Dish Network 2008 Annual Report Download - page 11

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 11 of the 2008 Dish Network annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 144

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144

1
PART I
Item 1. BUSINESS
OVERVIEW
DISH Network Corporation is the nation’s third largest pay-TV provider, with approximately 13.678 million
customers across the United States as of December 31, 2008. We were organized in 1995 as a corporation under the
laws of the State of Nevada and started offering DISH Network subscription television services in March 1996.
Our common stock is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “DISH.” Our principal
executive offices are located at 9601 South Meridian Boulevard, Englewood, Colorado 80112 and our telephone
number is (303) 723-1000.
On January 1, 2008, we completed a tax-free distribution of our technology and set-top box business and certain
infrastructure assets (the “Spin-off”) into a separate publicly-traded company, EchoStar Corporation (“EchoStar”)
which was incorporated in Nevada on October 12, 2007. DISH Network and EchoStar now operate as separate
publicly-traded companies, and neither entity has any ownership interest in the other. However, a substantial
majority of the voting power of the shares of both companies is owned beneficially by Charles W. Ergen, our
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.
Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to be the best provider of video services in the United States by providing high-quality
products, outstanding customer service, and great value.
x High-Quality Products. We offer a wide selection of local and national programming, featuring more
national and local HD channels than most pay-TV providers and the only HD-only programming packages
currently available in the industry. We have been a technology leader in our industry, introducing award-
winning DVRs, dual tuner receivers, 1080p video on demand, and external hard drives. We plan to
leverage Slingbox “placeshifting” technology and other technologies to maintain and improve our
competitiveness in the future.
x Outstanding Customer Service. We strive to provide outstanding customer service by improving the
quality of the initial installation of subscriber equipment, improving the reliability of our equipment, better
educating our customers about our products and services, and resolving customer problems promptly and
effectively when they do arise.
x Great Value. We have historically been viewed as the low-cost provider in the pay-TV industry because
we offer the lowest everyday prices available to consumers after introductory promotions expire. We
believe that a key factor to being a value leader in the industry is our low cost structure which is an asset
we continuously strive to maintain.
Products and Services
Programming. We provide programming which includes more than 280 basic video channels, 60 Sirius Satellite
Radio music channels, 30 premium movie channels, 35 regional and specialty sports channels, 2,100 local channels,
200 Latino and international channels, and 50 channels of pay-per-view content. Although we distribute over 2,100
local channels, a subscriber typically may only receive the local channels available in the subscriber’s home market.
As of December 31, 2008, we also provided local HD channels in over 90 markets representing 78% of U.S. TV
households as well as over 120 national HD channels.