The story
Founded by Cantey Ergen and Charlie Ergen in 1980, in Meridian.1
History
Founding, early growth and launch of DBS services
The company was formed in 1980 as EchoStar Communications by Charlie Ergen, Candy Ergen, and Jim DeFranco, as a distributor of C-band satellite television systems. In 1987, EchoStar applied for a satellite television broadcast license with the FCC and was granted access to orbital slot 119° west longitude in 1992. A year after the launch of its first satellite, EchoStar I, EchoStar launched its DBS broadcast services under the DISH Network name on March 4, 1996. That launch marked the beginning of its television services under a subscription business model.
Spin-off of infrastructural assets
In January 2007, EchoStar Communications completed the corporate spin-off of its technology and infrastructure assets into a separate company under the EchoStar name, and the remainder of the company was renamed DISH Network Corporation.
Acquisitions and expansion
Joseph Clayton became president and chief executive officer of the company in June 2011, while Charlie Ergen remained chairman. Clayton remained in the position until March 31, 2015, when he retired, leaving Ergen to resume the post. In December 2017, Ergen was replaced by Erik Carlson. In 2011, DISH Network spent over $3 billion in acquisitions of companies in bankruptcy, This included the April 6, 2011, purchase of Blockbuster in a bankruptcy auction for $322 million in cash and the assumption of $87 million in liabilities. DISH Network also acquired DBSD and TerreStar Corporation.
In September 2011, DISH would leverage Blockbuster's existing video on-demand and DVD-by-mail services as part of a new offering known as "Blockbuster Movie Pass"—an add-on for DISH Network television service incorporating movie channels, access to Blockbuster On Demand, and DVD-by-mail with unlimited in-store exchanges. The offering was positioned as a competitor to Netflix, and Redbox, with Blockbuster having touted that it received new releases for rental sooner than its competitors due to agreements they had reached requiring a 28-day delay. DISH Network also made a bid to purchase Hulu in October 2011, but Hulu's owners chose not to sell the company.
In January 2013, DISH bid $5 billion for Clearwire to add wireless internet and mobile video services. In April 2013, it made a $25 billion bid for Sprint Corporation. In 2011, Dish petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to combine the S-Band spectrum it acquired from DBSD and Terrestar, and combine this spectrum with LTE. Unlike LightSquared, Dish's spectrum has minimal risk of disrupting Global Positioning Systems.
At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, DISH Network announced it would shorten its trade name to "DISH", to emphasize new developments such as its Hopper DVR and broadband services.
After changing the position of a satellite orbital position from being over Mexico to Brazil in 2011, DISH sought companies that could make a deal, among them Telefónica. However, nothing ever came of this, and DISH decided to enter the country itself. According to the Brazilian Agency of Telecommunications (Anatel), they awaited the authorization of the application. In June 2019, nonetheless, DISH TV accepted to resign its satellite exploration rights assigned to EchoStar and thus ending the possibility of entering the Brazilian market.
In January 2015, the company launched a subsidiary, Sling TV—an IPTV service distributed as an over-the-top media service.
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In 2019, EchoStar transferred the portion of its business which managed and provided broadcast satellite services, referred to as the BSS (Broadcast Satellite Services) business, to DISH to concentrate on broadband services and other initiatives.
Wireless
In 2019, as part of the merger of Sprint Corporation and T-Mobile US, DISH reached an agreement to acquire Sprint's prepaid wireless businesses, including Boost Mobile, in order to quell antitrust concerns. After the merger was approved by the Justice Department, DISH stated that it intended to supplant Sprint as a fourth major national wireless carrier, and had committed to building out a 5G network serving at least 70% of the U.S. population by June 2023. As part of the agreement, DISH would receive access to the T-Mobile network for seven years while it builds out its 5G-specific network. The $1.4 billion sale was completed on July 1, 2020.
With this purchase it officially launched its wireless business, DISH Wireless, offering prepaid service through the Boost brand as an MVNO on the T-Mobile network. DISH stated intentions to offer branded postpaid service in the future with the build-out of their own network.
DISH purchased Ting Mobile from Tucows on August 1, 2020, Republic Wireless on March 8, 2021, and Gen Mobile on September 1, 2021. On July 19, 2021, DISH announced a 10-year, non-exclusive agreement with AT&T Mobility for 4G and 5G roaming on its network, accompanying the existing T-Mobile agreement. The $5 billion deal also includes sharing of DISH wireless spectrum with AT&T.
In May 2022, DISH Wireless began to launch its self-developed 5G network, codenamed "Project Genesis", in Las Vegas; the company stated that it planned to serve at least 120 cities by the June 2023 deadline. In June 2022, DISH announced it had met a milestone requiring it to provide coverage to 20% of the U.S. population by June 2022. In December 2022, DISH Wireless launched a postpaid service under the spin-off brand Boost Infinite. In June 2023, the company announced that it had met the requirement to provide coverage to 70% of the U.S. population by June 14, 2023.
EchoStar merger
In August 2023, EchoStar announced that it would acquire DISH Network in an all-stock purchase, undoing their previous split. The acquisition, which was completed December 31, 2023, was part of an effort to bolster the company's wireless business, with Ergen stating that it would allow them to offer "an enhanced consumer connectivity business". As Ergen already held 90% of the voting stock in both companies, the FCC considered the "acquisition" to be a reorganization of assets with no change in effective control.
In July 2024, amid declines in subscribers, Boost Mobile underwent a relaunch with an updated brand identity, and Boost Infinite merged into the Boost Mobile business as part of a new plan lineup. EchoStar began referring to its 5G wireless network as the "Boost Mobile Network" and discontinued its usage of the DISH Wireless brand.
