, cash flow from operations and funds from certain strategic transactions including the sale of our wholly-owned subsidiary which holds the 700 MHz Spectrum to a wholly-owned subsidiary of our parent, EchoStar, on March 12, 2024. See Note 9 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
We have and expect to continue to incur expenditures in 2024 related to our 5G Network Deployment, including, but not limited to, capital expenditures associated with our 5G Network Deployment and the potential purchase of additional wireless spectrum licenses. The amount of capital required will also depend on, among other things, our available liquidity, the growth of our Retail Wireless segment and the levels of investment necessary to support potential strategic initiatives that may arise from time to time. These factors, including, but not limited to, a reduction in our available future cash flows as a result of our 5G Network Deployment, will require us to raise additional capital in the future, which may not be available on favorable terms.
Volatility in the financial markets has made it more difficult at times for issuers of high-yield indebtedness, such as us, to access capital markets at favorable terms. These developments may have a significant effect on our cost of financing and our liquidity position.
Other Developments
Cyber-Security Incident
On February 23, 2023, we experienced a network outage that affected our internal servers and IT telephony. We immediately activated our incident response and business continuity plans designed to contain, remediate and recover from the situation. We engaged the services of certain cyber-security experts and outside advisors to assist in the evaluation of the situation, and once we determined that the outage was due to a cyber-security incident, we promptly notified appropriate law enforcement authorities.
On February 28, 2023, we further disclosed that certain data had been extracted from our IT systems. Our investigation into the extent of the incident is now completed. We determined that our customer databases were not accessed, however, we confirmed that certain employee-related records as well as a limited number of other records containing certain personal information were among the data extracted. We took steps to protect the affected records, received confirmation that the extracted data was deleted and notified individuals whose data was extracted.
Our DISH TV, SLING TV and Retail Wireless services, along with our wireless and data networks remained operational at all times during the incident. As of March 31, 2023, all significant systems had been restored.
During the first quarter of 2023, we incurred substantially all of our cyber-security-related expenses for this matter, including, but not limited to, costs to remediate the incident and provide additional customer support. During the second, third and fourth quarters of 2023, we did not incur additional material expenses resulting from the cyber-security incident and do not expect to incur material expenses in future periods. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we incurred approximately $30 million in cyber-security-related expenses, which are recorded in “Cost of services” on our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss).
Economic Environment
During 2022 and 2023, we experienced significant inflationary pressures in our commodity and labor costs resulting from the macroeconomic environment in the United States, which has significantly impacted our overall operating results.
Operational Liquidity
We make general investments in property such as, among others, satellites, wireless devices, set-top boxes, information technology and facilities that support our Pay-TV and Retail Wireless segments. We are also making significant additional investments and may partner with others to, among other things, continue our 5G Network Deployment and further commercialize, build-out and integrate our Wireless spectrum licenses and related assets. Moreover, since we are primarily a subscriber-based company, we also make subscriber-specific investments to acquire new subscribers and retain existing subscribers. While the general investments may be deferred without impacting the business in the short-term, the subscriber-specific investments are less discretionary. Our overall objective is to generate sufficient cash flow over the life of each subscriber to provide an adequate return against the upfront investment. Once the upfront investment has been made for each subscriber, the subsequent cash flow is generally positive, but there can be no assurance that over time we will recoup or earn a return on the upfront investment.
There are a number of factors that impact our future cash flow compared to the cash flow we generate at a given point in time. The first factor is our churn rate and how successful we are at retaining our current subscribers. To the extent we lose subscribers from our existing base, the positive cash flow from that base is correspondingly reduced. The second factor is how successful we are at maintaining our service margins. To the extent our “Cost of services” grow faster than our “Service revenue,” the amount of cash flow that is generated per existing subscriber is reduced. Our Pay-TV service margins have been reduced by, among other things, higher programming costs. Our Retail Wireless service margins are impacted by, among other things, our MNSA agreement with T-Mobile and our NSA agreement with AT&T and the speed with which we are able to convert Wireless subscribers onto our 5G Network. The third factor is the rate at which we acquire new subscribers. The faster we acquire new subscribers, the more our positive ongoing cash flow from existing subscribers is offset by the negative upfront cash flow associated with acquiring new subscribers. Conversely, the slower we acquire subscribers, the more our operating cash flow is enhanced in that period.
Finally, our future cash flow is impacted by, among other things, the rate at which we complete our 5G Network Deployment, incur litigation expense, and any cash flow from financing activities. We anticipate operating expenditures for our 5G Network Deployment to increase during 2024 as we continue to, among other things, deploy cell sites and communication towers to commercialize our 5G Network. Since we reached our 5G Network Deployment milestone of 70% of the U.S. population, we expect our capital expenditures will decline in the near term. However, as we prepare for our next build-out requirements in 2025, we expect our capital expenditures to increase as we approach this deadline. As a result, our historical cash flow is not necessarily indicative of our future cash flows. As of December 31, 2023, as a result of, among other things, capital expenditures for our 5G Network Deployment, we experienced negative cash flow. We expect that this trend will continue in 2024 and in future periods. In addition, declines in our Pay-TV and Wireless subscriber base and any decrease in subscriber-related margins negatively impact our cash flow, and there can be no assurance that our subscriber declines will not continue.
Availability of Credit and Effect on Liquidity
The ability to raise capital has generally existed for us despite economic weakness and uncertainty. While modest fluctuations in the cost of capital will not likely impact our current operational plans, significant fluctuations could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Debt Issuances and Maturity
On May 24, 2021, we issued $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of our 5 1/8% Senior Notes due June 1, 2029. Interest accrues at an annual rate of 5 1/8% and is payable semi-annually in cash, in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year.
On November 26, 2021, we issued $2.750 billion aggregate principal amount of our 5 1/4% Senior Secured Notes due December 1, 2026. Interest accrues at an annual rate of 5 1/4% and is payable semi-annually in cash, in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year, commencing on June 1, 2022.
On November 26, 2021, we issued $2.5 billion aggregate principal amount of our 5 3/4% Senior Secured Notes due December 1, 2028. Interest accrues at an annual rate of 5 3/4% and is payable semi-annually in cash, in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year, commencing on June 1, 2022.
On November 15, 2022 and January 26, 2023, we issued $2.0 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, aggregate principal amount of our 11 3/4% Senior Secured Notes due November 15, 2027. Interest accrues at an annual rate of 11 3/4% and is payable semi-annually in cash, in arrears on May 15 and November 15 of each year, commencing on May 15, 2023.
Our 6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021 with an aggregate principal balance of $2.0 billion were repurchased or redeemed as of June 1, 2021.
Our 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022 with an aggregate principal balance of $2.0 billion were repurchased or redeemed as of July 15, 2022.
Our 5% Senior Notes due 2023 with an aggregate principal balance of $1.5 billion were repurchased or redeemed as of March 15, 2023.
During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased approximately $49 million of our 2 3/8% Convertible Notes due 2024 in open market trades. The remaining balance of approximately $951 million matured and was redeemed on March 15, 2024.
During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased approximately $17 million of our 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2024 in open market trades. The remaining balance of approximately $1.983 billion matures on November 15, 2024.
Covenants and Restrictions Related to our Long-Term Debt
We are subject to the covenants and restrictions set forth in the indentures related to our long-term debt. In particular, the indentures related to our outstanding senior notes issued by DISH DBS Corporation (“DISH DBS”) contain restrictive covenants that, among other things, impose limitations on the ability of DISH DBS and its restricted subsidiaries to: (i) incur additional indebtedness; (ii) enter into sale and leaseback transactions; (iii) pay dividends or make distributions on DISH DBS’ capital stock or repurchase DISH DBS’ capital stock; (iv) make certain investments; (v) create liens; (vi) enter into certain transactions with affiliates; (vii) merge or consolidate with another company; and (viii) transfer or sell assets. The indentures related to our outstanding senior secured notes contain restrictive covenants that, among other things, impose limitations on our ability and certain of our subsidiaries to: (i) incur additional indebtedness; (ii) enter into sale and leaseback transactions; (iii) pay dividends or make distributions on our capital stock or repurchase our capital stock; (iv) make certain investments of spectrum collateral; (v) create liens; (vi) enter into certain transactions with affiliates; (vii) merge or consolidate with another company; and (viii) transfer or sell assets. Should we fail to comply with these covenants, all or a portion of the debt under the senior notes, senior secured notes and our other long-term debt could become immediately payable. The senior notes and senior secured notes also provide that the debt may be required to be prepaid if certain change-in-control events occur. In addition, the Convertible Notes provide that, if a “fundamental change” (as defined in the related indenture) occurs, holders may require us to repurchase for cash all or part of their Convertible Notes. As of the date of filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we and DISH DBS were in compliance with the covenants and restrictions related to our respective long-term debt.
New Accounting Pronouncements
See Note 2 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
EXPLANATION OF KEY METRICS AND OTHER ITEMS
Service revenue. “Service revenue” consists principally of Pay-TV and Wireless subscriber revenue. Certain of the amounts included in “Service revenue” are not recurring on a monthly basis.
Equipment sales and other revenue. “Equipment sales and other revenue” principally includes the sale of wireless devices, the non-subsidized sales of Pay-TV equipment and the licensing of certain intellectual property.
Cost of services. “Cost of services” principally includes Pay-TV programming expenses and other operating costs related to our Pay-TV segment and costs of Wireless services (including costs incurred under the MNSA and NSA).
