Dish Network 2015 Annual Report Download - page 35

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many others that are available in the majority of our programming packages, in a venture, NBCUniversal, controlled by
Comcast. During March 2013, Comcast completed the acquisition of substantially all of General Electric’s remaining
interest in NBCUniversal. This transaction may affect us adversely by, among other things, making it more difficult for
us to obtain access to NBCUniversal’s programming networks on nondiscriminatory and fair terms, or at all. The FCC
conditioned its approval on, among other things, Comcast complying with the terms of the FCC’s order on network
neutrality, even if that order is vacated by judicial or legislative action, and Comcast licensing its affiliated content to us,
other traditional pay-TV providers and certain providers of video services over the Internet on fair and nondiscriminatory
terms and conditions, including, among others, price. If Comcast does not license its affiliated content to us on fair and
nondiscriminatory terms and conditions, we can seek binding arbitration and continue to carry such content while the
arbitration is pending. However, it is uncertain how these conditions may be interpreted and enforced by the FCC;
therefore, we cannot predict the practical effect of these conditions.
Our OTT Sling TV Internet-based services face certain risks, including, among others, significant competition.
Prior to 2015, we launched our Sling International video programming service (formerly known as DishWorld). During
2015, we launched our Sling domestic and Sling Latino services.
We market our Sling TV services primarily to
consumers who do not subscribe to traditional satellite and cable pay-TV services.
Our Sling TV services face a number of risks, including, among others, the following, which may have a material
adverse effect on our Sling TV service offerings:
x We face significant competition from several content providers and other companies including, among
others, Netflix, Hulu, Apple, Amazon, Google and Verizon, some of which have larger customer bases,
stronger brand recognition, and significant financial, marketing and other resources, as well as competition
from piracy based video offerings.
x We offer a limited amount of programming content, and there can be no assurances that we will be able to
increase the amount or type of programming content that we may offer to keep pace with, or to differentiate
our Sling TV services from, other providers of online video content;
x We rely on streaming-capable devices to deliver our Sling TV services, and if we are not successful in
maintaining existing, and creating new, relationships, or if we encounter technological, content licensing or
other impediments to our streaming content, our ability to grow our Sling TV services could be adversely
impacted;
x We may incur significant expenses to market our Sling TV services and build brand awareness, which
could have a negative impact on the profitability of our Sling TV services;
x Since we rely upon the ability of consumers to access our Sling TV services through an Internet
connection, changes in how network operators handle and charge for access to data that travel across their
networks, such as implementing bandwidth caps or usage-based fees, could adversely impact our Sling TV
services. In addition, many network operators that provide consumers with broadband service also provide
these consumers with video programming, and these network operators may have an incentive to use their
network infrastructure in a manner adverse to our continued growth and success. For example, as a result of
AT&T’s recent acquisition of DirecTV, and if the proposed New Charter merger is completed, these risks
may be exacerbated to the extent these and other network operators are able to provide preferential
treatment to their data;
x We may not be able to scale our systems and operational practices related to our Sling TV services to
effectively and reliably handle growth in subscribers and features related to our services;
x Our Sling TV services have functional limitations that in many cases our competitors are not constrained
by, such as not being able to view content on more than one device simultaneously, and not providing
consumers a feature to record content for future viewing. If we are unable to add such functionality to our
Sling TV services in the future, our ability to compete with other offerings could be adversely impacted;