Dish Network 2013 Annual Report Download - page 174

DISH NETWORK CORPORATION
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued
F-64
17. Segment Reporting
Operating segments are components of an enterprise for which separate financial information is available and
regularly evaluated by the chief operating decision maker(s) of an enterprise. Operating income is the primary
measure used by our chief operating decision maker to evaluate segment operating performance. On November 6,
2013, we announced that Blockbuster would close all of its remaining company-owned domestic retail stores and
discontinue the Blockbuster by-mail DVD service. As of December 31, 2013, Blockbuster had ceased all material
operations. See Note 10 for further discussion. As a result, Blockbuster is no longer a business segment and the
tables below represent only continuing operations, unless otherwise noted. We currently operate two primary
business segments.
x DISH. The DISH branded pay-TV service had 14.057 million subscribers in the United States as of December
31, 2013. The DISH branded pay-TV service consists of FCC licenses authorizing us to use DBS and FSS
spectrum, our satellites, receiver systems, third-party broadcast operations, customer service facilities, a leased
fiber network, in-home service and call center operations, and certain other assets utilized in our operations. In
addition, we market broadband services under the dishNET™ brand.
x Wireless. In 2008, we paid $712 million to acquire certain 700 MHz wireless spectrum licenses, which were
granted to us by the FCC in February 2009 subject to certain interim and final build-out requirements. On
March 9, 2012, we completed the DBSD Transaction and the TerreStar Transaction, pursuant to which we
acquired, among other things, 40 MHz of AWS-4 wireless spectrum licenses held by DBSD North America
and TerreStar. The financial results of DBSD North America and TerreStar are included in our financial
results beginning March 9, 2012. The total consideration to acquire the DBSD North America and TerreStar
assets was approximately $2.860 billion. The FCC issued an order, which became effective on March 7, 2013,
modifying our AWS-4 licenses to expand our terrestrial operating authority. That order imposed certain
limitations on the use of a portion of the spectrum and also mandated certain interim and final build-out
requirements for the licenses. As we review our options for the commercialization of this wireless spectrum,
we may incur significant additional expenses and may have to make significant investments related to, among
other things, research and development, wireless testing and wireless network infrastructure. See Note 16 for
further discussion.