Cost of sales - equipment and other. “Cost of sales - equipment and other” principally includes the cost of wireless devices and other related items, certain direct costs of wireless mobile network operations to deliver wireless voice and data services, as well as costs related to the non-subsidized sales of Pay-TV equipment. Costs are generally recognized as products are delivered to customers and the related revenue is recognized.
Selling, general and administrative expenses. “Selling, general and administrative expenses” consists primarily of direct sales costs, advertising and selling costs, third-party commissions related to the acquisition of subscribers and employee-related costs associated with administrative services such as legal, information systems, and accounting and finance. In addition, “Selling, general and administrative expenses” includes costs related to the installation of equipment for our new Pay-TV subscribers and the cost of subsidized sales of Pay-TV equipment for new subscribers.
Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill. “Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill” includes our impairment losses related to our property and equipment, regulatory authorizations, goodwill and other intangible assets.
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized. “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized” primarily includes interest expense associated with our long-term debt (net of capitalized interest), prepayment premiums, amortization of debt discounts and debt issuance costs associated with our long-term debt, and interest expense associated with our finance lease obligations.
Other, net. The main components of “Other, net” are gains and losses realized on the sale and/or conversion of marketable and non-marketable investment securities and derivative instruments, impairment of marketable and non-marketable investment securities, unrealized gains and losses from changes in fair value of certain marketable and non-marketable investment securities and derivative instruments, foreign currency transaction gains and losses, and equity in earnings and losses of our affiliates.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”). EBITDA is defined as “Net income (loss) attributable to DISH Network” plus “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized” and net of “Interest income,” “Income tax (provision) benefit, net” and “Depreciation and amortization.” This “non-GAAP measure” is reconciled to “Net income (loss) attributable to DISH Network” in our discussion of “Results of Operations” below.
Operating income before depreciation and amortization (“OIBDA”). OIBDA is defined as “Operating income (loss)” plus “Depreciation and amortization.” This “non-GAAP measure” is reconciled to “Operating income (loss)” in our discussion of “Results of Operations” below.
DISH TV subscribers. We include customers obtained through direct sales, independent third-party retailers and other independent third-party distribution relationships in our DISH TV subscriber count. We also provide DISH TV services to hotels, motels and other commercial accounts. For certain of these commercial accounts, we divide our total revenue for these commercial accounts by $34.99, and include the resulting number, which is substantially smaller than the actual number of commercial units served, in our DISH TV subscriber count.
SLING TV subscribers. We include customers obtained through direct sales and third-party marketing agreements in our SLING TV subscriber count. SLING TV subscriber additions are recorded net of disconnects. SLING TV customers receiving service for no charge, under certain new subscriber promotions, are excluded from our SLING TV subscriber count. For customers who subscribe to multiple SLING TV packages, each customer is only counted as one SLING TV subscriber.
Pay-TV subscribers. Our Pay-TV subscriber count includes all DISH TV and SLING TV subscribers discussed above. For customers who subscribe to both our DISH TV services and our SLING TV services, each subscription is counted as a separate Pay-TV subscriber.
Pay-TV average monthly revenue per subscriber (“Pay-TV ARPU”). We are not aware of any uniform standards for calculating ARPU and believe presentations of ARPU may not be calculated consistently by other companies in the same or similar businesses. We calculate Pay-TV average monthly revenue per Pay-TV subscriber, or Pay-TV ARPU, by dividing average monthly Pay-TV segment “Service revenue,” excluding revenue from broadband services, for the period by our average number of Pay-TV subscribers for the period. The average number of Pay-TV subscribers is calculated for the period by adding the average number of Pay-TV subscribers for each month and dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of Pay-TV subscribers for each month is calculated by adding the beginning and ending Pay-TV subscribers for the month and dividing by two. SLING TV subscribers on average purchase lower priced programming services than DISH TV subscribers, and therefore, as SLING TV subscribers increase as a percentage of total Pay-TV subscribers, it has had a negative impact on Pay-TV ARPU.
DISH TV average monthly subscriber churn rate (“DISH TV churn rate”). We are not aware of any uniform standards for calculating subscriber churn rate and believe presentations of subscriber churn rates may not be calculated consistently by different companies in the same or similar businesses. We calculate our DISH TV churn rate for any period by dividing the number of DISH TV subscribers who terminated service during the period by the average number of DISH TV subscribers for the same period, and further dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of DISH TV subscribers is calculated for the period by adding the average number of DISH TV subscribers for each month and dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of DISH TV subscribers for each month is calculated by adding the beginning and ending DISH TV subscribers for the month and dividing by two.
DISH TV SAC. Subscriber acquisition cost measures are commonly used by those evaluating traditional companies in the pay-TV industry. We are not aware of any uniform standards for calculating the “average subscriber acquisition costs per new DISH TV subscriber activation,” or DISH TV SAC, and we believe presentations of pay-TV SAC may not be calculated consistently by different companies in the same or similar businesses. Our DISH TV SAC is calculated using all costs of acquiring DISH TV subscribers (e.g., subsidized equipment, advertising, installation, commissions and direct sales, etc.) which are included in “Selling, general and administrative expenses,” plus capitalized payments made under certain sales incentive programs and the value of equipment capitalized under our lease program for new DISH TV subscribers, divided by gross new DISH TV subscriber activations. We include all new DISH TV subscribers in our calculation, including DISH TV subscribers added with little or no subscriber acquisition costs.
Wireless subscribers. We include prepaid and postpaid customers obtained through direct sales, independent third-party retailers and other independent third-party distribution relationships in our Wireless subscriber count. Our Wireless subscriber count includes all ACP/Gen Mobile subscribers discussed below. Our gross new Wireless subscriber activations exclude all ACP/Gen Mobile subscribers as we record these subscribers net of disconnects, as discussed below.
Affordable Connectivity Program/Gen Mobile subscribers (“ACP/Gen Mobile subscribers”). The Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (“EBBP”) was launched by the FCC in February of 2021 to support broadband services and devices to help low-income individuals that meet certain eligibility criteria. The Affordable Connectivity Program (“ACP”) replaced the EBBP on December 31, 2021. Our ACP/Gen Mobile subscribers have a significantly higher churn rate compared to our other Wireless subscribers and we incur lower costs to acquire these subscribers. Therefore, our ACP/Gen Mobile subscriber additions are recorded net of disconnects.
Wireless average monthly revenue per subscriber (“Wireless ARPU”). We are not aware of any uniform standards for calculating ARPU and believe presentations of ARPU may not be calculated consistently by other companies in the same or similar businesses. We calculate average monthly revenue per Wireless subscriber, or Wireless ARPU, by dividing average monthly Retail Wireless segment “Service revenue” for the period by our average number of Wireless subscribers for the period. The average number of Wireless subscribers is calculated for the period by adding the average number of Wireless subscribers for each month and dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of Wireless subscribers for each month is calculated by adding the beginning and ending Wireless subscribers for the month and dividing by two.
Wireless average monthly subscriber churn rate (“Wireless churn rate”). We are not aware of any uniform standards for calculating subscriber churn rate and believe presentations of subscriber churn rates may not be calculated consistently by different companies in the same or similar businesses. We calculate our “Wireless churn rate” for any period by dividing the number of Wireless subscribers who terminated service during the period by the average number of Wireless subscribers for the same period, and further dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of Wireless subscribers is calculated for the period by adding the average number of Wireless subscribers for each month and dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of Wireless subscribers for each month is calculated by adding the beginning and ending Wireless subscribers for the month and dividing by two. ACP/Gen Mobile subscribers are excluded from our calculation of our Wireless churn rate.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS - Segments
Business Segments
We currently operate three primary business segments: (1) Pay-TV; (2) Retail Wireless; and (3) 5G Network Deployment. Revenue and operating income (loss) by segment are shown in the table below:
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2022.
For the Years Ended December 31,
Variance
Amount
%
(In thousands)
Revenue:
Pay-TV
$
11,571,159
$
12,505,392
$
(934,233)
(7.5)
Retail wireless
3,692,372
4,135,129
(442,757)
(10.7)
5G network deployment
91,928
65,768
26,160
39.8
Eliminations
(60,371)
(26,882)
(33,489)
*
Total revenue
$
15,295,088
$
16,679,407
$
(1,384,319)
(8.3)
Operating income (loss):
Pay-TV
$
2,699,810
$
2,933,898
$
(234,088)
(8.0)
Retail wireless
(643,184)
(77,264)
(565,920)
*
5G network deployment
(1,881,369)
(810,968)
(1,070,401)
*
Total operating income (loss)
$
175,257
$
2,045,666
$
(1,870,409)
(91.4)
* Percentage is not meaningful.
Total revenue. Our consolidated revenue totaled $15.295 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $1.384 billion or 8.3% compared to the same period in 2022. The net decrease primarily resulted from the decrease in revenue from our Pay-TV and Retail Wireless segments.
Total operating income (loss). Our consolidated operating income totaled $175 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $1.870 billion or 91.4% compared to the same period in 2022. The net decrease primarily resulted from an increase in operating loss from our 5G Network Deployment and Retail Wireless segments and to a lesser extent a decrease in operating income (loss) from our Pay-TV segment. The year ended December 31, 2023 was adversely impacted by impairments of goodwill of: (1) $120 million from our 5G Network Deployment segment; (2) $99 million from our Retail Wireless segment; and (3) $6 million from our Pay-TV segment. See Note 2 to the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
Pay-TV Segment
We offer Pay-TV services under the DISH brand and the SLING brand. As of December 31, 2023, we had 8.526 million Pay-TV subscribers in the United States, including 6.471 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.055 million SLING TV subscribers.
