Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen

In a statement issued late Tuesday, Dish said that the “extreme deal protections” included in Sprint’s revised acquisition agreement with SoftBank made a counterbid impossible.

Sprint’s behavior has “made it impracticable for Dish to submit a revised offer by the June 18th deadline,” Dish said. “We will consider our options with respect to Sprint” while focusing on a separate offer for Clearwire.

While Dish’s $25.5 billion bid for Sprint was greater in size than SoftBank’s, the wireless company complained that it wasn’t final and “actionable.” So it set tonight as a deadline for the satellite TV provider to make it so by submitting a best, final offer. Evidently Dish simply couldn’t get it together in time, or thought better of it given those extreme deal protections mentioned earlier.

Dish’s decision to end its pursuit of Sprint clears the way for SoftBank to acquire the carrier. Sprint shareholders are scheduled to vote on the Japanese company’s $21.6 billion takeover offer on June 25.

Dish’s full statement below.

“While Dish continues to see strategic value in a merger with Sprint, the decisions made by Sprint to prematurely terminate our due diligence process and accept extreme deal protections in its revised agreement with SoftBank, among other things, have made it impracticable for Dish to submit a revised offer by the June 18th deadline imposed by Sprint. We will consider our options with respect to Sprint, and focus our efforts and resources on completing the Clearwire tender offer.”

Mr. Ergen’s knack for being famously hard to read left Wall Street and the telecom industry guessing his next move. Would Mr. Ergen try to convince Sprint shareholders a tie-up with Dish still offers a better deal? Would he sweeten Dish’s bid for Sprint? Would he turn to another telecom target?

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As part of the deal, Sprint and SoftBank have agreed to various conditions to assuage national security concerns.

The two companies still hope to close their deal by July, though Sprint’s board must still weigh a competing bid from Dish Network. A special committee of Sprint’s outside directors is talking with Dish to see if their offer is likely to lead to a better bid than the one put forth by SoftBank.

Softbank’s bid has gotten all the needed state regulatory approvals, but still needs public policy okays from the federal government as well as approval of Sprint shareholders.

Shutterstock / Andrea Izzotti

But Ergen also makes the case that Sprint would be better in the hands of an American than controlled by a foreign entity.

That argument appears to be getting some legs. On Friday, influential New York Sen. Charles Schumer expressed concerns that a SoftBank deal could leave Sprint — and the U.S. — more vulnerable to Chinese hacking.

“I have real concerns that this deal, if approved, could make American industry and government agencies far more susceptible to cyber attacks from China and the People’s Liberation Army, already the number one source of electronic espionage against American interest,” Schumer said in a statement. “We must proceed with extreme caution before allowing something as vital as our communications and Internet infrastructure from falling into the hands of a foreign company with reported ties to China.”

Schumer sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and acting Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Both the FCC and the U.S. committee on foreign investment need to approve the deal.

SoftBank noted yesterday that it had gotten all the state-level approvals it needs, though the deal still requires shareholder approval — as well as the federal okays. A shareholder vote is scheduled for June 12, although a committee of Sprint outside directors is also evaluating Dish’s interest to see if its offer might yet lead to a superior bid.

As for Schumer’s interest, a person close to SoftBank notes that Dish’s top government relations executive — Jessica Straus — is also Schumer’s former chief fundraiser.

Dish praised Schumer’s letter. “We are pleased that Sen. Schumer shares our concern with SoftBank’s attempt to control an asset of national strategic importance and that he is calling for a careful review of a transaction that could ‘undermine core U.S. national-security interests.’ ” a Dish spokesman told AllThingsD.

A U.S.-based spokesman for SoftBank said, “The blatant attempt to politicize the (government approval) process by Dish is inappropriate and threatens to discourage important foreign investment in the United States.”

SoftBank has also been working on plans to ease government concerns over Chinese influence. One approach would let the U.S. have approval over one of SoftBank’s Sprint board members who would have responsibility for national security issues.

Image: Shutterstock / Andrea Izzotti

Mr. Ergen, the chairman of satellite-TV operator Dish Network Corp., made the offer to LightSquared on Wednesday, one of the people said. Mr. Ergen’s offer is for LightSquared’s so-called L-band spectrum, this person said. Spectrum is the limited pockets of airwaves that telecommunications firms need to operate wireless networks.

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Which one that is depends, of course, on which company you ask: Dish Network or SoftBank, the two suitors for the No. 3 wireless carrier.

Each thinks it is and their rival is not, which is how contested deals always go — a back and forth of accusations and counter-charges that usually only result in muddying the waters.

