UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-Q

(Mark One)

☒ QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 FOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2021.

OR

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM ______ TO______.

Commission File Number: 333-31929

DISH DBS Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Colorado	84-1328967
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
9601 South Meridian Boulevard
Englewood, Colorado	80112
(Address of principal executive offices)	(Zip code)

(303) 723-1000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable

(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ⌧ No ◻

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ⌧ No ◻

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ◻	Accelerated filer ◻
Non-accelerated filer ⌧	Smaller reporting company ☐
	Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ◻

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ⌧

As of November 1, 2021, the registrant’s outstanding common stock consisted of 1,015 shares of common stock, $0.01 par value.

The registrant meets the conditions set forth in General Instructions (H)(1)(a) and (b) of Form 10-Q and is therefore filing this Form 10-Q with the reduced disclosure format.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION
	Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements	i
Item 1.	Financial Statements
	Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets	1
	Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss)	2
	Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholder’s Equity (Deficit)	3
	Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows	4
	Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements	5
Item 2.	Management’s Narrative Analysis of Results of Operations	40
Item 3.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	*
Item 4.	Controls and Procedures	54
PART II — OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1.	Legal Proceedings	54
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	55
Item 2.	Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds	*
Item 3.	Defaults Upon Senior Securities	*
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	None
Item 5.	Other Information	None
Item 6.	Exhibits	71
	Signatures	72

* This item has been omitted pursuant to the reduced disclosure format as set forth in General Instructions (H)(2) of Form 10-Q.

PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION

DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Unless otherwise required by the context, in this report, the words “DISH DBS,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer to DISH DBS Corporation and its subsidiaries, “DISH Network” refers to DISH Network Corporation, our parent company, and its subsidiaries, including us, and “EchoStar” refers to EchoStar Corporation and its subsidiaries.

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, in particular, statements about our plans, objectives and strategies, growth opportunities in our industries and businesses, our expectations regarding future results, financial condition, liquidity and capital requirements, our estimates regarding the impact of regulatory developments and legal proceedings, and other trends and projections. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as “future,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “seek,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “predict,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “can,” “may,” and similar terms. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and represent management’s current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. Accordingly, actual performance, events or results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the following:

SUMMARY OF RISK FACTORS

COVID-19 Pandemic

● The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economic environment generally, and on us specifically, have adversely impacted our business. Furthermore, any continuation or worsening of the pandemic and economic environment could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Competition and Economic Risks

● We face intense and increasing competition from providers of video, broadband and/or wireless services, which may require us to further increase subscriber acquisition and retention spending or accept lower subscriber activations and higher subscriber churn.

● Changing consumer behavior and new technologies in our Pay-TV business may reduce our 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 pay-TV competitors may be able to leverage their relationships with programmers to reduce their programming costs and/or offer exclusive content that will place them at a competitive advantage to us.

● Changes in how network operators handle and charge for access to data that travels across their networks could adversely impact our Pay-TV business.

● Economic weakness and uncertainty may adversely affect our ability to grow or maintain our business.

Operational and Service Delivery Risks

● Any deterioration in our operational performance and subscriber satisfaction could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

● If our subscriber activations decrease, or if our subscriber churn rate, subscriber acquisition costs or retention costs increase, our financial performance will be adversely affected.

● With respect to our Pay-TV business, programming expenses are increasing, which may adversely affect our future financial condition and results of operations.

● We depend on others to provide the programming that we offer to our Pay-TV subscribers and, if we fail to obtain or lose access to certain programming, our Pay-TV subscriber activations and our subscriber churn rate may be negatively impacted.

i

● We may not be able to obtain necessary retransmission consent agreements at acceptable rates, or at all, from local network stations.

● Any failure or inadequacy of our information technology infrastructure and communications systems or those of third parties that we use in our operations, including, without limitation, those caused by cyber-attacks or other malicious activities, could disrupt or harm our business.

● We currently depend on DISH Network to provide the vast majority of our satellite transponder capacity and other related services to us. Our business would be adversely affected if DISH Network ceases to provide these services to us and we are unable to obtain suitable replacement services from third parties.

● Our failure to effectively invest in, introduce, and implement new competitive products and services could cause our products and services to become obsolete and could negatively impact our business.

● We rely on a single vendor or a limited number of vendors to provide certain key products or services to us, and the inability of these key vendors to meet our needs could have a material adverse effect on our business.

● We depend on independent third parties to solicit orders for our services that represent a meaningful percentage of our total gross new subscriber activations.

● We have limited satellite capacity and failures or reduced capacity could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

● We may have potential conflicts of interest with EchoStar due to our and DISH Network’s common ownership and management.

