Although direct-to-consumer offerings are the latest rage, much of Sinclair’s future in the space could be determined by its retrans talks with Dish Network.
Bankers say AT&T needs to sell DIRECTV due to the coronavirus outbreak and accumulating company debt, according to a Fox Business report. The report does not name the bankers, nor say how many are offering this opinion. It also does not say if the bankers are communicating this position with AT&T, or if AT&T is accepting the verdict that it’s time to unload the nation’s top satellite TV service.
Charlie Ergen, the billionaire chairman and former CEO of Dish Network, took home $2.35 million in total pay for 2019, according to an SEC proxy filing issued on Friday. Ergen made $3.1 million for running the satellite TV service in 2018.
Exclusives
AT&T says it’s not planning to offload its stagnant satellite video offering, but if it does it may sell for far less than the $67 billion it paid in 2015.
Dish Quarterly Revenue Drops 5%
Dish Network on Wednesday reported a nearly 5% drop in quarterly revenue, as the satellite TV service provider lost more than expected pay-TV subscribers. The company said its pay-TV business, which includes both satellite TV and streaming service Sling TV, lost a net 334,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter, more than what analysts had expected Dish to lose at 264,000, according to research firm FactSet.
Dish Network says the removal of Univision Communications’ TV networks — from both its satellite and over-the-top Sling TV services — might be for good. On June 30, after Dish and Univision failed to come to terms on a contract renewal, more than 60 Univision-owned stations and cable channels including UniMás and Galavision went dark on Dish’s pay-TV platforms. “This removal could become permanent,” Dish said in a 10-Q regulatory filing Friday.
Dish Beats Estimates As Sub Losses Slow
Dish Network reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Friday, as the pace of subscriber losses for its pay-TV services slowed. Dish has struggled to stem losses from cord-cutting as TV viewers increasingly move to online video streaming services.
Another carriage dispute looms. Univision Communications’ lifestyle channels have been dark on Dish Network since around 7 p.m. ET Saturday when the current carriage dispute expired. Univision said it offered an extension agreement to Dish to keep the channels live but was refused.
KAZT Phoenix Goes Dark On Dish Network
The Arizona independent says Dish pulled the plug, while the satellite service says the station is at fault.
Dish: Lockwood Blacks Out Super Bowl In TX
Ramping up its retrans-based rhetorical war with regional station group Lockwood Broadcast Group, Dish Network has accused the owner of KTEN Sherman, Texas, of holding the Super Bowl over the heads of its customers in the market.
After losing 452,000 satellite TV customers in the first nine months of 2017, DirecTV will likely report even more attrition when parent company AT&T announces its fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday. “We expect an accelerating contraction of the video base, with a loss of 146,000 satellite subscribers, with little economic offset from a growing OTT business,” said MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett in a note to investors.