On June 6, 2025, it was reported that EchoStar Corporation was preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suspended EchoStar's ability to plan out strategic decisions for its Boost Mobile subsidiary. In addition, other factors contributing to this decision included missing over $500 million in interest payments and the termination of the Dish Network acquisition by DirecTV.
On June 29, 2026, EchoStar announced that Dish DBS, which operates Dish Network's satellite pay-TV business, as well as Sling TV and Boost Mobile, would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by June 30. EchoStar blamed the decision on heavy debt and subscriber losses, as well as legal troubles with federal regulators on whether it has met obligations to deploy wireless spectrum licenses. On June 30, Dish DBS filed for prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas, listing assets and liabilities between $10 billion and $50 billion. The filing allows for Dish to pay its debt obligations and complete the transition of its Dish Wireless, which is doing business as Boost Mobile, following spectrum transactions. Dish plans to emerge from bankruptcy by the third quarter of 2026 with plans to wind down operations at Dish Wireless.
Attempted acquisition by DirecTV
On September 30, 2024, DirecTV announced its intent to acquire DISH Network, under an arrangement under which TPG Inc. will acquire the remaining stake of DirecTV it does not already own from AT&T, and then acquire DISH Network's video business from Echostar for $1 while assuming its net debt. The combined company would have had a total of approximately 20 million television subscribers. DirecTV stated that it had no plans for any changes to the DISH or SlingTV services following the purchase. The sale comes amid declines in both services' customer bases amid cord-cutting and other factors. EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan stated that the agreement would allow the company to place a larger focus on expanding its wireless Boost Mobile network. In November, DirecTV abandoned the deal due to opposition from EchoStar's bondholders.
Technical information
Both a standard receiver and a receiver with built-in digital video recorder (DVR) were available to subscribers. The DISH Network ViP722 HD DVR replacement for the ViP622 received generally positive reviews. It could record up to 350 hours of standard-definition (SD) broadcasts, or 55 hours of high-definition (HD). These set-top boxes (STBs) allow for HD on the primary TV and SD on the secondary TV (TV2) without a secondary box on TV2.
Earlier satellite dishes
DISH Network's first satellite antenna was simply called the "DISH Network" dish. It was retroactively named the "DISH 300" when legal and satellite problems forced delays of the forthcoming DISH 500 systems. It uses one LNB to obtain signals from the 119°W orbital location, and was commonly used as a second dish to receive additional high-definition or international programming from either the 148°W or 61.5°W orbital locations. The 119°W slot is one of two primary orbital locations, the other being 110°W, that provide core services.
Tailgater
The Tailgater is a portable satellite antenna; the tailgater can be purchased as a standalone device for $350. The Tailgater is compatible with the Wally and VIP211 receivers. Customers only need to pay for the period of time where the receiver is active on the account, the monthly cost for a Vip211 or Wally is $7 per month, if the receiver is the only one on the account, there is no charge. It weighs ten pounds, is protected from weather, and automatically searches for a signal. The only satellites that are currently compatible with the Tailgater are at DISH's 119 (SD/HD TV), 110 (SD/HD TV), and 129 (SD/HD TV) orbital slots.
Hopper and Joey
Hopper is a line of multi-tuner set-top boxes first introduced in 2012; they are digital video recorders that can be networked with accompanying "Joey" set-top boxes for multi-room access to recordings. DISH Network subsequently introduced updated versions of the Hopper, including Hopper with Sling (which adds integrated placeshifting capabilities), the Hopper 3, and the Hopper Plus which features 4K support and 16 tuners. Hopper supports a voice-activated remote, as well as Amazon Echo and Google Home integration.
Apps
DISH Anywhere
DISH Anywhere is DISH's subscriber-only streaming video service. The DISH Anywhere app combines Sling broadcast technology and internet to bring subscribers DISH content wherever they are. It also pairs with DISH On Demand, a library that has over 80,000 movies and shows.
As of late 2018, HBO and Cinemax were no longer available for DISH customers due to Contract disputes. However, Dish returned HBO and Cinemax programming as of August 2021.
Sling TV
In May 2012, DISH launched DISHWorld, a subscription-based over-the-top streaming IPTV service, as an app on Roku devices, offering access to over 50 international television channels via broadband streaming.
In 2014, DISH Network began to reach carriage deals with broadcasters for a new over-the-top service that would be aimed towards cord cutters as a low-cost alternative to traditional pay television. On January 5, 2015, DISH Network officially unveiled Sling TV, an over-the-top IPTV service designed to complement subscription video on-demand services such as Hulu and Netflix.
Some broadcasters have been hesitant about over-the-top services such as Sling TV, showing concern that they may undermine their carriage deals with larger conventional cable, satellite and Internet TV providers. Time Warner initially noted that the carriage of its channels on the service was only for a "trial" basis, while both Time Warner's CEO Jeffrey Bewkes and an analyst from the firm Macquarie Capital disclosed that current contract language in DISH's OTT carriage deals with the service's content distributors would cap the number of subscribers that the service is allowed to have at any given time to 5 million. Neither DISH Network or its content providers have confirmed any such cap. As of January 2022, the service has reached 2.49 million subscribers.
Satellite fleet
Until 2019, most of the satellites used by DISH Network were owned and operated by EchoStar Corporation. DISH frequently moves satellites among its many orbiting slots so this list may not be accurate. Refer to Lyngsat and DISH Channel Chart for detailed satellite information.
From Wikipedia’s article on Dish Network, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7