● We rely on highly skilled personnel for our business, and any inability to hire and retain key personnel or hire qualified personnel may negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Acquisition and Capital Structure Risks

● Our parent, DISH Network, has made substantial investments to acquire certain wireless spectrum licenses and other related assets and we may make funds available to DISH Network in the form of cash distributions or loans in connection with the development of DISH Network’s wireless business.

● Our parent, DISH Network, has made substantial non-controlling investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities related to AWS-3 wireless spectrum licenses and we have made and may make additional cash distributions to DISH Network so that DISH Network may fund the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities.

● We may pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions to complement or expand our business that may not be successful, and we may lose up to the entire value of our investment in these acquisitions and transactions.

● We have substantial debt outstanding and may incur additional debt.

● We may need additional capital, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to continue investing in our business and to finance acquisitions and other strategic transactions.

● Our parent, DISH Network, is controlled by one principal stockholder who is also our Chairman.

Legal and Regulatory Risks

● Our business depends on certain intellectual property rights and on not infringing the intellectual property rights of others.

● We are, and may become, party to various lawsuits which, if adversely decided, could have a significant adverse impact on our business, particularly lawsuits regarding intellectual property.

● Our services depend on Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) licenses that can expire or be revoked or modified and applications for FCC licenses that may not be granted.

● If our internal controls are not effective, our business, DISH Network’s stock price and investor confidence in our financial results may be adversely affected.

ii

● We may face other risks described from time to time in periodic and current reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Other factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in Part II, Item 1A of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, those discussed in “Management’s Narrative Analysis of Results of Operations” herein and in the 10-K and those discussed in other documents we file with the SEC. All cautionary statements made or referred to herein should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements wherever they appear. Investors should consider the risks and uncertainties described or referred to herein and should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we expressly disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

iii

Item 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

DISH DBS CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Dollars in thousands, except share amounts)

(Unaudited)

	As of
	September 30,		December 31,
	2021		2020
Assets
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	1,069,071	$	1,238,409
Marketable investment securities		1,376,070		132,593
Trade accounts receivable, net of allowance for credit losses of $36,000 and $43,233, respectively		620,513		626,375
Inventory		248,282		262,297
Other current assets		219,522		272,955
Total current assets		3,533,458		2,532,629
Noncurrent Assets:
Restricted cash, cash equivalents and marketable investment securities		55,026		58,323
Property and equipment, net		1,349,176		1,564,704
FCC authorizations		611,794		611,794
Other investment securities		99,035		97,306
Operating lease assets		244,317		380,968
Other noncurrent assets, net		191,163		222,311
Total noncurrent assets		2,550,511		2,935,406
Total assets	$	6,083,969	$	5,468,035
Liabilities and Stockholder's Equity (Deficit)
Current Liabilities:
Trade accounts payable	$	498,356	$	315,661
Deferred revenue and other		579,425		667,226
Accrued programming		1,346,905		1,388,407
Accrued interest		157,186		216,459
Other accrued expenses		609,064		625,342
Current portion of long-term debt and finance lease obligations		2,046,916		2,052,374
Total current liabilities		5,237,852		5,265,469
Long-Term Obligations, Net of Current Portion:
Long-term debt and finance lease obligations, net of current portion		8,079,920		8,619,116
Deferred tax liabilities		496,264		514,928
Operating lease liabilities		109,856		192,624
Long-term deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities		186,521		195,903
Total long-term obligations, net of current portion		8,872,561		9,522,571
Total liabilities		14,110,413		14,788,040
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 9)
Stockholder’s Equity (Deficit):
Common stock, $.01 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized, 1,015 shares issued and outstanding		—		—
Additional paid-in capital		1,469,482		1,463,407
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)		(1,218)		(805)
Accumulated earnings (deficit)		(9,494,708)		(10,782,607)
Total stockholder’s equity (deficit)		(8,026,444)		(9,320,005)
Total liabilities and stockholder’s equity (deficit)	$	6,083,969	$	5,468,035

