Dish Network 2013 Annual Report Download - page 32

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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing us. If any of the following events occur,
our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Competition and Economic Risks Affecting our Business
We face intense and increasing competition from satellite television providers, cable companies and
telecommunications companies, especially as the pay-TV industry has matured, which may require us to increase
subscriber acquisition and retention spending or accept lower subscriber activations and higher subscriber
churn.
Our business is primarily focused on providing pay-TV services and we have traditionally competed against satellite
television providers and cable companies, some of whom have greater financial, marketing and other resources than
we do. Many of these competitors offer video services bundled with broadband, telephony services, HD offerings,
interactive services and video on demand services that consumers may find attractive. Moreover, mergers and
acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances among cable television providers, telecommunications companies and
others may result in, among other things, greater financial leverage and increase the availability of offerings from
providers capable of bundling television, broadband and telephone services in competition with our services. We
and our competitors increasingly must seek to attract a greater proportion of new subscribers from each other’s
existing subscriber bases rather than from first-time purchasers of pay-TV services. In addition, because other pay-
TV providers may be seeking to attract a greater proportion of their new subscribers from our existing subscriber
base, we may be required to increase retention spending.
Competition has intensified in recent years as the pay-TV industry has matured and the growth of fiber-based pay-
TV services offered by telecommunications companies such as Verizon and AT&T continues. These fiber-based
pay-TV services have significantly greater capacity, enabling the telecommunications companies to offer substantial
HD programming content as well as bundled services. This increasingly competitive environment may require us to
increase subscriber acquisition and retention spending or accept lower subscriber activations and higher subscriber
churn. Further, as a result of this increased competitive environment and the maturation of the pay-TV industry,
future growth opportunities of our core pay-TV business may be limited and our margins may be reduced, which
could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.
Competition from digital media companies that provide or facilitate the delivery of video content via the Internet
may reduce our gross new subscriber activations and may cause our subscribers to purchase fewer services from
us or to cancel our services altogether, resulting in less revenue to us.
Our business is primarily focused on pay-TV services, and we face competition from providers of digital media,
including companies that offer online services distributing movies, television shows and other video programming.
Moreover, new technologies have been, and will likely continue to be, developed that further increase the number of
competitors we face with respect to video services. For example, online platforms that provide for the distribution
and viewing of video programming compete with our pay-TV services. These online platforms may cause our
subscribers to disconnect our services. In addition, even if our subscribers do not disconnect our services, they may
purchase a certain portion of the services that they would have historically purchased from us through these online
platforms, such as pay per view movies, resulting in less revenue to us. Some of these companies have greater
financial, marketing and other resources than we do. In particular, programming offered over the Internet has
become more prevalent as the speed and quality of broadband and wireless networks have improved. In addition,
consumers are spending an increasing amount of time accessing video content via the Internet on their mobile
devices. These technological advancements and changes in consumer behavior with regard to the means by which
they obtain video content could reduce our gross new subscriber activations and could materially adversely affect
our business, results of operations and financial condition or otherwise disrupt our business.