Dish Network 2006 Annual Report Download - page 31

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21
Carl E. Vogel. Mr. Vogel was named President of EchoStar in September 2006 and oversees all day to day
operations of the company. Mr. Vogel has served on the Board of Directors since May 2005 and became a full-time
employee in June 2005 serving as our Vice Chairman in charge of all financial and strategic initiatives. From 2001
until 2005, Mr. Vogel served as the President and CEO of Charter Communications Inc. (“Charter”), a publicly-
traded company providing cable television and broadband services to approximately six million customers. Mr.
Vogel was one of our executive officers from 1994 until 1997, including serving as our President from 1995 until
1997 when he was a key member of the executive team that created and launched DISH Network in 1996.
Stephen W. Wood. Mr. Wood joined EchoStar as the Executive Vice President of Human Resources in May 2006
and oversees all of the human resource functions of the Company. Prior to joining EchoStar, Mr. Wood served as an
Executive Vice President for Gate Gourmet International from 2004 to 2006 and practiced employment and labor
law in Richmond, Virginia with McGuire Woods LLP, as well as held executive and directorial Human Resources
positions at Cigna Healthcare from 2001 to 2004 and Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc. from 1993 to 2001.
There are no arrangements or understandings between any executive officer and any other person pursuant to which
any executive officer was selected as such. Pursuant to the Bylaws of EchoStar, executive officers serve at the
discretion of the Board of Directors.
Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties that
we are unaware of or that we currently believe to be immaterial also may become important factors that affect us.
If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially
and adversely affected.
We compete with other subscription television service providers and traditional broadcasters, which could affect
our ability to grow and increase our earnings and other operating metrics.
We compete in the subscription television service industry against other DBS television providers, cable television
and other system operators offering video, audio and data programming and entertainment services. Many of these
competitors have substantially greater financial, marketing and other resources than we have. Our earnings and
other operating metrics could be materially and adversely affected if we are unable to compete successfully with
these and other new providers of multi-channel video programming services.
Cable television operators have a large, established customer base, and many cable operators have significant
investments in programming. Cable television operators continue to leverage their incumbency advantages relative
to satellite operators by, among other things, bundling their video service with 2-way high speed Internet access and
telephone services. Cable television operators with analog systems are also able to provide service to multiple
television sets within the same household at a lesser incremental cost to the consumer, and they are able to provide
local and other programming in a larger number of geographic areas. As a result of these and other factors, we may
not be able to continue to expand our subscriber base or compete effectively against cable television operators.
Some digital cable platforms currently offer a VOD service that enables subscribers to choose from a library of
programming selections for viewing at their convenience. We are continuing to develop our own VOD service
experience through automatic video downloads to hard drives in certain of our satellite receivers, the inclusion of
broadband connectivity components in certain of our satellite receivers, and other technologies. There can be no
assurance that our VOD service will successfully compare with offerings from other video providers.
News Corporation owns a 38.5% controlling interest in the DirecTV Group, Inc. (“DirecTV”). In December 2006,
Liberty Media Corporation (“Liberty”) agreed to exchange its 16.3% stake in News Corporation for News
Corporation’s stake in DirecTV, together with regional sports networks in Denver, Pittsburg and Seattle. The deal is
expected to be completed during the second half of 2007. News Corporation and Liberty each have ownership
interests in diverse world-wide programming content and other related businesses. These assets provide competitive
advantages to DirecTV with respect to the acquisition of programming, content and other business opportunities
valuable to our industry.