Very muddy, in fact. Along with two strong-minded (and, more to the point, voluble) leaders — SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son and Dish’s Charlie Ergen — each side has an army of bankers, lawyers and other advisers willing to trot out a number of arguments for why its offer is superior and the myriad risks and downsides to the competitor’s bid.

And of course, the ultimate winner in this battle will have a huge impact on both Sprint itself and the overall level of competition in the U.S. wireless market.

So, for the benefit of the confused individual investors and consumers out there, we’ll try to boil down the points and counterpoints, as well as explain where things go from here.

SoftBank on Why Its Bid Is Better Than Dish’s:

Son made an hour-long, 11-point argument recently for why the Japanese investment and telecom giant’s bid is superior, but it basically boils down to three key points.

1) SoftBank is maintaining that Dish’s bid is actually not as good financially.

“It is incomplete and illusory,” Son said of the Dish bid, who insisted a deal by the satellite behemoth will take longer to complete and create a company swimming in debt. In contrast, Son pointed out that SoftBank is offering to put $8 billion into the company ($3.9 billion of this is already invested, so even if Dish were to prevail, SoftBank would be a significant Sprint shareholder.)

2) SoftBank promises it can get its deal done by July, while a Dish outcome could take well into next year to complete.

3) When it comes to managing things, SoftBank notes that instead of wireless experience, Dish brings only the baggage of its legacy business and a history of litigation with its partners.

SoftBank, as it touts itself, has experience running wireless companies and can offer improved scale to Sprint when it comes to buying network equipment and handsets.

“We are the world’s largest customer for many of these vendors,” Son said, emphasizing the buying power that Sprint would gain with companies such as Samsung, Ericsson and Apple. “Dish has zero expertise in our mobile industry.”

Dish, on Why Its Bid Is Better Than Softbank’s:

Dish’s main point is that its offer is just flat-out more money.

“It’s a higher financial offer,” Ergen said. “At Dish’s current stock price, our cash and the value of our shares … it’s about $7.10. The counter-offer from SoftBank is about $6.38. In fact, that’s not my words; that’s from Sprint’s own proxy.”

As for the fact its deal will take longer, Ergen says it won’t take as long as Sprint maintains and said the higher offer more than accounts for the delay.

But Ergen says Dish’s bid has several other advantages as well.

1) Dish brings a bunch of its own spectrum, representing airwaves that Sprint will inevitably need. By combining with Dish, Dish insists, Sprint will save itself from spending billions of dollars later.

2) The combined Dish/Sprint would be able to offer a combination of video, voice and data services. On the other hand, Sprint under SoftBank will have some additional capital, Dish says, but in essence be the same company that is today struggling to compete against larger rivals such as AT&T and Verizon.

3) While SoftBank is offering a bunch of cash up front, Dish said it will bring more ongoing value by virtue of various synergies, as well as the cash flow from Dish’s existing business.

“We’re bringing $20 billion of equity to the merger,” Ergen said. “I’m bringing $10 billion of equity personally. I’m taking my entire net worth and putting it into a Dish/Sprint transaction.”

Beyond the dollars-and-sense arguments, Ergen is attempting to wrap his deal in the flag, noting that his bid will create an American-owned company with Americans making the decisions, while SoftBank’s bid will put Sprint in foreign hands.

“Culturally we are much more aligned with Sprint today than probably a foreign company would be,” Ergen said. “A Japanese culture would be different than a U.S. culture. Our language is different; our culture is different. It doesn’t make their culture bad; they have a great culture. But it’s different.”

Subtle much?

Where things go from here:

Sprint is moving ahead to get all the regulatory and shareholder approvals that it needs with a goal of having the deal ready to close on July 1. A shareholder vote on SoftBank’s proposal is slated for June 12.

However, Sprint’s board has a duty to explore Dish’s bid, so it has formed a special committee to do that. That group of five independent directors — which has its own bankers and legal advisers — is in the early stages of evaluating Dish’s offer, having gotten permission from SoftBank to seek more information from the satellite company. Its job is to “provide its assessment to the full board in due course whether the proposal is, or is reasonably likely to lead to, a superior offer.”

But while Sprint is getting more information from Dish to understand its bid, information is not, at this point, flowing in the other direction. Sprint is not sharing any non-public info with Dish, meaning that Dish can’t yet undertake the due dilligence needed to make a formal bid and arrange financing.

For that to happen, Dish needs a determination from Sprint’s board committee that Dish’s interest could well lead to a superior offer. That would then pave the way for Sprint to crack open the books and Dish to make its offer.