We promote our Pay-TV services by providing our subscribers with better service, technology and value than those available from other subscription television service providers. We offer a wide selection of video services under the DISH TV brand, with access to hundreds of channels depending on the level of subscription. Our standard programming packages generally include programming provided by national cable networks. We also offer programming packages that include local broadcast networks, specialty sports channels, premium movie channels and Latino and international programming. We market our SLING TV services to consumers who do not subscribe to traditional satellite and cable pay-TV services, as well as to current and recent traditional pay-TV subscribers who desire a lower cost alternative. Our SLING TV services require an Internet connection and are available on multiple streaming-capable devices including, among others, streaming media devices, TVs, tablets, computers, game consoles and phones. We offer SLING domestic, SLING International, SLING Latino and SLING Freestream video programming services.
Trends in our Pay-TV Segment
Competition
Competition has intensified in recent years as the pay-TV industry has matured. We and our competitors increasingly must seek to attract a greater proportion of new subscribers from each other’s existing subscriber bases rather than from first-time purchasers of pay-TV services. We face substantial competition from established pay-TV providers and broadband service providers and increasing competition from companies providing/facilitating the delivery of video content via the Internet to computers, televisions, and other streaming and mobile devices, including wireless service providers. In recent years, industry consolidation and convergence has created competitors with greater scale and multiple product/service offerings. These developments, among others, have contributed to intense and increasing competition, and we expect such competition to continue.
We incur significant costs to retain our existing DISH TV subscribers, generally as a result of upgrading their equipment to next generation receivers, primarily including our Hopper® receivers, and by providing retention credits. Our DISH TV subscriber retention costs may vary significantly from period to period.
Many of our competitors have been especially aggressive by offering discounted programming and services for both new and existing subscribers, including, but not limited to, bundled offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other promotional offers. Certain competitors have been able to subsidize the price of video services with the price of broadband and/or wireless services.
Our Pay-TV services also face increased competition from programmers and other companies who distribute video directly to consumers over the Internet, as well as traditional satellite television providers, cable companies and large telecommunications companies that are rapidly increasing their Internet-based video offerings and direct-to-consumer exclusive and non-exclusive content. We also face competition from providers of video content, many of which are providers of programming content to us, that distribute content over the Internet including services with live-linear television programming, as well as single programmer offerings and offerings of large libraries of on-demand content, including in certain cases original content. These product offerings include, but are not limited to, Netflix, Hulu, Apple+, Prime Video, YouTube TV, Disney+, ESPN+, Paramount+, Max, STARZ, Peacock, Fubo, Philo and Tubi and certain bundles of these offerings.
Significant changes in consumer behavior regarding the means by which consumers obtain video entertainment and information in response to digital media competition could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or otherwise disrupt our business.
In particular, consumers have shown increased interest in viewing certain video programming in any place, at any time and/or on any broadband or Internet-connected device they choose. Online content providers may cause our subscribers to disconnect our DISH TV services (“cord cutting”), downgrade to smaller, less expensive programming packages (“cord shaving”) or elect to purchase through these online content providers a certain portion of the services that they would have historically purchased from us.
Mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances among cable television providers, telecommunications companies, programming providers and others may result in, among other things, greater scale and financial leverage and increase the availability of offerings from providers capable of bundling video, broadband and/or wireless services in competition with our services and may exacerbate the risks described under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our public filings. These transactions may affect us adversely by, among other things, making it more difficult for us to obtain access to certain programming networks on nondiscriminatory and fair terms, or at all.
Our Pay-TV subscriber base has been declining due to, among other things, the factors described above. There can be no assurance that our Pay-TV subscriber base will not continue to decline and that the pace of such decline will not accelerate. As our Pay-TV subscriber base continues to decline, it could have a material adverse long-term effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.
Programming
Our ability to compete successfully will depend, among other things, on our ability to continue to obtain desirable programming and deliver it to our subscribers at competitive prices. Programming costs represent a large percentage of our “Cost of services” and the largest component of our total expense. We expect these costs to continue to increase due to contractual price increases and the renewal of long-term programming contracts on less favorable pricing terms and certain programming costs are rising at a much faster rate than wages or inflation. In particular, the rates we are charged for retransmitting local broadcast channels have been increasing substantially and may exceed our ability to increase our prices to our subscribers. Our ability to provide services under these agreements and negotiate acceptable terms depends on, among other things, the number of subscribers we have, our actual, perceived or anticipated financial condition and our negotiating power against each programmer, which can vary depending on the size and scale of such programmer. Going forward, our margins may face pressure if we are unable to renew our long-term programming contracts on acceptable pricing and other economic terms or if we are unable to pass these increased programming costs on to our subscribers.
Increases in programming costs have caused us to increase the rates that we charge to our subscribers, which could in turn cause our existing Pay-TV subscribers to disconnect our services or cause potential new Pay-TV subscribers to choose not to subscribe to our services. Additionally, even if our subscribers do not disconnect our services, they may purchase through new and existing online content providers a certain portion of the services that they would have historically purchased from us.
Furthermore, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate may be negatively impacted if we are unable to renew our long-term programming carriage contracts. In the past, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate have been negatively impacted as a result of programming interruptions and threatened programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of programming carriage contracts with content providers. There can be no assurance that the removal of any channels will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or otherwise disrupt our business.
We cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate resulting from programming interruptions or threatened programming interruptions that may occur in the future. As a result, we may at times suffer from periods of lower net Pay-TV subscriber additions or higher net Pay-TV subscriber losses.
Other Developments
Adaptive Bitrate Streaming Patents
Through our subsidiaries, we hold dozens of issued United States and foreign patents that relate to Adaptive Bitrate Streaming. On September 9, 2022, the chief administrative law judge at the United States International Trade Commission (“ITC”) issued an Initial Determination holding that the video streaming in certain Peloton, NordicTrack and Mirror exercise equipment infringes four of those patents, and recommended that the ITC prevent the importation of the infringing products. On March 8, 2023, the ITC issued its Final Determination, which affirmed the Initial Determination for three of the four patents in all material aspects, and issued the recommended exclusion and cease and desist orders, which will become effective after a Presidential review period. On February 9, 2023, we entered into a confidential license agreement covering Mirror exercise equipment that resolves our litigation involving those products. On May 1, 2023, we entered into a $75 million license agreement covering Peloton exercise equipment that resolves our litigation involving those products. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded the $75 million license agreement in “Equipment sales and other revenue” on our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). On March 6, 2024, we entered into a license agreement covering NordicTrack exercise equipment that resolves our litigation involving those products.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS - Pay-TV Segment
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2022.
For the Years Ended December 31,
Variance
Statements of Operations Data
Amount
%
(In thousands)
Revenue:
Service revenue
$
11,385,961
$
12,360,601
$
(974,640)
(7.9)
Equipment sales and other revenue
185,198
144,791
40,407
27.9
Total revenue
11,571,159
12,505,392
(934,233)
(7.5)
Costs and expenses:
Cost of services
6,977,628
7,423,427
(445,799)
(6.0)
% of Service revenue
61.3
%
60.1
%
Cost of sales - equipment and other
91,164
97,315
(6,151)
(6.3)
Selling, general and administrative expenses
1,414,808
1,622,281
(207,473)
(12.8)
% of Total revenue
12.2
%
13.0
%
Depreciation and amortization
381,292
428,471
(47,179)
(11.0)
Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill
6,457
-
6,457
*
Total costs and expenses
8,871,349
9,571,494
(700,145)
(7.3)
Operating income (loss)
$
2,699,810
$
2,933,898
$
(234,088)
(8.0)
Other data:
Pay-TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)
8.526
9.750
(1.224)
(12.6)
DISH TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)
6.471
7.416
(0.945)
(12.7)
SLING TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)
2.055
2.334
(0.279)
(12.0)
Pay-TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)
(1.224)
(0.957)
(0.267)
(27.9)
DISH TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)
(0.945)
(0.805)
(0.140)
(17.4)
SLING TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)
(0.279)
(0.152)
(0.127)
(83.6)
Pay-TV ARPU
$
104.56
$
101.20
$
3.36
3.3
DISH TV subscriber additions, gross (in millions)
0.464
0.634
(0.170)
(26.8)
DISH TV churn rate
1.69
%
1.54
%
0.15
%
9.7
DISH TV SAC
$
1,118
$
1,044
$
7.1
Purchases of property and equipment
$
242,736
$
131,093
$
111,643
85.2
OIBDA
$
3,081,102
$
3,362,369
$
(281,267)
(8.4)
* Percentage is not meaningful.
Pay-TV Subscribers
DISH TV subscribers. We lost approximately 945,000 net DISH TV subscribers during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the loss of approximately 805,000 net DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2022. This increase in net DISH TV subscriber losses primarily resulted from lower gross new DISH TV subscriber activations and a higher DISH TV churn rate.
SLING TV subscribers. We lost approximately 279,000 net SLING TV subscribers during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the loss of approximately 152,000 net SLING TV subscribers during the same period in 2022. The increase in net SLING TV subscriber losses were primarily related to lower SLING TV subscriber activations, partially offset by lower SLING TV subscriber disconnects in 2023. We continue to experience increased competition, including competition from other subscription video on-demand and live-linear OTT service providers, many of which are providers of our content and offer football and other seasonal sports programming direct to subscribers on an a la carte basis.
