1001082--3/1/2010--DISH_Network_CORP

related topics
{capital, credit, financial}
{product, market, service}
{product, candidate, development}
{acquisition, growth, future}
{system, service, information}
{customer, product, revenue}
{cost, contract, operation}
{cost, regulation, environmental}
{debt, indebtedness, cash}
{loss, insurance, financial}
{personnel, key, retain}
{property, intellectual, protect}
{regulation, change, law}
{stock, price, operating}
{competitive, industry, competition}
Higher Subscriber Acquisition and Retention Costs If we do not improve our operational performance and maintain customer satisfaction, our gross subscriber additions may decrease and our subscriber churn may increase. If DISH Network gross subscriber additions decrease, or if subscriber churn, subscriber acquisition or retention costs increase, our financial performance will be further adversely affected. If we are unsuccessful in overturning the District Court s ruling on Tivo s motion for contempt, we are not successful in developing and deploying potential new alternative technology and we are unable to reach a license agreement with Tivo on reasonable terms, we would be subject to substantial liability and would be prohibited from offering DVR functionality that would result in a significant loss of subscribers and place us at a significant disadvantage to our competitors. We face intense and increasing competition from satellite television providers, cable television providers and telecommunications companies. Emerging digital media competition including companies that provide/facilitate the delivery of video content via the Internet could materially adversely affect us. We depend on others to provide the programming that we offer to our subscribers and, if we lose access to this programming, our subscriber additions may decline or we may suffer subscriber losses and subscriber churn may increase. We may be required to make substantial additional investments to maintain competitive HD programming offerings. Technology in our industry changes rapidly and could cause our services and products to become obsolete. We may need additional capital, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to continue investing in our business and to finance acquisitions and other strategic transactions. A portion of our investment portfolio is invested in securities that have experienced limited or no liquidity and may not be immediately accessible to support our financing needs. AT T s termination of its distribution agreement with us may increase churn. As technology changes, and to remain competitive, we may have to upgrade or replace subscriber equipment and make substantial investments in our infrastructure. We rely on EchoStar to design and develop all of our new set-top boxes and certain related components, and to provide transponder capacity, digital broadcast operations and other services for us. Our business would be adversely affected if EchoStar ceases to provide these services to us and we are unable to obtain suitable replacement services from third parties. We rely on one or a limited number of vendors, and the inability of these key vendors to meet our needs could have a material adverse effect on our business. Our programming signals are subject to theft, and we are vulnerable to other forms of fraud that could require us to make significant expenditures to remedy. We depend on third parties to solicit orders for DISH Network services that represent a significant percentage of our total gross subscriber acquisitions. Our competitors may be able to leverage their relationships with programmers so that they are able to reduce their programming costs and offer exclusive content that will place them at a competitive advantage to us. We depend on the Cable Act for access to programming from cable-affiliate programmers at cost-effective rates. We face increasing competition from other distributors of foreign language programming that may limit our ability to maintain our foreign language programming subscriber base. Our local programming strategy faces uncertainty because we may not be able to obtain necessary retransmission consents from local network stations. We are subject to significant regulatory oversight and changes in applicable regulatory requirements could adversely affect our business. We have made a substantial investment in certain 700 MHz wireless licenses and will be required to make significant additional investments or partner with others to commercialize these licenses and recoup our investment. We have substantial debt outstanding and may incur additional debt. We have limited owned and leased satellite capacity and satellite failures could adversely affect our business. Our owned and leased satellites under construction are subject to risks related to construction and launch that could limit our ability to utilize these satellites. Our owned and leased satellites in orbit are subject to significant operational and environmental risks that could limit our ability to utilize these satellites. Our owned and leased satellites have minimum design lives ranging from 12 to 15 years, but could fail or suffer reduced capacity before then. We currently have no commercial insurance coverage on the satellites we own and could face significant impairment charges if one of our satellites fails. We may have potential conflicts of interest with EchoStar due to our common ownership and management. We rely on key personnel and the loss of their services may negatively affect our businesses. We are party to various lawsuits which, if adversely decided, could have a significant adverse impact on our business, particularly lawsuits regarding intellectual property. We may pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions to complement or expand our business that may not be successful and we may lose up to the entire value of our investment in these acquisitions and transactions. Our business depends on FCC licenses that can expire or be revoked or modified and applications for FCC licenses that may not be granted. We are subject to digital HD requirements that cause capacity constraints.

Full 10-K form ▸

related documents
1001082--3/2/2009--DISH_Network_CORP
1082114--3/24/2009--LIBERTY_MEDIA_LLC
1142417--3/31/2009--NEXSTAR_BROADCASTING_GROUP_INC
1142417--3/16/2006--NEXSTAR_BROADCASTING_GROUP_INC
1377013--2/23/2007--TIME_WARNER_CABLE_INC.
1355096--2/27/2009--LIBERTY_MEDIA_CORP
1142417--3/11/2008--NEXSTAR_BROADCASTING_GROUP_INC
1142417--3/14/2007--NEXSTAR_BROADCASTING_GROUP_INC
1105705--2/19/2010--TIME_WARNER_INC.
1042642--3/16/2009--DISH_DBS_CORP
760326--3/16/2010--OUTDOOR_CHANNEL_HOLDINGS_INC
857957--3/17/2010--SOUTH_HERTFORDSHIRE_UNITED_KINGDOM_FUND_LTD
1415404--3/1/2010--EchoStar_CORP
1160661--2/25/2010--ALABAMA_POWER_CO
929351--6/1/2010--LIONS_GATE_ENTERTAINMENT_CORP_/CN/
1001258--12/14/2010--ASTA_FUNDING_INC
912752--3/5/2010--SINCLAIR_BROADCAST_GROUP_INC
1010286--3/12/2010--FiberTower_CORP
1050606--3/12/2010--SALEM_COMMUNICATIONS_CORP_/DE/
1065280--2/22/2010--NETFLIX_INC
310826--3/31/2010--PROTECTIVE_LIFE_INSURANCE_CO
771950--3/31/2010--WESTWOOD_ONE_INC_/DE/
1322791--2/26/2010--VIRGIN_MEDIA_INC.
355429--2/26/2010--PROTECTIVE_LIFE_CORP
834162--3/16/2010--MTR_GAMING_GROUP_INC
921582--3/11/2010--IMAX_CORP
1303276--6/15/2010--Marquee_Holdings_Inc.
927720--3/25/2010--SPANISH_BROADCASTING_SYSTEM_INC
43196--4/7/2010--GRAY_TELEVISION_INC
1331757--3/25/2010--Federal_Home_Loan_Bank_of_Dallas