Clearwire Muddies Things Further

A complicating factor in all this is Clearwire. Sprint already owns the majority of the wireless network operator and is seeking to buy the rest of the company to boost its spectrum position. Sprint’s bid, though, is contingent on the SoftBank deal going through.

Dish had also tried to buy Clearwire before it made its offer for Sprint. Clearwire, though, is moving forward to close its deal with Sprint, though a dissident shareholder is seeking to block the deal both through a lawsuit and proxy battle.

So where does this leave things?

For the moment, investors are betting that the existence of two interested parties will mean a higher offer from someone. Shares closed on Wednesday at $7.32, higher than either company’s current offer for the company.

Meanwhile, it’s business as usual for Sprint and its customers, with little near-term impact expected as the company continues playing catch-up with AT&T and Verizon in the race to cover America with a next-generation LTE network.

Ergen is famous for being a tough boss not keen on coddling his employees. At the same time, Ergen says hard workers who are good at their jobs like working for him. It’s only slackers and those who fall short who grumble.

Ergen was also one of the most colorful speakers at our D: Dive Into Media conference in February.

In that candid chat, he talked about the wireless industry, as well as cord-cutting and his controversial management style. In light of Dish’s $25.5 billion bid for Sprint, Peter Kafka’s interview with Ergen is well worth another watch:

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130415/meet-charlie-ergen-the-guy-who-now-wants-to-buy-sprint/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130404/showdown-looms-over-lightsquared-wireless-venture/ http://allthingsd.com/20130404/showdown-looms-over-lightsquared-wireless-venture/#comments Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:45:43 +0000 Emily Glazer and Mike Spector http://allthingsd.com/?p=309434 A hedge fund with ties to satellite mogul Charlie Ergen is headed for a bankruptcy-court showdown with Wall Street financier Philip Falcone over the fate of his LightSquared Inc. wireless venture, opening up yet another front in the battle for ownership of the airwaves needed to launch future mobile networks.

Sound Point Capital Management LP, a small hedge fund run by one of Mr. Ergen’s former bankers, has been buying up LightSquared debt and now holds more than $600 million of the wireless company’s roughly $1.7 billion bank loan, said people familiar with the trades.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130404/showdown-looms-over-lightsquared-wireless-venture/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130320/waiting-for-the-cord-cutting-numbers-to-show-up-keep-waiting/ http://allthingsd.com/20130320/waiting-for-the-cord-cutting-numbers-to-show-up-keep-waiting/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:26:34 +0000 Peter Kafka http://allthingsd.com/?p=305427 As long as we’re talking about cord-cutting, or the lack of it, today, here’s a new report that won’t make either the cable guys or Team Kill the Cable Guys happy: Pay TV subscriber ranks grew — but just barely — in 2012.

That also isn’t a surprise, since it fits the no-growth trend we’ve seen from pay TV for several years now.

For the record, SNL Kagan figures that the U.S. pay TV industry — cable, telco and satellite — grew by a teeny-tiny 46,000 subscribers last year.

That’s basically negligible given an installed base of 100 million pay TV households. But it’s not a decline.

And it’s also in line with what we’ve seen from the industry for a while, where subscriptions go up and down each quarter — usually up in Q1 and Q4, and down in Q2 and Q3. And as always, it’s important to note that this is for all the pay TV platforms.

You might read today, for instance, that Kagan says the cable guys — Comcast, Time Warner Cable, etc. — lost 1.66 million customers this year. True! But the telco guys — Verizon and AT&T — and the satellite guys — Dish and DirecTV — added the same number. Hence, no growth.

As always, the real debate is about why there’s no growth. There are three standard answers, which don’t necessarily negate one another:

• 100 million pay TV customers is the size of the U.S. market, period. It’s just not going to get bigger.
• The market would be bigger if the economy was better, and more people were buying homes instead of “doubling up.”
• People are ditching pay TV for the Internet and some combination of Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, etc. And/or the population of “cord-nevers” — college grads who have grown up with Web TV and see no reason to pay for cable — is growing.

The last one is certainly worrisome for the pay TV guys, and the ones who used to boast that they see no evidence of cord-cutting are a lot more muted about it these days.