DISH TV subscribers, gross. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we activated approximately 464,000 gross new DISH TV subscribers compared to approximately 634,000 gross new DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2022, a decrease of 26.8%. This decrease in our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations was primarily related to the lack of demand, shifting consumer behavior, and lower marketing expenditures, as well as increased competitive pressures, including, but not limited to, live-linear OTT service providers, aggressive short term introductory pricing and bundled offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers, and direct-to-consumer offerings by certain of our programmers. Our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations continue to be negatively impacted by an emphasis on acquiring higher quality subscribers.
DISH TV churn rate. Our DISH TV churn rate for the year ended December 31, 2023 was 1.69% compared to 1.54% for the same period in 2022. Our DISH TV churn rate for the year ended December 31, 2023 was briefly elevated due to the cyber-security incident. Our DISH TV churn rate continues to be adversely impacted by external factors, such as, among other things, cord cutting, shifting consumer behavior and increased competitive pressures, including, but not limited to, live-linear OTT service providers, aggressive marketing, bundled discount offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers. Our DISH TV churn rate continues to be positively impacted by our emphasis on acquiring and retaining higher quality subscribers. Our DISH TV churn rate is also impacted by internal factors, such as, among other things, our ability to consistently provide outstanding customer service, price increases, our ability to control piracy and other forms of fraud, and the level of our retention efforts.
Our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate have been negatively impacted as a result of programming interruptions and threatened programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of programming carriage contracts with content providers. We cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV subscriber churn rate resulting from programming interruptions or threatened programming interruptions that may occur in the future. As a result, we may at times suffer from periods of lower net Pay-TV subscriber additions or higher net Pay-TV subscriber losses.
We have not always met our own standards for performing high-quality installations, effectively resolving subscriber issues when they arise, answering subscriber calls in an acceptable timeframe, effectively communicating with our subscriber base, reducing calls driven by the complexity of our business, improving the reliability of certain systems and subscriber equipment and aligning the interests of certain independent third-party retailers and installers to provide high-quality service. Most of these factors have affected both gross new DISH TV subscriber activations as well as DISH TV subscriber churn rate. Our future gross new DISH TV subscriber activations and our DISH TV subscriber churn rate may be negatively impacted by these factors, which could in turn adversely affect our revenue.
Service revenue. “Service revenue” totaled $11.386 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $975 million or 7.9% compared to the same period in 2022. The decrease in “Service revenue” compared to the same period in 2022 was primarily related to lower average Pay-TV subscriber base, partially offset by an increase in Pay-TV ARPU, discussed below.
Equipment sales and other revenue. “Equipment sales and other revenue” totaled $185 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, an increase of $40 million or 27.9% compared to the same period in 2022. The increase in “Equipment sales and other revenue” compared to the same period in 2022 was primarily related to a non-recurring $75 million license of our Adaptive Bitrate Streaming patents to Peloton covering certain Peloton products that resolves our litigation involving those products, partially offset by a decrease in equipment sales revenue.
Pay-TV ARPU. Pay-TV ARPU was $104.56 during the year ended December 31, 2023 versus $101.20 during the same period in 2022. The $3.36 or 3.3% increase in Pay-TV ARPU was primarily attributable to the DISH TV and SLING TV programming price increases. The DISH TV and SLING TV programming package price increases were effective in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 2023.
Cost of services. “Cost of services” totaled $6.978 billion during the year ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $446 million or 6.0% compared to the same period in 2022. The decrease in “Cost of services” was primarily attributable to a lower average Pay-TV subscriber base, partially offset by higher programming costs per subscriber and higher variable and retention costs per subscriber. Programming costs per subscriber increased during the year ended December 31, 2023 due to rate increases in certain of our programming contracts, including the renewal of certain contracts at higher rates, particularly for local broadcast channels. In addition, variable and retention costs per subscriber increased during the year ended December 31, 2023 due to, among other things, approximately $30 million in cyber-security-related expenses to remediate the incident and provide additional customer support. “Cost of services” represented 61.3% and 60.1% of “Service revenue” during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
In the normal course of business, we enter into contracts to purchase programming content in which our payment obligations are generally contingent on the number of Pay-TV subscribers to whom we provide the respective content. Our “Cost of services” have and will continue to face further upward pressure from price increases and the renewal of long-term programming contracts on less favorable pricing terms. In addition, our programming expenses will increase to the extent we are successful in growing our Pay-TV subscriber base.
Selling, general and administrative expenses. “Selling, general and administrative expenses” totaled $1.415 billion during the year ended December 31, 2023, a $207 million or 12.8% decrease compared to the same period in 2022. This change was primarily driven by a decrease in subscriber acquisition costs resulting from lower marketing expenditures and lower gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and a decrease in personnel costs, partially offset by Merger related costs.
Depreciation and amortization. “Depreciation and amortization” expense totaled $381 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, a $47 million or 11.0% decrease compared to the same period in 2022. This change was primarily driven by a decrease in depreciation expense from equipment leased to new and existing DISH TV subscribers and the EchoStar XI satellite which became fully depreciated during the second quarter of 2023.
Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill. “Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill” totaled $6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. This impairment represents a noncash impairment charge for goodwill. See Note 2 to the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
DISH TV SAC. DISH TV SAC was $1,118 during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $1,044 during the same period in 2022, an increase of $74 or 7.1%. This change was primarily attributable to an increase in advertising costs per subscriber, higher installation costs due to an increase in labor and other installation costs, and a lower percentage of remanufactured receivers being activated on new subscriber accounts.
During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the amount of equipment capitalized under our lease program for new DISH TV subscribers totaled $54 million and $55 million, respectively.
To remain competitive, we upgrade or replace subscriber equipment periodically as technology changes, and the costs associated with these upgrades may be substantial. To the extent technological changes render a portion of our existing equipment obsolete, we would be unable to redeploy all returned equipment and consequently would realize less benefit from the DISH TV SAC reduction associated with redeployment of that returned lease equipment.
Our “DISH TV SAC” may materially increase in the future to the extent that we, among other things, transition to newer technologies, introduce more aggressive promotions, or provide greater equipment subsidies.
Retail Wireless Segment
We offer nationwide prepaid and postpaid Retail Wireless services to subscribers primarily under our Boost Mobile, Boost postpaid and Gen Mobile brands, as well as a competitive portfolio of wireless devices. Prepaid wireless subscribers generally pay in advance for monthly access to wireless talk, text, and data services. Postpaid wireless subscribers are qualified to pay after receiving wireless talk, text, and data services, and may also qualify for financing arrangements for wireless devices.
Boost postpaid. In the fourth quarter of 2022, we launched our Boost postpaid wireless service, to a limited number of customers who had signed up for early registration. During 2023, we launched our nationwide expansion of our Boost postpaid wireless service, and at the end of the third quarter of 2023, we began offering the iPhone 15 on our 5G Network and expanded our Boost postpaid offering through a distribution partnership with Amazon.
We are currently operating our Retail Wireless segment primarily as an MVNO as we continue our 5G Network Deployment and commercialize and grow customer traffic on our 5G Network. We are transitioning our Retail Wireless segment to an MNO as our 5G Network becomes commercially available. We are currently activating Boost Mobile and Boost postpaid subscribers with compatible devices onto our 5G Network in markets where we have launched 5G voice services. Within our MVNO operations, today we depend on T-Mobile and AT&T to provide us with network services under the MNSA and NSA, respectively. Under the NSA, we expect AT&T will become our primary network services provider.
Historically, a portion of our Wireless subscribers received services through T-Mobile’s CDMA Network. However, T-Mobile previously provided notice that it intended to shutdown the CDMA Network on March 31, 2022. The shutdown began on March 31, 2022 and was completed during the second quarter of 2022. While we worked to mitigate the harms of this shutdown, we incurred significant costs to migrate subscribers on this timeline. We implemented targeted efforts and promotions directed at impacted customers, which resulted in the successful migration of the vast majority of our CDMA subscribers. The CDMA shutdown negatively impacted our gross new Wireless subscriber activations, our Wireless churn rate, and our results of operations during the first and second quarters of 2022. During the second quarter of 2022, we removed approximately 126,000 subscribers from our ending Wireless subscriber count representing Wireless subscribers who did not migrate off the CDMA network prior to the shutdown. The effect of the removal of the 126,000 subscribers was excluded from the calculation of our net Wireless subscriber additions/losses and Wireless churn rate.
On June 21, 2022, we and T-Mobile signed an amendment to the MNSA. In connection with this amendment, T-Mobile agreed to transfer to us (subject to required regulatory approvals) all Boost branded customers of former Sprint affiliates, Shentel and Swiftel, as well as Boost branded customers who were previously part of the California Public Utilities Commission CARE program (the “Boost Affiliate Subscribers”). We received regulatory approvals and on September 1, 2022 closed the transfer, upon which we received approximately 139,000 Boost Affiliate Subscribers. In addition, this amendment, among other things, settled all open disputes, including CDMA matters, with terms providing improved pricing and enhanced roaming solutions for our consumers. Prior to the signing of this agreement, the first and second quarters of 2022 were adversely impacted by, among other things, our CDMA migration costs and our ability to launch more competitive service plans in the marketplace. As a result, during the first and second quarters of 2022, we experienced lower gross new Wireless subscriber activations and higher Wireless churn.