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

1

DISH DBS CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
Revenue:
Service revenue	$	3,151,144	$	3,109,479	$	9,465,241	$	9,357,713
Equipment sales and other revenue		25,145		41,550		85,455		109,629
Total revenue		3,176,289		3,151,029		9,550,696		9,467,342
Costs and Expenses (exclusive of depreciation):
Cost of services		1,984,349		1,849,824		5,892,809		5,911,995
Cost of sales - equipment and other		23,982		28,366		65,159		82,840
Selling, general and administrative expenses		392,605		379,167		1,057,739		1,149,782
Depreciation and amortization		109,919		125,016		336,552		382,970
Total costs and expenses		2,510,855		2,382,373		7,352,259		7,527,587
Operating income (loss)		665,434		768,656		2,198,437		1,939,755
Other Income (Expense):
Interest income		943		652		2,751		2,614
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized		(159,783)		(171,246)		(495,971)		(517,633)
Other, net		331		(91)		(1,464)		702
Total other income (expense)		(158,509)		(170,685)		(494,684)		(514,317)
Income (loss) before income taxes		506,925		597,971		1,703,753		1,425,438
Income tax (provision) benefit, net		(120,296)		(148,098)		(415,854)		(356,432)
Net income (loss)	$	386,629	$	449,873	$	1,287,899	$	1,069,006
Comprehensive Income (Loss):
Net income (loss)	$	386,629	$	449,873	$	1,287,899	$	1,069,006
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustments		(24)		(132)		(363)		(454)
Unrealized holding gains (losses) on available-for-sale debt securities		(42)		10		(50)		10
Total other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax		(66)		(122)		(413)		(444)
Comprehensive income (loss)	$	386,563	$	449,751	$	1,287,486	$	1,068,562

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

2

DISH DBS CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY (DEFICIT)

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

					Accumulated
			Additional		Other		Accumulated
	Common		Paid-In		Comprehensive		Earnings
	Stock		Capital		Income (Loss)		(Deficit)		Total
Balance, December 31, 2019	$	—	$	1,432,736	$	(449)	$	(12,366,909)	$	(10,934,622)
Non-cash, stock-based compensation		—		6,953		—		—		6,953
Change in unrealized holding gains (losses) on available-for-sale debt securities, net		—		—		(11)		—		(11)
Foreign currency translation		—		—		(352)		—		(352)
Net income (loss)		—		—		—		244,153		244,153
Balance, March 31, 2020	$	—	$	1,439,689	$	(812)	$	(12,122,756)	$	(10,683,879)
Non-cash, stock-based compensation		—		3,333		—		—		3,333
Change in unrealized holding gains (losses) on available-for-sale debt securities, net		—		—		11		—		11
Foreign currency translation		—		—		30		—		30
Net income (loss)		—		—		—		374,980		374,980
Balance, June 30, 2020	$	—	$	1,443,022	$	(771)	$	(11,747,776)	$	(10,305,525)
Non-cash, stock-based compensation		—		9,827		—		—		9,827
Change in unrealized holding gains (losses) on available-for-sale debt securities, net		—		—		10		—		10
Foreign currency translation		—		—		(132)		—		(132)
Net income (loss)		—		—		—		449,873		449,873
Balance, September 30, 2020	$	—	$	1,452,849	$	(893)	$	(11,297,903)	$	(9,845,947)
Balance, December 31, 2020	$	—	$	1,463,407	$	(805)	$	(10,782,607)	$	(9,320,005)
Non-cash, stock-based compensation		—		7,676		—		—		7,676
Change in unrealized holding gains (losses) on available-for-sale debt securities, net		—		—		(2)		—		(2)
Foreign currency translation		—		—		(195)		—		(195)
Net income (loss)		—		—		—		424,527		424,527
Balance, March 31, 2021	$	—	$	1,471,083	$	(1,002)	$	(10,358,080)	$	(8,887,999)
Non-cash, stock-based compensation		—		(8,344)		—		—		(8,344)
Change in unrealized holding gains (losses) on available-for-sale debt securities, net		—		—		(6)		—		(6)
Foreign currency translation		—		—		(144)		—		(144)
Net income (loss)		—		—		—		476,743		476,743
Balance, June 30, 2021	$	—	$	1,462,739	$	(1,152)	$	(9,881,337)	$	(8,419,750)
Non-cash, stock-based compensation		—		6,743		—		—		6,743
Change in unrealized holding gains (losses) on available-for-sale debt securities, net		—		—		(42)		—		(42)
Foreign currency translation		—		—		(24)		—		(24)
Net income (loss)		—		—		—		386,629		386,629
Balance, September 30, 2021	$	—	$	1,469,482	$	(1,218)	$	(9,494,708)	$	(8,026,444)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