You’ll occasionally hear a top pay TV executive — like Dish’s Charlie Ergen — talk candidly about the fact that there are lots of kids, like his own, who aren’t paying for TV anymore. But as always, for right now, cord-cutters are like vegans — you may know a lot of them, but the rest of the country still eats a whole lot of Big Macs.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130320/waiting-for-the-cord-cutting-numbers-to-show-up-keep-waiting/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130212/day-one-at-dive-into-media-2013-in-pictures-and-tweets/ http://allthingsd.com/20130212/day-one-at-dive-into-media-2013-in-pictures-and-tweets/#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:30:34 +0000 Eric Johnson http://allthingsd.com/?p=294050 Greetings from Dana Point, Calif., where D: Dive Into Media 2013 is in full swing. We’ve been tweeting, Facebooking, Instagramming and Vining, and so have our wonderful attendees. Here’s what we (and they) saw at Day One of #DMedia:

But he will be followed, and in force — Tuesday’s guests include Hearst Magazines’ David Carey, Intel’s Erik Huggers, Google’s Nikesh Arora, Will Arnett, and Interscope Geffen’s Jimmy Iovine. So stay tuned!

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130212/day-one-at-dive-into-media-2013-in-pictures-and-tweets/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dish-bought-blockbuster-to-open-wireless-stores/ http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dish-bought-blockbuster-to-open-wireless-stores/#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:34:52 +0000 Ina Fried http://allthingsd.com/?p=294015 When Dish Networks bought Blockbuster, it was hoping to use its stores to sell its wireless products.

“Because we got delayed on wireless, it hasn’t worked out exactly as we planned,” Chairman Charlie Ergen said in an interview at D: Dive Into Media.

Ergen said that Dish assumed a while ago that it needed to be in the wireless business to deliver content outside the home.

That’s not the only thing on which Dish has been a little slow.

“We were too late on the Netflix thing,” Ergen said, noting that the company didn’t have the guts to start its own service, and that it hoped to take advantage of Blockbuster’s business there.

Ergen also had praise for Netflix for launching its own series with “House of Cards.”

“I feel stupid that we didn’t think of it first, but I am a fan,” he said, adding that they have no commercials, and aren’t getting sued (as Dish is by the broadcasters).

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dish-bought-blockbuster-to-open-wireless-stores/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130211/charlie-ergen-on-dishs-company-culture-its-not-that-were-mean-its-that-were-like-an-indiana-jones-movie/ http://allthingsd.com/20130211/charlie-ergen-on-dishs-company-culture-its-not-that-were-mean-its-that-were-like-an-indiana-jones-movie/#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:32:52 +0000 Liz Gannes http://allthingsd.com/?p=293918 Dish Chairman and co-founder Charlie Ergen is well-known for being combative both inside and outside the office.

In an onstage interview at D: Dive Into Media, Ergen specifically addressed the description in a recent Businessweek story of Dish as “the meanest company in America,” and himself as the meanest boss.

Ergen called the story a superficial take on Dish. It’s not a good thing that Dish was the single worst-rated employer on Glassdoor last year, he said, but Dish’s culture of hard work has its own merits.

“It takes a lot of guts to work at this company,” Ergen said. “We’re a little bit like an Indiana Jones movie, where we’re always in trouble and we always get out of it. We’re going from alligators to arrows to snakes.”

Dish’s culture is about pride, adventure, hard work and personal responsibility, according to Ergen. But no, it’s not a place that charges five cents for a fork in the cafeteria, he said.

At that point, the Ergen session turned into a military pep talk. “There are only two kinds of employees that I’ve run across in 30 years,” he said. “There are ones that get results, and ones that make excuses. If you’re in that second camp, you’re not going to like Dish.”

“I care about our employees more than anybody in my company. I care about my kids, too, but that doesn’t mean I give them everything that they want.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130211/charlie-ergen-on-dishs-company-culture-its-not-that-were-mean-its-that-were-like-an-indiana-jones-movie/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dish-chairman-i-think-people-are-cutting-the-cord/ http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dish-chairman-i-think-people-are-cutting-the-cord/#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:12:47 +0000 Ina Fried http://allthingsd.com/?p=293989 Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen is willing to say something few others in the pay TV business will concede.

“I think people are cutting the cord,” Ergen said at D: Dive Into Media, adding that it’s a generational thing, but soon to be a big thing. He noted that, for years, phone companies talked about how customers weren’t giving up their landlines.

There’s a reason why cigarette companies give out their product on college campuses, Ergen said. (Do they really still do that?)

“I think we ought to be hooking people on pay TV when they are young,” Ergen said. “If we are getting run out of town, I want to get in front of that.”

You can either fight change or embrace it, Ergen said.

“I believe it is less risky, long-term, to embrace change,” Ergen said.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dish-chairman-i-think-people-are-cutting-the-cord/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dishs-ergen-says-wireless-network-needed-to-reach-customers-outside-the-home/ http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dishs-ergen-says-wireless-network-needed-to-reach-customers-outside-the-home/#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:07:22 +0000 Ina Fried http://allthingsd.com/?p=293823 While it is best known for its position in the satellite business, Dish Networks has been building up wireless spectrum for quite awhile.