During the second half of 2022, we began the process of migrating subscribers off the Transition Services Agreement (“TSA”) with T-Mobile, including the billing systems, and onto our own billing and operational support systems. The migration of subscribers to our new billing and operational support systems accelerated during the fourth quarter of 2022 and continued in the first and second quarters of 2023. The migration of subscribers during the first and second quarters of 2023 negatively impacted our Wireless churn rate and our results of operations. During the second quarter of 2023, we completed the migration of subscribers off the TSA with T-Mobile and onto our own billing and operational support systems. As of December 31, 2023, we had 7.378 million Wireless subscribers. Currently, we offer Wireless subscribers competitive consumer plans with no annual service contracts and monthly service plans including high-speed data and unlimited talk and text, and financing arrangements for wireless devices for certain qualified subscribers.
ACP Subscribers. A portion of our subscriber base and revenue is comprised of subscribers who receive benefits under ACP. The ACP program is expected to end unless Congress appropriates additional funding. As a result, the FCC has begun taking steps to wind down the ACP and has announced that ACP stopped accepting new applications and enrollments on February 7, 2024. The FCC projects that households enrolled in the ACP will continue to receive the benefit on their service through April 2024. This date is an estimate and may change. Without additional funding from Congress, the FCC anticipates that the current ACP funding is projected to run out in April 2024. Discontinuation, amendment or repeal of ACP, or replacement of ACP with one having different eligibility requirements and/or funding levels could negatively impact, among other things, our net Wireless subscriber activations and results of operations or impose additional costs on our business. If ACP funding is ultimately restored or replaced, there can be no assurance that the timing of the restoration or replacement will not lead to service interruptions and negatively impact, among other things, our net Wireless subscriber activations and results of operations. Generally, ACP subscribers have lower Wireless ARPU than other Wireless subscribers.
Other Developments
We regularly evaluate ways to enhance our business. As part of this process, we are in regular dialogue with interested parties who may assist us in accomplishing our goals, including ongoing conversations with CONX Corp. (an entity partially owned by Charles W. Ergen, our Chairman) regarding a transaction involving our Retail Wireless segment. There can be no assurance that these discussions will lead to a transaction nor as to the structure or terms of any such transaction.
Competition
Retail wireless is a mature market with moderate year-over-year organic growth. Competitors include, among others, providers who offer similar communication services, such as talk, text and data. Competitive factors within the wireless communications services industry include, but are not limited to, pricing, market saturation, service and product offerings, customer experience and service quality. We compete with a number of national wireless carriers, including Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, all of which are significantly larger than us, serve a significant percentage of all wireless subscribers and enjoy scale advantages compared to us. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are currently the only nationwide MNOs in the United States.
Primary competitors to our Retail Wireless segment include, but are not limited to, Metro PCS (owned by T-Mobile), Cricket Wireless (owned by AT&T), Visible (owned by Verizon), Tracfone Wireless (owned by Verizon), and other MVNOs such as Consumer Cellular, Mint Mobile (T-Mobile has reached an agreement to acquire) and Xfinity Mobile.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS - Retail Wireless Segment
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2022.
For the Years Ended December 31,
Variance
Statements of Operations Data
Amount
%
(In thousands)
Revenue:
Service revenue
$
3,337,240
$
3,653,909
$
(316,669)
(8.7)
Equipment sales and other revenue
355,132
481,220
(126,088)
(26.2)
Total revenue
3,692,372
4,135,129
(442,757)
(10.7)
Costs and expenses:
Cost of services
2,022,443
2,135,074
(112,631)
(5.3)
% of Service revenue
60.6
%
58.4
%
Cost of sales - equipment and other
1,133,377
1,193,645
(60,268)
(5.0)
Selling, general and administrative expenses
859,111
705,760
153,351
21.7
% of Total revenue
23.3
%
17.1
%
Depreciation and amortization
221,968
177,914
44,054
24.8
Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill
98,657
-
98,657
*
Total costs and expenses
4,335,556
4,212,393
123,163
2.9
Operating income (loss)
$
(643,184)
$
(77,264)
$
(565,920)
*
Other data:
Wireless subscribers, as of period end (in millions) **
7.378
7.983
(0.605)
(7.6)
Wireless subscriber additions, gross (in millions)
2.743
3.418
(0.675)
(19.7)
Wireless subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions) ***
(0.617)
(0.576)
(0.041)
(7.1)
Wireless ARPU
$
36.15
$
37.72
$
(1.57)
(4.2)
Wireless churn rate
4.17
%
4.46
%
(0.29)
%
(6.5)
OIBDA
$
(421,216)
$
100,650
$
(521,866)
*
* Percentage is not meaningful.
**During the second quarter of 2022, we removed approximately 126,000 subscribers from our ending Wireless subscriber count representing Wireless subscribers who did not migrate off the CDMA network prior to the shutdown. The effect of the removal of the 126,000 Wireless subscribers was excluded from the calculation of our net Wireless subscriber additions/losses and Wireless churn rate. See “Retail Wireless Segment” for further information on the CDMA shutdown. In addition, during the third quarter of 2022, approximately 139,000 Boost Affiliate Subscribers were transferred to us and are included in our ending Wireless subscriber count and excluded from our gross new Wireless subscriber activations. See “Retail Wireless Segment” for further information on the amended MNSA.
***Includes ACP/Gen Mobile subscribers.
Wireless subscribers. We lost approximately 617,000 net Wireless subscribers during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the loss of approximately 576,000 net Wireless subscribers during the same period in 2022. This increase in net Wireless subscriber losses primarily resulted from lower gross new Wireless subscriber activations, partially offset by an increase in net ACP/Gen Mobile subscriber additions and a lower Wireless churn rate.
Wireless subscribers, gross. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we activated approximately 2.743 million gross new Wireless subscribers compared to approximately 3.418 million gross new Wireless subscribers during the same period in 2022, a decrease of 19.7%. This decrease in our gross new Wireless subscriber activations was primarily related to increased competitive pressures, including aggressive competitor marketing, discounted service plans and deeper wireless device subsidies. In addition, our gross new Wireless subscribers for the year ended December 31, 2023 was negatively impacted by our emphasis on acquiring and retaining higher quality subscribers.
Wireless churn rate. Our Wireless churn rate for the year ended December 31, 2023 was 4.17% compared to 4.46% for the same period in 2022. Our Wireless churn rate for the year ended December 31, 2023 was positively impacted by our emphasis on acquiring and retaining higher quality subscribers, partially offset by competitive pressures, including deeper wireless device subsidies. In addition, our Wireless churn rate for the year ended December 31, 2023 was negatively impacted by migrating subscribers off the TSA with T-Mobile and onto our new billing and operational support systems. Furthermore, our Wireless churn rate for the year ended December 31, 2022 was negatively impacted by the shutdown of the CDMA Network.
Service revenue. “Service revenue” totaled $3.337 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $317 million or 8.7% compared to the same period in 2022. The decrease in “Service revenue” compared to the same period in 2022 was primarily related to a lower average Wireless subscriber base and a decrease in Wireless ARPU, discussed below.
Wireless ARPU. Wireless ARPU was $36.15 during the year ended December 31, 2023 versus $37.72 during the same period in 2022. The $1.57 or 4.2% decrease in Wireless ARPU was primarily attributable to, among other things, a shift in subscriber plan mix to lower priced service plans.
Equipment sales and other revenue. “Equipment sales and other revenue” totaled $355 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $126 million or 26.2% compared to the same period in 2022. The decrease in “Equipment sales and other revenue” compared to the same period in 2022 was primarily related to a decrease in units shipped and higher promotional subsidies, partially offset by higher revenue per unit shipped due to unit mix. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we shipped a higher percentage of devices that are compatible with our 5G Network and other devices that have a higher revenue per unit.
Cost of services. “Cost of services” totaled $2.022 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $113 million or 5.3% compared to the same period in 2022. The decrease in “Cost of services” was primarily attributable to a lower average Wireless subscriber base, partially offset by higher monthly dealer incentive costs. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we realigned our commission structure with current business objectives to acquire higher quality, long-term subscribers, which resulted in elevated costs during the transition period.
Cost of sales - equipment and other. “Cost of sales - equipment and other” totaled $1.133 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $60 million or 5.0% compared to the same period in 2022. The decrease in “Cost of sales - equipment and other” compared to the same period in 2022 was primarily related to a decrease in units shipped, partially offset by higher costs per unit shipped due to unit mix. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we shipped a higher percentage of devices that are compatible with our 5G Network and other devices that have a higher cost per unit.
Selling, general and administrative expenses. “Selling, general and administrative expenses” totaled $859 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, a $153 million or 21.7% increase compared to the same period in 2022. This change was primarily driven by higher marketing expenditures mainly related to the third quarter of 2023 nationwide expansion of our Boost postpaid wireless service and offering of the iPhone 15 on our 5G Network, partially offset by a decrease in costs to support the Retail Wireless segment. The year ended December 31, 2022 was negatively impacted by costs related to the development of our own billing and operational support systems as we prepared to migrate subscribers off the TSA with T-Mobile.
Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill. “Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill” totaled $99 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. This impairment represents a noncash impairment charge for goodwill. See Note 2 to the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
5G Network Deployment Segment
We have invested a total of over $30 billion in Wireless spectrum licenses, which includes over $10 billion in initial noncontrolling investments in certain entities. The $30 billion of investments related to Wireless spectrum licenses does not include $9 billion of capitalized interest related to the carrying value of such licenses. See Note 2 and Note 13 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
We will need to raise additional capital in the future, which may not be available on favorable terms, to fund the efforts described below, as well as, among other things, make any potential Northstar Re-Auction Payment and SNR Re-Auction Payment for the AWS-3 licenses retained by the FCC. There can be no assurance that we will be able to profitably deploy these Wireless spectrum licenses, which may affect the carrying amount of these assets and our future financial condition or results of operations. See Note 13 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
DISH Network Spectrum
We have invested a total of over $30 billion to acquire certain Wireless spectrum licenses. These Wireless spectrum licenses are subject to certain interim and final build-out requirements, as well as certain renewal requirements. We plan to commercialize our Wireless spectrum licenses through our 5G Network Deployment. We have committed to deploy our 5G Network capable of serving increasingly larger portions of the U.S. population at different deadlines, including 20% of the U.S. population by June 2022 and 70% of the U.S. population by June 2023. If by June 2023, we are offering 5G broadband service to at least 50% of the U.S. population but less than 70% of the U.S. population, the 70% June 2023 deadline will be extended automatically to June 2025; however, as a result, we may, under certain circumstances, potentially be subject to certain penalties. On June 14, 2022, we announced we had successfully reached our 20% population coverage requirement. In addition, we announced and certified to the FCC that as of June 14, 2023, we offer 5G broadband service to over 73% of the U.S. population, or more than 246 million Americans nationwide. On September 29, 2023, the FCC confirmed we have met all of our June 14, 2023 band-specific 5G deployment commitments, and two of our three nationwide 5G commitments. The single remaining 5G commitment, that at least 70% of the U.S. population has access to average download speeds equal to 35 Mbps, was confirmed using the drive test methodology agreed to and approved by the FCC and overseen by an independent monitor. We now have the largest commercial deployment of 5G VoNR in the world reaching approximately 200 million Americans, and 5G broadband service reaching approximately 250 million Americans. As a result of us providing 5G broadband service to over 50% of the U.S. population by June 14, 2023, the final build-out deadlines have been extended automatically to June 14, 2025 for us to offer 5G broadband service to at least 70% of the population in each Economic Area for the 700 MHz Licenses and AWS-4 Licenses and at least 75% of the population in each Economic Area for the H Block Licenses.
We may need to make significant additional investments or partner with others to, among other things, continue our 5G Network Deployment and further commercialize, build-out and integrate these licenses and related assets and any additional acquired licenses and related assets, as well as to comply with regulations applicable to such licenses. Depending on the nature and scope of such activities, any such investments or partnerships could vary significantly. In addition, as we continue our 5G Network Deployment, we have and may continue to incur significant additional expenses related to, among other things, research and development, wireless testing and ongoing upgrades to the wireless network infrastructure, software and third-party integration. As a result of these investments, among other factors, we plan to raise additional capital, which may not be available on favorable terms. We may also determine that additional wireless spectrum licenses may be required for our 5G Network Deployment and to compete effectively with other wireless service providers. See Note 13 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
DISH Network Noncontrolling Investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities Related to AWS-3 Wireless Spectrum Licenses
During 2015, through our wholly-owned subsidiaries American AWS-3 Wireless II L.L.C. (“American II”) and American AWS-3 Wireless III L.L.C. (“American III”), we initially made over $10 billion in certain noncontrolling investments in Northstar Spectrum, LLC (“Northstar Spectrum”), the parent company of Northstar Wireless, L.L.C. (“Northstar Wireless,” and collectively with Northstar Spectrum, the “Northstar Entities”), and in SNR Wireless HoldCo, LLC (“SNR HoldCo”), the parent company of SNR Wireless LicenseCo, LLC (“SNR Wireless,” and collectively with SNR HoldCo, the “SNR Entities”), respectively. On October 27, 2015, the FCC granted certain AWS-3 wireless spectrum licenses (the “AWS-3 Licenses”) to Northstar Wireless and to SNR Wireless, respectively, which are recorded in “Regulatory authorizations, net” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Under the applicable accounting guidance in Accounting Standards Codification 810, Consolidation (“ASC 810”), Northstar Spectrum and SNR HoldCo are considered VIEs and, based on the characteristics of the structure of these entities and in accordance with the applicable accounting guidance, we consolidate these entities into our financial statements. On October 12, 2023, the FCC consented to the sale of Northstar Manager’s ownership interests in Northstar Spectrum, which we purchased for a total of approximately $109 million. This purchase resulted in the elimination of all of our redeemable noncontrolling interest as it related to Northstar Spectrum as of the purchase date and we continue to consolidate the Northstar Entities as wholly-owned subsidiaries. Subsequent to December 31, 2023, the FCC consented to the sale of SNR Management’s ownership interests in SNR HoldCo, which was purchased by our parent’s direct wholly-owned subsidiary EchoStar SNR HoldCo L.L.C. for a total of approximately $442 million on February 16, 2024. This purchase resulted in the conversion of our outstanding redeemable noncontrolling interest as it relates to SNR HoldCo to noncontrolling interest, which is now held by our parent, EchoStar, as of the purchase date. See Note 2 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS - 5G Network Deployment Segment
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2022.
For the Years Ended December 31,
Variance
Statements of Operations Data
Amount
%
(In thousands)
Revenue:
Equipment sales and other revenue
$
91,928
$
65,768
$
26,160
39.8
Total revenue
91,928
65,768
26,160
39.8
Costs and expenses:
Cost of sales - equipment and other
977,329
521,631
455,698
87.4
Selling, general and administrative expenses
255,380
223,539
31,841
14.2
Depreciation and amortization
620,685
131,566
489,119
*
Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill
119,903
-
119,903
*
Total costs and expenses
1,973,297
876,736
1,096,561
*
Operating income (loss)
$
(1,881,369)
$
(810,968)
$
(1,070,401)
*
Other data:
Purchases of property and equipment
$
2,586,151
$
2,596,209
$
(10,058)
(0.4)
OIBDA
$
(1,260,684)
$
(679,402)
$
(581,282)
(85.6)
* Percentage is not meaningful.
Cost of sales - equipment and other. “Cost of sales - equipment and other” totaled $977 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, an increase of $456 million compared to the same period in 2022. The increase primarily resulted from an increase in lease expense on communication towers, transport, cloud services, and other costs related to our 5G Network.
Selling, general and administrative expenses. “Selling, general and administrative expenses” totaled $255 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, a $32 million increase compared to the same period in 2022. This change was primarily driven by an increase in costs to support our 5G Network Deployment.
Depreciation and amortization. “Depreciation and amortization” expense totaled $621 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, a $489 million increase compared to the same period in 2022. This change was primarily driven by an increase in depreciation and amortization expense related to 5G Network Deployment assets being placed in service. We expect our depreciation and amortization expense to increase as we continue to place 5G Network Deployment assets into service.
Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill. “Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill” totaled $120 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. This impairment represents a noncash impairment charge for goodwill. See Note 2 to the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
OTHER CONSOLIDATED RESULTS
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2022.
For the Years Ended December 31,
Variance
Statements of Operations Data
Amount
%
(In thousands)
Operating income (loss)
$
175,257
$
2,045,666
$
(1,870,409)
(91.4)
Other income (expense):
Interest income
105,416
42,776
62,640
*
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized
(38,881)
(22,781)
(16,100)
(70.7)
Other, net
(1,741,876)
1,038,982
(2,780,858)
*
Total other income (expense)
(1,675,341)
1,058,977
(2,734,318)
*
Income (loss) before income taxes
(1,500,084)
3,104,643
(4,604,727)
*
Income tax (provision) benefit, net
371,662
(731,736)
1,103,398
*
Effective tax rate
24.8
%
23.6
%
Net income (loss)
(1,128,422)
2,372,907
(3,501,329)
*
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests, net of tax
83,801
69,674
14,127
20.3
Net income (loss) attributable to DISH Network
$
(1,212,223)
$
2,303,233
$
(3,515,456)
*
* Percentage is not meaningful.
Interest income. “Interest income” totaled $105 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, an increase of $63 million compared to the same period in 2022. This increase primarily resulted from higher percentage returns earned on our cash and marketable investment securities, partially offset by lower average cash and marketable investment securities balances during the year ended December 31, 2023.
Other, net. “Other, net” expense totaled $1.742 billion during the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to income of $1.039 billion during the same period in 2022. This change primarily resulted from a loss of approximately $1.793 billion (including the $100 million prepayment previously made to T-Mobile) as the probability weighted fair value of our option to purchase certain of T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum licenses was reduced to zero compared to a $1.015 billion increase during the year ended December 31, 2022. In addition, the year ended December 31, 2023 was negatively impacted by a $22 million net decrease in gains on marketable and non-marketable investment securities. Furthermore, the year ended December 31, 2023 was positively impacted by $73 million in gains from the repurchases of our 3 3/8% Convertible Notes due 2026 (the “Convertible Notes due 2026”), our 2 3/8% Convertible Notes due 2024 (the “Convertible Notes due 2024”) and 0% Convertible Notes due 2025 (the “Convertible Notes due 2025,” and collectively with the Convertible Notes due 2026 and the Convertible Notes due 2024, the “Convertible Notes”) and our 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2024. See Note 5 and 9 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.
Income tax (provision) benefit, net. Our income tax benefit was $372 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to a provision of $732 million during the same period in 2022. The change was primarily related to a decrease in “Income (loss) before income taxes,” partially offset by an increase in our effective tax rate.