3

DISH DBS CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

	For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
	2021			2020
Cash Flows From Operating Activities:
Net income (loss)	$	1,287,899	$	1,069,006
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash flows from operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization		336,552		382,970
Realized and unrealized losses (gains) on investments and other		3,587		—
Non-cash, stock-based compensation expense (benefit)		6,075		20,113
Deferred tax expense (benefit)		(18,664)		45,210
Changes in allowance for credit losses		(7,233)		15,085
Other, net		25,657		142
Changes in current assets and current liabilities, net		96,750		170,372
Net cash flows from operating activities		1,730,623		1,702,898
Cash Flows From Investing Activities:
(Purchases) Sales and maturities of marketable investment securities, net		(1,243,527)		(445,675)
Purchases of property and equipment		(119,435)		(233,261)
Other, net		11,079		6,221
Net cash flows from investing activities		(1,351,883)		(672,715)
Cash Flows From Financing Activities:
Repayment of long-term debt and finance lease obligations		(38,188)		(38,867)
Redemption and repurchases of senior notes		(2,000,000)		(1,100,000)
Proceeds from the issuance of senior notes		1,500,000		1,000,000
Early debt extinguishment costs		(3,368)		—
Debt issuance costs		(9,819)		(1,670)
Advances to/from affiliates		—		(82,415)
Net cash flows from financing activities		(551,375)		(222,952)
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents		(172,635)		807,231
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period (Note 4)		1,296,732		78,103
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, end of period (Note 4)	$	1,124,097	$	885,334

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

4

DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited)

1. Organization and Business Activities

Principal Business

DISH DBS Corporation (which together with its subsidiaries is referred to as “DISH DBS,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and/or “our,” unless otherwise required by the context) is a holding company and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation (“DISH Network”). DISH DBS was formed under Colorado law in January 1996 and its common stock is held by DISH Orbital Corporation (“DOC”), a direct subsidiary of DISH Network. Our subsidiaries operate one business segment.

Pay-TV

We offer pay-TV services under the DISH^® brand and the SLING^® brand (collectively “Pay-TV” services). The DISH branded pay-TV service consists of, among other things, FCC licenses authorizing us to use direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) and Fixed Satellite Service (“FSS”) spectrum, our owned and leased satellites, receiver systems, broadcast operations, a leased fiber optic network, in-home service and call center operations, and certain other assets utilized in our operations (“DISH TV”). We also design, develop and distribute receiver systems and provide digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and other services to third-party pay-TV providers. The SLING branded pay-TV services consist of, among other things, multichannel, live-linear streaming over-the-top (“OTT”) Internet-based domestic, international and Latino video programming services (“SLING TV”). As of September 30, 2021, we had 10.980 million Pay-TV subscribers in the United States, including 8.424 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.556 million SLING TV subscribers.

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X for interim financial information. Accordingly, these statements do not include all of the information and notes required for complete financial statements prepared under GAAP. In our opinion, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Our results of operations for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year. For further information, refer to the Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

Principles of Consolidation

We consolidate all majority owned subsidiaries, investments in entities in which we have controlling influence and variable interest entities where we have been determined to be the primary beneficiary. Minority interests are recorded as noncontrolling interests or redeemable noncontrolling interests. Non-consolidated investments are accounted for using the equity method when we have the ability to significantly influence the operating decisions of the investee. When we do not have the ability to significantly influence the operating decisions of an investee, these equity securities are classified as either marketable investment securities or other investments and recorded at fair value with changes recognized in “Other, net” within “Other Income (Expense)” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

5

DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expense for each reporting period. Estimates are used in accounting for, among other things, allowances for credit losses, self-insurance obligations, deferred taxes and related valuation allowances, uncertain tax positions, loss contingencies, fair value of financial instruments, fair value of options granted under DISH Network’s stock-based compensation plans, fair value of assets and liabilities acquired in business combinations, relative standalone selling prices of performance obligations, finance leases, asset impairments, estimates of future cash flows used to evaluate and recognize impairments, useful lives of property, equipment and intangible assets, independent third-party retailer incentives, programming expenses and subscriber lives. Economic conditions may increase the inherent uncertainty in the estimates and assumptions indicated above. Actual results may differ from previously estimated amounts, and such differences may be material to our condensed consolidated financial statements. Estimates and assumptions are reviewed periodically, and the effects of revisions are reflected prospectively in the period they occur.

Fair Value Measurements

We determine fair value based on the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. Market or observable inputs are the preferred source of values, followed by unobservable inputs or assumptions based on hypothetical transactions in the absence of market inputs. We apply the following hierarchy in determining fair value:

● Level 1, defined as observable inputs being quoted prices in active markets for identical assets;

● Level 2, defined as observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1, including quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets; and quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and

● Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs for which little or no market data exists, consistent with reasonably available assumptions made by other participants therefore requiring assumptions based on the best information available.

As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the carrying amount for cash and cash equivalents, trade accounts receivable (net of allowance for credit losses) and current liabilities (excluding the “Current portion of long-term debt and finance lease obligations”) was equal to or approximated fair value due to their short-term nature or proximity to current market rates. See Note 4 for the fair value of our marketable investment securities.