“First and foremost, we are a video company,” Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen said in an interview at D: Dive Into Media. But, Ergen said, once the company realized that the same network would deliver video, voice and data, it realized it might be in different businesses.

“Ideally, we’d build a network,” Ergen said, noting that all the current networks are still voice-centric. “Because we took so long to get our license, that is more difficult. That probably is outside of the grasp of reality. … It’s better to probably work with someone who is in the business.”

In addition to the wireless spectrum it already holds, Dish has made a $5.15 billion bid for a stake in Clearwire, which Sprint had earlier announced its intention to acquire.

Ergen said that Dish’s offer for Clearwire is not illusory, “but the deck is stacked against us,” he acknowledged. However, he insisted, his offer is better for shareholders.

“Ideally, we’d compete against the AT&Ts and Verizons,” he said. “To do that, we’d need more spectrum.”

The cable and phone companies are good at delivering video, voice and data inside the home, and the wireless companies do good outside the home. Ergen said his goal is to do well with both. “That’s why we think we need wireless spectrum.”

Ergen said the company’s intention has never been to sell the spectrum, but the Federal Communications Commission has created an opportunity to get billions if it chose to do so. “We don’t want to sell the spectrum.”

As for what it would do if it can’t buy Clearwire, Ergen said there is a Plan B, but declined to get specific.

Earlier in the interview, Ergen said his company needs to own wireless to deliver television outside the home.

“We want to compete against both the cable guys and the wireless guys, and we want to do it inside the house and outside the house, and that’s why we think we need wireless spectrum,” Ergen said. “We’d like to own a wireless network so we can give you a quality of service.”

The company said it didn’t know how to get into the wireless business, but felt like it needed to do it to serve its customers outside the home.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dishs-ergen-says-wireless-network-needed-to-reach-customers-outside-the-home/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dishs-charlie-ergen-says-he-doesnt-want-to-kill-ads-for-real/ http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dishs-charlie-ergen-says-he-doesnt-want-to-kill-ads-for-real/#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:04:28 +0000 Liz Gannes http://allthingsd.com/?p=293944 The new version of Dish’s Hopper lets customers watch any show they’ve paid to see, on any device they want, when and where they want to watch it. Broadcasters were already suing Dish over the device, and in the case of CBS, it prevented subsidiary CNET from awarding the device top prize at CES. (For his part, Walt Mossberg preemptively awarded the gadget the D: Dive Into Media best-in-show award, which is fictional.)

Dish Chairman and co-founder Charlie Ergen said tonight that he’s not out to kill ads, and he’s not seeking leverage over broadcasters. He’s simply pushing past old one-size-fits-all TV modes of advertising — while being careful to stay within the lines by fully recording original broadcasts from satellite transponders before enabling ad-skipping.

Speaking at D: Dive Into Media this evening, Ergen said, “I don’t want to kill ads. I think advertising is great, and I’m very aware that there’s multiple revenue streams in television, subscription and advertising. But I also don’t want to put my head in the sand, and I think the world is changing.”

He added, “If we’re going to take a side, let’s take the side of the consumer.” That means doing things like letting watchers choose between ads, as Hulu does, Ergen said.

“A single mom may not need that testosterone ad that runs time and time again; she may want something about fashion,” he said.

Ergen posed his ongoing litigation with broadcasters as a battle for the future of commercials. “If the broadcasters were to win on their claims, they’d outlaw the DVR,” he said.

Dish is a different breed, according to Ergen. “As a company, we’re hobbyists. We hope to make money, but if we make good products, we’ll make money. As a company, you have two choices — you can fight change or you can embrace change. And I believe it’s less risky long-term to embrace change.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130211/dishs-charlie-ergen-says-he-doesnt-want-to-kill-ads-for-real/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130120/dish-toots-its-own-horn-since-cbs-wont/ http://allthingsd.com/20130120/dish-toots-its-own-horn-since-cbs-wont/#comments Sun, 20 Jan 2013 21:46:24 +0000 Peter Kafka http://allthingsd.com/?p=287094 Maybe the Dish/CBS/CNET imbroglio will fade away. But not if Charlie Ergen and company can help it. And the New York Times’ ad department is happy to help.

Here, via  Nieman Journalism Lab’s Justin Ellis, is the full-page thumb-in-the-eye Dish ran in the Times’ Sunday “A” section today. As Ellis notes, some people still see value in print ads.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130120/dish-toots-its-own-horn-since-cbs-wont/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130110/cnet-wanders-into-the-cbs-dish-crossfire-at-ces/ http://allthingsd.com/20130110/cnet-wanders-into-the-cbs-dish-crossfire-at-ces/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 23:55:09 +0000 Peter Kafka http://allthingsd.com/?p=284441 Nice gadget. Bad company!

