Organization and Business Activities

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Organization and Business Activities

Organization and Business Activities

1.Organization and Business Activities

Principal Business

DISH Network Corporation is a holding company.  Its subsidiaries (which together with DISH Network Corporation are referred to as “DISH Network,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and/or “our”) operate three primary segments.

·DISH.  The DISH® branded direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) pay-TV service had 14.071 million subscribers in the United States as of March 31, 2012.  The DISH branded pay-TV service consists of Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) licenses authorizing us to use DBS and Fixed Satellite Service (“FSS”) spectrum, our owned and leased satellites, receiver systems, third-party broadcast operations, customer service facilities, a third-party leased fiber network, in-home service and call center operations, and certain other assets utilized in our operations.

·Blockbuster.  On April 26, 2011, we completed the acquisition of most of the assets of Blockbuster, Inc. (the “Blockbuster Acquisition”).  The financial results of our Blockbuster operations are included in our financial results beginning April 26, 2011.  Blockbuster primarily offers movies and video games for sale and rental through multiple distribution channels such as retail stores, by-mail, digital devices, the blockbuster.com website and the BLOCKBUSTER On Demand® service.

·Wireless Spectrum.  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 build-out requirements.  On March 9, 2012, we closed the acquisitions of 100% of the equity of reorganized DBSD North America, Inc. (“DBSD North America”) and substantially all of the assets of TerreStar Networks, Inc. (“TerreStar”), pursuant to which we acquired, among other things, 40 MHz of 2 GHz wireless spectrum licenses held by DBSD North America and TerreStar.  The total consideration to acquire these assets was approximately $2.860 billion.  This amount includes $1.364 billion for DBSD North America (the “DBSD Transaction”), $1.382 billion for TerreStar (the “TerreStar Transaction”), and the net payment of $114 million to Sprint pursuant to the Sprint Settlement Agreement.  See Note 8 for further information.

We currently generate an immaterial amount of revenue and incur operating expenses associated with certain satellite operations and regulatory compliance from our wireless spectrum assets.  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 construction of a wireless network.

On March 21, 2012, the FCC released a notice of proposed rule making (“NPRM”) that could result in the elimination of the Mobile-Satellite Service (“MSS”) “integrated service” and other requirements that attach to the 2 GHz licenses.  Among other things, the FCC has proposed to modify our licenses to allow us to offer single-mode terrestrial terminals to customers who do not desire satellite functionality.  We cannot predict the outcome or timing of the NPRM, including, without limitation, any associated build-out requirements with which we may need to comply to avail ourselves of any changes to the rules.  See Note 11 for further information.