Non-GAAP Performance Measures and Reconciliation
It is management’s intent to provide non-GAAP financial information to enhance the understanding of our financial information in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”), and it should be considered by the reader in addition to, but not instead of, the financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Each non-GAAP financial measure is presented along with the corresponding GAAP measure so as not to imply that more emphasis should be placed on the non-GAAP measure. We believe that providing these non-GAAP measures in addition to the GAAP measures allows management, investors and other users of our financial information to more fully and accurately assess both consolidated and segment performance. The non-GAAP financial information presented may be determined or calculated differently by other companies and may not be directly comparable to that of other companies.
Consolidated EBITDA
Consolidated EBITDA is not a measure determined in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered a substitute for operating income, net income or any other measure determined in accordance with GAAP. Consolidated EBITDA is used as a measurement of operating efficiency and overall financial performance and we believe it is a helpful measure for those evaluating operating performance in relation to our competitors. Conceptually, EBITDA measures the amount of income generated each period that could be used to service debt, pay taxes and fund capital expenditures. EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.
For the Years Ended December 31,
(In thousands)
Net income (loss) attributable to DISH Network
$
(1,212,223)
$
2,303,233
Interest, net
(66,535)
(19,995)
Income tax provision (benefit), net
(371,662)
731,736
Depreciation and amortization
1,181,921
717,073
Consolidated EBITDA
$
(468,499)
$
3,732,047
The changes in Consolidated EBITDA during the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, were primarily a result of the factors described in connection with operating revenues and operating expenses, including the impact from changes in the probability weighted fair value of our option to purchase certain of T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum licenses resulting in a loss of approximately $1.793 billion (including the $100 million prepayment previously made to T-Mobile) and the “Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill” of $225 million.
Segment OIBDA
Segment OIBDA, which is presented below, is a non-GAAP measure and does not purport to be an alternative to operating income (loss) as a measure of operating performance. We believe this measure is useful to management, investors and other users of our financial information in evaluating operating profitability of our business segments on a more variable cost basis as it excludes the depreciation and amortization expenses related primarily to capital expenditures and acquisitions for those business segments, as well as in evaluating operating performance in relation to our competitors. Segment OIBDA is calculated by adding back depreciation and amortization expense to business segments operating income (loss). See Note 14 to the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
For the Year Ended December 31, 2023
Pay-TV
Retail Wireless
5G Network Deployment
Eliminations
Consolidated
(In thousands)
Segment operating income (loss)
$
2,699,810
$
(643,184)
$
(1,881,369)
$
-
$
175,257
Depreciation and amortization
381,292
221,968
620,685
(42,024)
1,181,921
OIBDA
$
3,081,102
$
(421,216)
$
(1,260,684)
$
(42,024)
$
1,357,178
For the Year Ended December 31, 2022
Segment operating income (loss)
$
2,933,898
$
(77,264)
$
(810,968)
$
-
$
2,045,666
Depreciation and amortization
428,471
177,914
131,566
(20,878)
717,073
OIBDA
$
3,362,369
$
100,650
$
(679,402)
$
(20,878)
$
2,762,739
The changes in OIBDA during the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, were primarily a result of the factors described in connection with operating revenues and operating expenses and the “Impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill” of: (1) $120 million from our 5G Network Deployment segment; (2) $99 million from our Retail Wireless segment; and (3) $6 million from our Pay-TV segment.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Market Risks Associated with Financial Instruments
Our investments and debt are exposed to market risks, discussed below.
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Current Marketable Investment Securities
As of December 31, 2023, our cash, cash equivalents and current marketable investment securities had a fair value of $382 million. Of that amount, a total of $374 million was invested in: (a) cash; (b) money market funds; (c) debt instruments of the United States Government and its agencies; (d) commercial paper and corporate notes with an overall average maturity of less than one year and rated in one of the four highest rating categories by at least two nationally recognized statistical rating organizations; and/or (e) instruments with similar risk, duration and credit quality characteristics to the commercial paper and corporate obligations described above. The primary purpose of these investing activities has been to preserve principal until the cash is required to, among other things, continue investing in our business, pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions, fund ongoing operations, repay debt obligations and expand our business. Consequently, the size of this portfolio can fluctuate significantly as cash is received and used in our business for these or other purposes. The value of this portfolio is negatively impacted by credit losses; however, this risk is mitigated through diversification that limits our exposure to any one issuer.
Interest Rate Risk
A change in interest rates would affect the fair value of our cash, cash equivalents and current marketable investment securities portfolio; however, we normally hold these investments to maturity. Based on our December 31, 2023 current non-strategic investment portfolio of $374 million, a hypothetical 10% change in average interest rates would not have a material impact on the fair value due to the limited duration of our investments.
Our cash, cash equivalents and current marketable investment securities had an average annual rate of return for the year ended December 31, 2023 of 5.0%. A change in interest rates would affect our future annual interest income from this portfolio, since funds would be re-invested at different rates as the instruments mature. A hypothetical 10% decrease in average interest rates during 2023 would result in a decrease of approximately $10 million in annual interest income.
Strategic Marketable Investment Securities
As of December 31, 2023, we held investments in the publicly traded securities of several companies with a fair value of $8 million. These investments, which are held for strategic and financial purposes, are concentrated in a small number of companies, are highly speculative and have historically experienced, and continue to experience volatility. The fair value of these investments are subject to significant fluctuations in fair value and can be significantly impacted by the risk of adverse changes in securities markets generally, as well as risks related to the performance of the companies whose securities we have invested in, risks associated with specific industries and other factors. In general, our strategic marketable investment securities portfolio is not significantly impacted by interest rate fluctuations as it currently consists primarily of equity securities, the value of which is more closely related to factors specific to the underlying business. A hypothetical 10% adverse change in the market price of our public strategic equity investments during 2023 would have resulted in a decrease of $1 million in the fair value of these investments.
Restricted Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Investment Securities
As of December 31, 2023, we had $109 million of restricted cash and marketable investment securities invested in: (a) cash; (b) money market funds; (c) debt instruments of the United States Government and its agencies; and/or (d) instruments with similar risk, duration and credit quality characteristics to commercial paper. Based on our December 31, 2023 investment portfolio, a hypothetical 10% increase in average interest rates would not have a material impact on the fair value of our restricted cash and marketable investment securities.
Long-Term Debt
As of December 31, 2023, we had long-term debt of $21.163 billion, excluding finance lease obligations and unamortized deferred financing costs and debt discounts, on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. We estimated the fair value of this debt to be approximately $16.540 billion using quoted market prices. The fair value of our debt is affected by fluctuations in interest rates. A hypothetical 10% decrease in assumed interest rates would increase the fair value of our debt by approximately $648 million. To the extent interest rates increase, our future costs of financing would increase at the time of any future financings. As of December 31, 2023, all of our long-term debt consisted of fixed rate indebtedness.
Derivative Financial Instruments
From time to time, we invest in speculative financial instruments, including derivatives. As of December 31, 2023, we did not hold any material derivative financial instruments other than the option to purchase certain T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum licenses under the Spectrum Purchase Agreement and certain contracts written on the equity of EchoStar. See Note 5 and Note 9 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Our consolidated financial statements are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K beginning on page.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
Item 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
Not applicable.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Disclosure controls and procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this report.
Changes in internal control over financial reporting
There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) during our most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles.
Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
(i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect our transactions and dispositions of our assets;
(ii) provide reasonable assurance that our transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of our financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and our directors; and
(iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Our management conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the framework in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Based on this evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2023.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
10b5-1 Trading Arrangements
None of the Company’s directors or Section 16 officers adopted, modified or terminated a Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement or a non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement during the Company’s fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2023, as such terms are defined under Item 408(a) of Regulation S-K. As a result of the Merger, DISH Network’s stock is no longer traded and all the Company’s directors or Section 16 officers’ 10b5-1 Trading plans were terminated in accordance with the terms and conditions of such plans.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for 2023. KPMG LLP served as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.
DISH Network’s Board of Directors, in its discretion, may direct the appointment of a different independent registered public accounting firm at any time during the year if the Board of Directors believes that a change would be in its best interests.
Fees Paid to KPMG LLP for 2023 and 2022
The following table presents fees for the aggregate professional audit services rendered by KPMG LLP for the audit of our annual financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, and fees billed for other services rendered by KPMG LLP to us during those periods.
For the Years Ended December 31,
Audit Fees (1)
$
5,774,758
$
4,300,000
Audit-Related Fees
742,603
945,000
Tax Compliance Fees
452,061
413,195
All Other Fees (2)
115,000
133,161
Total Fees
$
7,084,422
$
5,791,356
(1) Consists of fees paid by us for the audit of our consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, review of our unaudited financial statements included in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and fees in connection with the audit of our internal control over financial reporting.
(2) Consists of fees for services related to review of contract compliance.
Policy on Audit Committee Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
DISH Network’s Board of Directors delegated to DISH Network’s Audit Committee the responsibility for appointing, setting compensation, retaining, and overseeing the work of its independent registered public accounting firm until December 31, 2023. Effective with the closing of the merger, this responsibility was delegated to EchoStar’s Audit Committee. EchoStar’s Audit Committee has established a process regarding pre-approval of all audit and permissible non-audit services provided by the independent registered public accounting firm.
Requests are submitted to the Audit Committee of EchoStar in one of the following ways:
● Request for approval of services at a meeting of the Audit Committee; or
● Request for approval of services by members of the Audit Committee acting by written consent.