That’s the message CBS and its CNET technology site have managed to send today, by banning a Dish Network device from a CES award competition.

This one isn’t a huge deal, but it’s an interesting one, because it shows just how annoyed the TV networks are with Charlie Ergen and the moves he’s making to shake up, if not blow up, their business.

The story: Last year, Ergen’s Dish introduced “The Hopper,” a DVR whose features include the ability to auto-forward past ads. TV programmers, including CBS, aren’t happy about the gadget, and have taken Dish to court.

This year, Dish used CES to roll out a new version of the gadget, which might also tick off the TV guys. But the reviewers at CNET seemed to like it, describing it as “cutting-edge stuff” that “helps Dish make a strong case that its HD DVR is the most advanced out there.”

That was Monday. Yesterday, CNET announced that the new gadget was up for a “Best of CES” award the website oversees. But today comes word that the device got the boot, due to the lawsuit.

Here’s CNET’s statement, which it has also appended to its original review:

The Dish Hopper with Sling was removed from consideration for the Best of CES 2013 awards due to active litigation involving our parent company CBS Corp. We will no longer be reviewing products manufactured by companies with which we are in litigation with respect to such product.

Dish, in turn, says it is “disappointed” with CNET/CBS’ call.

But it’s hard not to detect a bunch of “this is the best publicity we could have asked for” glee in the satellite guys’ press release. It comes packed with links to reviews, Tweets, photos and other material that make it easy to construct a post just like this one.

Here’s Dish CEO Joe Clayton’s statement. Kind of imagine him and his PR folks high-fiving as they hit “send” on this one:

We are saddened that CNET’s staff is being denied its editorial independence because of CBS’ heavy-handed tactics. This action has nothing to do with the merits of our new product. Hopper with Sling is all about consumer choice and control over the TV experience. That CBS, which owns CNET.com, would censor that message is insulting to consumers. DISH is not afraid to stand up for consumer rights and we think that Hopper with Sling will do well, despite the network’s questionable actions. We have had a long, productive relationship with CNET’s editorial staff and we look forward to continuing that relationship. We welcome their unbiased evaluation and commentary of our products and services.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130110/cnet-wanders-into-the-cbs-dish-crossfire-at-ces/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130110/in-clearwire-gambit-spectrum-is-the-prize/ http://allthingsd.com/20130110/in-clearwire-gambit-spectrum-is-the-prize/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:30:30 +0000 Anton Troianovski, Shalini Ramachandran and Anupreeta Das http://allthingsd.com/?p=284167 Charlie Ergen, chairman of Dish Network Corp., is in a familiar position: He can win even by losing.

Mr. Ergen’s attempt to snatch wireless provider Clearwire Corp. out of the hands of its current merger partner, Sprint Nextel Corp., is just his latest move in a long chess match. The endgame: to get access to the spectrum and network assets needed to deliver wireless service and even video over the air.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130110/in-clearwire-gambit-spectrum-is-the-prize/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130108/dish-network-makes-5-15-billion-offer-for-clearwire/ http://allthingsd.com/20130108/dish-network-makes-5-15-billion-offer-for-clearwire/#comments Tue, 08 Jan 2013 23:27:14 +0000 Arik Hesseldahl http://allthingsd.com/?p=283608 Satellite TV player Dish Network has made an unsolicited offer to buy out Clearwire, the wireless broadband service that’s mostly owned by Sprint, for $3.30 a share, or about $5.15 billion.

Clearwire said the Dish offer amounts to only a preliminary indication of interest, and that while it intends to hold discussions with Dish, its ability to enter into strategic transactions is limited by its current relationship with Sprint.

Sprint, which is in the process of being bought out by the Japanese investment firm Softbank for about $20 billion, last month offered to buy out the remaining shares of Clearwire for $2.97 a share. That offer valued Clearwire at about $10 billion, including $5.5 billion worth of debt and spectrum lease obligations.

Sprint’s reaction to Dish’s offer has been to call it “illusory,” inferior to its own offer and “not viable” based on its existing commitments to Sprint.

