Ergen Sees Dish Network OTT Product Launch by Year-End
Dish Network is well-poised for growth in a mature pay-TV marketplace through over-the-top offerings and satellite broadband, said Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen. This opportunity also is driven by the changing video marketplace, which affects the direct broadcast satellite company’s strategy toward programming negotiations, he said Tuesday on an earnings call.
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The pay-TV business is mature, Ergen said, but it continues to be solid for Dish. Now there’s a pretty clear path to grow the business, he said, through the advent of OTT products and satellite broadband: “That will enable us to go after customers who aren’t paying for today.” Satellite broadband has been a pretty good business, he said: “We think we have an opportunity to grow the business beyond wireless.”
Dish plans to launch its OTT product before the end of the year, Ergen said. Major programmers are on board, but “we won’t sign up everybody because it’s kind of a skinnied down package,” he said. There some technical issues on Dish’s end and from the programming partners, Ergen said. “We are running into a few snags,” but we still plan to meet our self-imposed year-end deadline, he said.
Ergen said the changing video landscape is affecting how Dish approaches deals with content providers, and he’s disappointed Turner Broadcasting didn’t extend its contracts. “When we take something down, we’re prepared as a company to leave it down forever,” he said, referring to the retransmission disagreement with Turner that resulted in Turner channels being pulled from Dish’s lineup. About 15 years ago, election night without CNN would have been a disaster, he said: “Now there’s plenty of other places for people to get news.” The industry is changing because of the different methods of getting content today, he said. The phone, cable and satellite companies most likely won’t all carry content from the same programmers, he said. Without Turner programming, Dish won’t have to raise prices next year, he said.