The request may be made with respect to either specific services or a type of service for predictable or recurring services. 100% of the fees paid to KPMG LLP for services rendered in 2023 and 2022 were pre-approved by DISH Network’s Audit Committee.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a)
The following documents are filed as part of this report:
(1) Financial Statements
Page
Report of KPMG LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Consolidated Balance Sheets
Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholder’s Equity (Deficit)
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(2)
Financial Statement Schedules
None. All schedules have been included in the consolidated financial statements or notes thereto.
(3)
Exhibits
2.1*
Asset Purchase Agreement, dated as of July 26, 2019, by and among T-Mobile US, Inc., Sprint Corporation and DISH Network Corporation (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 2.2 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of DISH Network Corporation filed July 29, 2019).
2.2*
First Amendment to the Asset Purchase Agreement, dated June 17, 2020, by and between DISH Network and NTM (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 99.1 of the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed June 17, 2020).
2.3*
Amended and Restated Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of October 2, 2023, by and among EchoStar Corporation, DISH Network Corporation and EAV Corp. (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 2.1 to EchoStar’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 3, 2023).*
3.1*
Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of DISH Network Corporation (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 3.1 to DISH Network’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 2, 2024).
3.2*
Amended and Restated Bylaws of DISH Network Corporation (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 3.2 to DISH Network’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 2, 2024).
4.1*
Indenture, relating to the 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2024, dated as of November 20, 2014 among DISH DBS Corporation, the guarantors named on the signature pages thereto and U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed November 21, 2014).
4.2*
Indenture, relating to the 7 3/4% Senior Notes due 2026, dated as of June 13, 2016, among DISH DBS Corporation, the guarantors named on the signature pages thereto and U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed June 13, 2016).
4.3*
Indenture, relating to the 3 3/8% Convertible Notes due 2026, dated as of August 8, 2016, by and between DISH Network Corporation and U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed August 8, 2016).
4.4*
Indenture, relating to the 2 3/8% Convertible Notes due 2024, dated as of March 17, 2017, by and between DISH Network Corporation and U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8 K of DISH Network Corporation filed March 20, 2017).
4.5*
Supplemental Indenture relating to the 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2024 (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.15 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of DISH DBS Corporation filed March 29, 2018).
4.6*
Supplemental Indenture relating to the 7 3/4% Senior Notes due 2026 (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.16 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of DISH DBS Corporation filed March 29, 2018).
4.7*
Indenture, relating to the 7 3/8% Senior Notes due 2028, dated as of July 1, 2020, among DISH DBS Corporation, the guarantors named on the signature pages thereto and U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed July 1, 2020).
4.8*
Indenture, relating to the 0% Convertible Notes due 2025, dated as of December 21, 2020, by and between DISH Network Corporation and U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed December 22, 2020).
4.9*
First Supplemental Indenture, relating to the DISH 3.375% Convertible Notes due 2026, dated as of December 29, 2023, among DISH Network Corporation, EchoStar Corporation and U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association (as successor to U.S. Bank National Association), as Trustee (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of EchoStar Corporation filed January 2, 2024).
4.10*
First Supplemental Indenture, relating to the DISH 2.375% Convertible Notes due 2024, dated as of December 29, 2023, among DISH Network Corporation, EchoStar Corporation and U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association (as successor to U.S. Bank National Association), as Trustee (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.4 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of EchoStar Corporation filed January 2, 2024).
4.11*
First Supplemental Indenture, relating to the DISH 0% Convertible Notes due 2025, dated as of December 29, 2023, among DISH Network Corporation, EchoStar Corporation and U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association (as successor to U.S. Bank National Association), as Trustee (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.6 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of EchoStar Corporation filed January 2, 2024).
4.12*
Indenture, relating to the 5 1/8% Senior Notes due 2029, dated as of May 24, 2021 among DISH DBS Corporation, the guarantors named on the signature pages thereto and U.S. Bank, National Association, as Trustee (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed May 24, 2021).
4.13*
Indenture, relating to the 5 1/4% Senior Secured Notes due 2026 and the 5 3/4% Senior Secured Notes due 2028, dated as of November 26, 2021, among DISH DBS Corporation, the guarantors named on the signature pages thereto and U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee and Collateral Agent (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed November 26, 2021).
4.14*
Security Agreement, dated as of November 26, 2021, among DISH DBS Corporation, the guarantors named on the signature pages thereto and U.S. Bank National Association, as Collateral Agent (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed November 26, 2021).
4.15*
Loan and Security Agreement, dated as of November 26, 2021, between DISH DBS Corporation and DISH Network Corporation (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.3 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed November 26, 2021).
4.16*
Secured Indenture, relating to the 11.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2027, dated as of November 15, 2022, among DISH Network Corporation, the guarantors named on the signature pages thereto and U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association, as trustee and collateral agent (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed January 26, 2023).
4.17*
Security Agreement, dated as of November 15, 2022, among the secured guarantors named on the signature pages thereto and U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association, as collateral agent (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed November 15, 2022).
10.1*
2002 Class B CEO Stock Option Plan (incorporated by reference from Appendix A to DISH Network Corporation’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A dated April 9, 2002). **
10.2*
Nonemployee Director Stock Option Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.6 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed July 7, 2005). **
10.3*
DISH Network Corporation 2009 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Appendix A to DISH Network Corporation’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Form 14A filed September 19, 2014). **
10.4*
Amended and Restated DISH Network Corporation 2001 Nonemployee Director Stock Option Plan (incorporated by reference to Appendix B to DISH Network Corporation’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Form 14A filed March 31, 2009). **
10.5*
Amended and Restated DISH Network Corporation 1999 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Appendix C to DISH Network Corporation’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Form 14A filed March 31, 2009). **
10.6*
Guaranty of Certain Obligations to FCC, dated as of October 1, 2015, made by DISH Network Corporation in favor of the Federal Communications Commission (Northstar Wireless) (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 10.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed October 2, 2015).
10.7*
Guaranty of Certain Obligations to FCC, dated as of October 1, 2015, made by DISH Network Corporation in favor of the Federal Communications Commission (SNR Wireless) (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 10.4 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed October 2, 2015).
10.8*
Form of Base/Additional Note Hedge Transaction Confirmation (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed August 8, 2016).
10.9*
Form of Base/Additional Warrant Transaction Confirmation (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 10.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed August 8, 2016).
10.10*
Description of the 2017 Long-Term Incentive Plan dated December 2, 2016 (incorporated by reference from the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed December 8, 2016). **
10.11*
Description of the 2019 Long-Term Incentive Plan dated August 17, 2018 (incorporated by reference from the Current Report on Form 8-K of DISH Network Corporation filed August 23, 2018). **
10.12*
Incentive Stock Option Agreement (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 10.1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of DISH Network Corporation filed November 6, 2020). **
10.13*
Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 10.2 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of DISH Network Corporation filed November 6, 2020). **
10.14*
Restricted Stock Unit Agreement (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 10.3 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of DISH Network Corporation filed November 6, 2020). **
10.15*
Master Network Service Agreement, dated as of July 1, 2020, by and among DISH Network Corporation, DISH Purchasing Corporation, and T-Mobile USA, Inc. (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 10.4 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of DISH Network Corporation filed November 6, 2020).
10.16*
License Purchase Agreement, dated as of July 1, 2020, by and among DISH Network Corporation and T-Mobile USA, Inc. (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 10.5 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of DISH Network Corporation filed November 6, 2020).
10.17*
Network Services Agreement, dated as of July 14, 2021, by and among DISH Wireless L.L.C. and AT&T Mobility LLC (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 10.1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of DISH Network Corporation filed November 4, 2021).***
10.18*
Amended and Restated Support Agreement, dated as of October 2, 2023, by and among DISH Network, EchoStar and the Ergen Stockholders (attached to the prospectus which forms a part of this registration statement as Annex B) (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 10.1 to the Amendment No. 1 on Form S-4 of EchoStar filed on November 6, 2023).
10.19*
Form of Warrant Amendment Letter Agreement (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.8 to EchoStar’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 2, 2024).
10.20*
Form of Warrant Guarantee (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.9 to EchoStar’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 2, 2024).
10.21*
Form of Note Hedge Amendment Letter Agreement (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 4.11 to EchoStar’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 2, 2024).
21☐
Subsidiaries of DISH Network Corporation.
31.1☐
Section 302 Certification of Chief Executive Officer.
31.2☐
Section 302 Certification of Chief Financial Officer.
32.1☐
Section 906 Certification of Chief Executive Officer.
32.2☐
Section 906 Certification of Chief Financial Officer.
97.1*
Clawback Policy (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 97.1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of EchoStar Corporation filed on February 29, 2024).
99.1*
Department of Justice CDMA Letter to Defendants dated July 9, 2021 (incorporated by reference from Exhibit 99.1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of DISH Network Corporation filed August 9, 2021).
101☐
The following materials from the Annual Report on Form 10-K of DISH Network Corporation for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed on March 29, 2024, formatted in Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (“iXBRL”): (i) Consolidated Balance Sheets, (ii) Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss), (iii) Consolidated Statement of Changes in Stockholder’s Equity (Deficit), (iv) Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, and (v) related notes to these financial statements.
104☐
Cover Page Interactive Data File (the cover page XBRL tags are embedded in the Inline XBRL document).
◻
Filed herewith.
*
Incorporated by reference.
**
Constitutes a management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
***
Certain portions of the exhibit have been omitted and separately filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission with a request for confidential treatment.