It seems Charlie Ergen, the founder and chairman of Dish Network, will have a great deal to talk about at our D: Dive Into Media conference on Feb. 11-12 in Laguna Niguel, Calif.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130108/dish-network-makes-5-15-billion-offer-for-clearwire/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130108/charlie-ergen-ticks-off-the-tv-guys-again/ http://allthingsd.com/20130108/charlie-ergen-ticks-off-the-tv-guys-again/#comments Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:00:43 +0000 Peter Kafka http://allthingsd.com/?p=283278 Last year, Charlie Ergen used CES to lob a bomb at the TV establishment, and ended up fighting the TV networks in court. 2013 could end up shaping up the same way.

Yesterday, Ergen’s Dish Network used the gadget show to unveil several new improvements for its “Hopper” service, including one that will certainly upset the TV networks: A feature that will let Dish customers watch any show they’ve paid to see, on any device they want, when and where they want to watch it.

If this seems like a pretty basic concept, it is. And it’s one the rest of the TV industry has been trying to roll out for the past few years.

The difference: The TV networks and the pay-TV providers working on “TV Everywhere” schemes have been arduously hammering out an assortment of deals, which means that some subscribers to some TV services can watch some shows under some conditions but not others.

Ergen, on the other hand, seems to have simply gone ahead and rolled the feature out, without asking Time Warner, Comcast or anyone else for permission. And he and his employees seem happy to go to court.

“We’re trying to be at the forefront of existing technology,” Dish CEO Joe Clayton told Bloomberg. “If that means some lawsuits, OK.”

This sounds a whole lot like last year, when Dish put its thumb in TV’s eye by rolling out a DVR that automatically skipped ads on some programs. That freaked out the networks, for obvious reasons, and some of them ended up taking Ergen to court a few months later; the case is still working its way through the system.

In theory, if Ergen wins either fight, it could be a big deal for the TV ecosystem. But I’m not sure how much consumers actually care about either outcome. After all, it’s pretty simple to fast-forward through ads on your own. And while the notion of being able to watch a new episode of “The Office” on your iPad without paying extra would be nice, it’s an incremental improvement. Not a game changer.

My hunch is that in both cases Ergen is less interested in the feature than in the leverage he thinks it will give him if gets to use it. I can imagine a scenario where Ergen gets to keep the ad-skipping feature, but disables it in exchange for a break on programming fees. Same for the TV Everywhere stuff.

But no need for me to speculate about this stuff. We’ll be able to ask Ergen himself when he appears at our D: Dive Into Media conference in February. If you want to hear his answer in person, sign up here.

 

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130108/charlie-ergen-ticks-off-the-tv-guys-again/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20130104/game-on-xbox-bosses-mehdi-tellem-come-to-dive-into-media/ http://allthingsd.com/20130104/game-on-xbox-bosses-mehdi-tellem-come-to-dive-into-media/#comments Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:41:39 +0000 Peter Kafka http://allthingsd.com/?p=282365 You can spend lots of time speculating about what happens when the TV and the Web finally converge. But if you want to speed things up, just ask Microsoft, which is already watching it happen.

Redmond is facing all sorts of challenges, but its Xbox is a clear success, not only as a gaming console, but as an Internet-connected entertainment device, which gives users access to video services like Netflx and HBO Go, and, increasingly, cable programming from the likes of ESPN. Microsoft says Xbox users now spend more time consuming media than playing games.

Which is why we’re very excited to bring two key Xbox executives onstage next month at D: Dive into Media: Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, and Nancy Tellem, the former CBS executive who is building a new production studio for the device.

Mehdi is the man running marketing, strategy and corporate development for Xbox, and he’s the guy who links the console up with all the studios, networks and publishers who are creating content for the device. Prior to this job, he oversaw Microsoft’s media presence on the Web.

Tellem, a veteran TV executive, is the former CBS president now tasked with creating new programming for the device. She’s building out a Hollywood presence for Steve Ballmer, and her hire last fall was Microsoft’s most aggressive move into the content business so far.

They’re joining a stellar lineup of speakers Feb. 11 and 12 at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel, Calif. Here’s who we’ve told you about so far: Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, Hearst Magazines president David Carey, Google chief business officer Nikesh Arora, Facebook partnership vice president Dan Rose, HBO co-president Eric Kessler, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, CollegeHumor co-founder Ricky Van Veen, Vice Media co-founder Shane Smith, Intel media head Erik Huggers and Samsung media head David Eun, Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos (and guest), New Republic owner Chris Hughes, USA Today publisher Larry Kramer, and Dish Network founder Charlie Ergen.

