Category: In the News

By SHALINI RAMACHANDRAN Updated June 4, 2015 2:32 p.m. ET On a trip to Las Vegas last month, Charlie Ergen didn’t stay long at the blackjack table. Miffed that a rule in place for the Pacquiao-Mayweather boxing match cut winners’ payouts by 30%, the Dish Network Corp. chairman and CEO walked away after only a few hands. Mr. Ergen likes… Read More

Now that Sling TV has launched and Dish Network won a chunk of wireless spectrum, Dish president and CEO Joseph P. Clayton plans to retire. The Douglas County satellite TV company on Monday said that Clayton, 65, will retire on March 31. Dish founder Charlie Ergen, its chairman, will step back into the role s he left in 2011 to… Read More

Reviving The Internet TV Trend; A Huge Challenge to Traditional Pay TV1/09/2015 7:45 AM Author: Jimmy Schaeffler The top headline above deals with video services and in-home consumer devices. Yet, someone young and new to the media and telecom industries might easily confuse this title with groups and music stars among their youthful music and entertainment. Indeed, “Sling and The… Read More

Dish Network is making the first big news in what’s likely to be a busy year for the future of television. At the International Consumer Electronics Show on Monday, the company unveiled its Internet television service, a $20-a-month alternative to cable that’s the most ambitious play for cord-cutters to date. The service, confusingly, is named Sling TV, even though it… Read More

LAS VEGAS — Dish Network unveiled a significantly lower price for TV service on Monday to appeal to those who abandoned or never paid for TV. For $20 a month, Sling TV users will get ESPN, Disney Channel, Food Network and nine other channels. The catch? You’ll still need a reliable Internet connection. Sling TV, available to subscribers later this… Read More

Pay-TV Distributors Hope to Gain Leverage After Few Agreed to Carry SportsNet LA The price to carry the Dodgers-owned channel kept many pay-television distributors from adding it to their lineups. Photo: The Orange County Register/Zuma Press By JOE FLINT The Los Angeles Dodgers were on fire this season, winning their division, and are strong contenders to make it to the… Read More

Here’s your morning roundup of the biggest marketing, advertising and media industry news and happenings. Send tips, suggestions and complaints tomike.shields@wsj.com. Click here to read CMO Today in your email inbox daily. WEB TV, MEET FCC: A slew of companies are looking to disrupt the cable TV universe with Web-delivered TV packages. But just how disruptive companies like Sony, Dish… Read More

AT&T is in discussions to buy DirecTV for about $50 billion to expand its video offerings and avoid being left out in consolidation hitting the pay-TV industry. The price being discussed by the companies is in the “low-to-mid $90s” per DirecTV share, but an announcement could still be “weeks away,” according to a person familiar with the talks. The person… Read More

Pay TV Alone Isn’t Enough as Consumers Want More Broadband By SHALINI RAMACHANDRAN CONNECT May 1, 2014 7:41 p.m. ET The world has become a tougher place for DirecTV since 2010, when AT&T Inc. unsuccessfully tried to buy the satellite-TV operator. After years of outperforming the rest of the pay-TV industry, subscriber growth has slowed sharply while programming costs are… Read More

Webinar Scheduled for Same Day as Supreme Court Hearing Tuesday is a big day for broadcast, ad-supported TV, and pay TV — as in broadband/over-the-top/streaming, cable, satellite and telco TV — in America. That is because the United States Supreme Court begins the day with its oral hearing at 10 a.m. (ET) of the hyper-important Broadcasters vs. Aereo case. Several… Read More