Charlie Ergen, a founder of Dish Network, is taking back the reins at the satellite provider as its competitive landscape is poised for big changes, with a series of megadeals and shifts in how people watch television.Dish said on Monday that Joe Clayton, its chief executive, would retire at the end of March after a 42-year career in consumer electronics. Mr. Ergen, who helped found the company more than three decades ago and holds the chairman title, will return to his post as chief executive.Mr. Clayton is the latest in a string of top executives who have failed to stay long at Dish. Carl Vogel was president from 2006 to 2008, and before that Michael Neuman was a top executive at the satellite company EchoStar, which operated Dish.“There has just been a revolving door in and out,” said Craig Moffett, an analyst with MoffettNathanson Research. “It is nothing more than a reflection of how difficult it has been for outsiders to work productively with Charlie Ergen. At the end of the day, this is still Charlie Ergen’s company.” Photo Charlie Ergen, who helped found Dish Network more than three decades ago, will return to his post as chief executive. Credit Andrew Kelly/Reuters Mr. Ergen, who also is chairman of EchoStar, stepped down from his chief executive role at Dish in June 2011 to focus on long-term business strategy. At that time, Mr. Clayton became chief and steered the company through the start of its controversial Hopper service, which allows for automatic commercial skipping, as well as its Sling TV product, which offers streaming television for $20 a month.The company also recently spent billions of dollars to acquire wireless airwaves, known as spectrum, in two auctions.“Over the last four years, Joe’s leadership has been instrumental to Dish as we have worked to engineer a fundamental transformation of our business,” Mr. Ergen said in a statement. “He has set the stage for what will become a new company, and with that he has prepared a new class of management to address the adventures coming our way.”Mr. Ergen is assuming control of the company as its rivals await regulatory approval of two deals that would reshape the country’s television and broadband markets. In July, Dish urged regulators to block the proposed $45 billion merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable and said that a proposed $48.5 billion deal between AT&T and DirecTV also posed competitive threats.Dish is also combating a rising tide of so-called cord cutters, who are abandoning paying for traditional TV services in favor of cheaper streaming alternatives.The news came as Dish Network reported that net income for 2014 increased 17 percent, to $945 million, compared with the previous year, with total revenue up 5.3 percent. The company’s subscriber base has not grown since 2009. It lost 79,000 pay-television subscribers in 2014.Amy Yong, an analyst with Macquarie, said Mr. Clayton had helped move Dish’s business along with the start of new products and efforts to reinvigorate the brand. “Now that Charlie Ergen is back and they are largely done with spectrum purchases, I think he gets to view the business more holistically,” she said.
It is my feeling that if the satellit companies like Dish weren't continually trying to raise rates they would fare much better with consumers. They need to cut their costs to be comparable with what someone would pay for streaming content. No one who has any kind of option is going to pay 5x as much for cable channels when thee are other ways to get the content they desire.
Author
Topic: Charlie Ergen returns as the satellite industry faces a turning point (Read 5458 times)
