Dish Network Corp - Class A Shares DISH

DISH Network Corporation, incorporated on April 26, 1995, is a holding company. The Company operates through two segments: Pay-TV and Broadband, and Wireless. The Company offers pay-TV services under the DISH brand and the Sling brand (collectively Pay-TV services).

Pay-TV and Broadband

The DISH branded pay-TV service consists of, among other things, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licenses authorizing it to use direct broadcast satellite (DBS) and Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) spectrum, its owned and leased satellites, receiver systems, third-party broadcast operations, customer service facilities, a leased fiber optic network, in-home service and call center operations, and certain other assets utilized in its operations. The Sling branded pay-TV services consist of, among other things, live, linear streaming over-the-top (OTT) Internet-based domestic, international and Latino video programing services (Sling TV). It offers Sling International, Sling Latino and Sling domestic video programing services. In addition to its Sling domestic service that could only be streamed on one device at a time (single-stream service), the Company also offers a live beta multi-stream Sling domestic service, which includes, among other things, the ability to stream on up to three devices simultaneously. All Sling branded pay-TV subscribers are included in its Pay-TV subscriber count. As of December 31, 2016, it had 13.671 million Pay-TV subscribers in the United States.

The Company markets broadband services under the dishNET brand. As of December 31, 2016, the Company had 0.580 million broadband subscribers in the United States. Its satellite broadband service utilizes advanced technology and high-powered satellites to provide broadband coverage across the nation. This service primarily targets rural residents that are underserved, or unserved, by wireline broadband. As of December 31, 2016, in addition to the dishNET branded satellite broadband service, it also offered wireline broadband services under the dishNET brand as a local exchange carrier to consumers in certain areas in 34 states and wireline voice services in certain areas of 14 of those states that were located in the western United States. The Company primarily bundles its dishNET branded services with its DISH branded pay-TV service. As of December 31, 2016, its dishNET branded wireline broadband service provided download speeds of up to 40 megabits of data per second (Mbps).

The Company's programing packages include programing provided by national broadcast networks, local broadcast networks and national and regional cable networks. It also offers programing packages that include regional and specialty sports channels, movie channels and Latino and international programing. As of December 31, 2016, its Latino and international programing packages allowed subscribers to choose from over 250 channels in 28 languages. In addition, it offers its DISH branded pay-TV subscribers streaming access through DISH On Demand to thousands of movies and television shows through their television or Internet-connected tablets, smartphones and computers. DISH branded pay-TV subscribers also have the ability to use dishanywhere.com and its mobile applications for smartphones and tablets to view authorized content, search program listings and remotely control certain features of their digital video recorders (DVRs). Dishanywhere.com and its mobile applications provide access to thousands of movies and television shows. The Company's Sling TV services require an Internet connection and are available on multiple streaming-capable devices, including televisions, tablets, computers, game consoles and smart phones.

The Company's DISH branded Pay-TV subscribers receive programing through equipment that includes a small satellite dish, digital set-top receivers and remote controls. Its Hopper and Joey whole-home DVR promotes a suite of integrated features and functionality designed for watching television anytime and anywhere. It also has various features that a consumer can use, at his or her option, to watch and record television programing, through their televisions, Internet-connected tablets, smartphones and computers. The Hopper 3 is available to customers across the nation.

Wireless

The Company makes investments in the research and development, wireless testing and wireless network infrastructure, as well as the acquisition of additional wireless spectrum. The Company filed an application with the FCC to participate as a bidder in the forward auction phase of the broadcast incentive auction in the 600 megahertz (MHz) frequency range (Auction 1000). The available spectrum in each licensed geographic area in Auction 1000 consisted of certain paired 5x5 spectrum blocks (five MHz uplink spectrum and five MHz downlink spectrum). As of December 31, 2016, the Company had multichannel video distribution and data service (MVDDS) licenses in 82 out of 214 geographical license areas, including Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago and several other metropolitan areas.

The Company competes with AT&T Inc., Charter Communications, Inc., Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications, Inc., Netflix, Hulu, Apple, Amazon, Google, T-Mobile USA Inc. and Sprint Corporation.