And, yes, we’ll have yet more names to announce in the coming weeks. But if you want to see these folks in person, register now, and we’ll see you soon.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20130104/game-on-xbox-bosses-mehdi-tellem-come-to-dive-into-media/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20121218/meet-the-man-who-wants-to-blow-up-the-tv-business-dish-networks-charlie-ergen-comes-to-dive-into-media/ http://allthingsd.com/20121218/meet-the-man-who-wants-to-blow-up-the-tv-business-dish-networks-charlie-ergen-comes-to-dive-into-media/#comments Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:44:54 +0000 Peter Kafka http://allthingsd.com/?p=278903 Charlie Ergen brings TV into 14 million houses, which means he’s got a very nice business that has made him a billionaire.

But while lots of pay-TV operators are happy to keep things the way they are, Ergen keeps trying to blow them up: The Dish Network co-founder and chairman is constantly fighting with the rest of the TV Industrial Complex, in disputes that often end up in court.

His most recent and prominent battle is also the most important one: Dish’s new “Auto Hop” technology lets satellite TV subscribers automatically skip commercials, and that has both advertisers and TV networks in fits, for obvious reasons.

But that’s just one of Ergen’s recent adventures. He has also bought Blockbuster out of bankruptcy in an attempt to take on Netflix, engaged in bruising battles with Cablevision and its AMC Networks spinoff, and rattled his saber against ESPN and its ever-increasing sports fees.

Oh. He’s also talking to Google, and everyone else, about getting into the wireless business.

All of which means the former blackjack and poker player is someone everyone in the media world watches very, very closely, even though he doesn’t say much in public. Which means we’re very excited to interview him at our D: Dive Into Media conference in February.

Ergen will be joining an all-star cast on Feb. 11 and 12 at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel, Calif. Here’s who we’ve told you about so far: Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, Hearst Magazines president David Carey, Google chief business officer Nikesh Arora, Facebook partnership vice president Dan Rose, HBO co-president Eric Kessler, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, CollegeHumor co-founder Ricky Van Veen, Vice Media co-founder Shane Smith, Intel media head Erik Huggers and Samsung media head David Eun, Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos (and guest), New Republic owner Chris Hughes, and USA Today publisher Larry Kramer.

And there’s more to come! Stay tuned. Meanwhile, we’re getting close to showtime, so make your reservations now.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20121218/meet-the-man-who-wants-to-blow-up-the-tv-business-dish-networks-charlie-ergen-comes-to-dive-into-media/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20121212/dish-networks-wins-a-9-billion-spectrum-prize/ http://allthingsd.com/20121212/dish-networks-wins-a-9-billion-spectrum-prize/#comments Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:50:01 +0000 Anton Troianovski, Shalini Ramachandran and Sarah Portlock http://allthingsd.com/?p=277566 For more than a decade, telecom moguls and hedge fund titans have wrangled with regulators in a bid to wring billions of dollars out of thin air. This week, the government crowned a winner.

The Federal Communications Commission late Tuesday said Dish Network Corp., led by satellite-TV pioneer Charlie Ergen, would be able to use a slice of the airwaves designated for satellite-phone transmissions to instead offer much more lucrative cellphone service.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20121212/dish-networks-wins-a-9-billion-spectrum-prize/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20121117/dish-made-bid-for-metropcs-before-t-mobile-deal/ http://allthingsd.com/20121117/dish-made-bid-for-metropcs-before-t-mobile-deal/#comments Sat, 17 Nov 2012 12:27:01 +0000 Shalini Ramachandran, Spencer E. Ante and Thomas Gryta http://allthingsd.com/?p=270494 Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen made a bid to acquire MetroPCS in August for about $4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest sign that the executive has pursued serious steps to enter the wireless business.

Mr. Ergen offered to buy MetroPCS for $11 a share, to be paid in 30 percent cash and 70 percent stock, according to a MetroPCS filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday and people familiar with the matter. Mr. Ergen had courted MetroPCS since at least last March, according to the filing, which identified Dish only as “Company C.” The people familiar with the matter said Company C was Dish.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20121117/dish-made-bid-for-metropcs-before-t-mobile-deal/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20120608/dish-chief-tv-needs-to-change/ http://allthingsd.com/20120608/dish-chief-tv-needs-to-change/#comments Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:30:11 +0000 Shalini Ramachandran http://allthingsd.com/?p=218176 Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen said a new ad-skipping feature that has infuriated major broadcast TV networks is a “competitively necessary” response to the explosion of cheap Internet video. That Web video threatens the pay-TV ecosystem, he added, and it is partly caused by the TV networks themselves.

In a rare interview, Mr. Ergen for the first time explained publicly his rationale for introducing the ad-skipping service called Auto Hop last month. The reclusive satellite TV pioneer said the broadcast networks, several of which have sued Dish over the ad-skipping feature and have refused to run Dish ads promoting a Dish digital video recorder, have been “more emotional than realistic.”

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