Fair values for our publicly traded debt securities are based on quoted market prices, when available. The fair values of private debt are based on, among other things, available trade information, and/or an analysis in which we evaluate market conditions, related securities, various public and private offerings, and other publicly available information. In performing this analysis, we make various assumptions regarding, among other things, credit spreads, and the impact of these factors on the value of the debt securities. See Note 8 for the fair value of our long-term debt.

6

DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

Assets Recognized Related to the Costs to Obtain a Contract with a Subscriber

We recognize an asset for the incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a subscriber if we expect the benefit of those costs to be longer than one year. We have determined that certain sales incentive programs, including those with our independent third-party retailers, meet the requirements to be capitalized, and payments made under these programs are capitalized and amortized to expense over the estimated subscriber life. During the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we capitalized $32 million and $46 million, respectively, under these programs.  The amortization expense related to these programs was $41 million and $33 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we capitalized $93 million and $128 million, respectively, under these programs.  The amortization expense related to these programs was $116 million and $89 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we had a total of $316 million and $339 million, respectively, capitalized on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. These amounts are capitalized in “Other current assets” and “Other noncurrent assets, net” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, and then amortized in “Selling, general and administrative expenses” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss).

Advertising Costs

We recognize advertising expense when incurred as a component of selling, general and administrative expense. Advertising expenses totaled $129 million and $107 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Advertising expenses totaled $308 million and $328 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Research and Development

Research and development costs are expensed as incurred and are included in “Selling, general and administrative expenses” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). Research and development costs totaled $7 million and $6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Research and development costs totaled $21 million and $17 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

3. Supplemental Data - Statements of Cash Flows

The following table presents certain supplemental cash flow and other non-cash data. See Note 7 for supplemental cash flow and non-cash data related to leases.

	For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
	2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Cash paid for interest	$	538,050	$	505,664
Cash received for interest		2,751		2,614
Cash paid for income taxes		33,287		13,673
Cash paid for income taxes to DISH Network		409,364		293,713

7

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NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

Our parent, DISH Network, provides a centralized system for the management of our cash and marketable investment securities as it does for all of its subsidiaries to, among other reasons, maximize yield of the portfolio.  As a result, the cash and marketable investment securities included on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets are a component or portion of the overall cash and marketable investment securities portfolio included on DISH Network’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and are managed by DISH Network.  We are reflecting the purchases and sales of marketable investment securities on a net basis for each period presented on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows as we believe the net presentation is more meaningful to our cash flows from investing activities.

4. Marketable Investment Securities, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Other Investment Securities

Our marketable investment securities, restricted cash and cash equivalents, and other investment securities consisted of the following:

	As of
	September 30,		December 31,
	2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Marketable investment securities:
Current marketable investment securities	$	1,376,070	$	132,593
Restricted marketable investment securities (1)		—		—
Total marketable investment securities		1,376,070		132,593
Restricted cash and cash equivalents (1)		55,026		58,323
Other investment securities:
Other investment securities		99,035		97,306
Total other investment securities		99,035		97,306
Total marketable investment securities, restricted cash and cash equivalents, and other investment securities	$	1,530,131	$	288,222

(1) Restricted marketable investment securities and restricted cash and cash equivalents are included in “Restricted cash, cash equivalents and marketable investment securities” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Marketable Investment Securities

Our marketable investment securities portfolio may consist of debt and equity instruments. All equity securities are carried at fair value, with changes in fair value recognized in “Other, net” within “Other Income (Expense)” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). All debt securities are classified as available-for-sale and are recorded at fair value. We report the temporary unrealized gains and losses related to changes in market conditions of marketable debt securities as a separate component of “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)” within “Total stockholder’s equity (deficit),” net of related deferred income tax on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The corresponding changes in the fair value of marketable debt securities, which are determined to be company specific credit losses are recorded in “Other, net” within “Other Income (Expense)” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). See Note 2 for further information.

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NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

Current Marketable Investment Securities

Our current marketable investment securities portfolio can include investments in various debt instruments including, among others, commercial paper, corporate securities and United States treasury and/or agency securities.

Commercial paper consists mainly of unsecured short-term promissory notes, issued primarily by corporations, with maturities ranging up to 365 days. Corporate securities consist of debt instruments issued by corporations with various maturities normally less than 18 months. U.S. Treasury and agency securities consist of debt instruments issued by the federal government and other government agencies.

Restricted Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Investment Securities

As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, our restricted marketable investment securities, together with our restricted cash and cash equivalents, included amounts required as collateral for our letters of credit and trusts.

Other Investment Securities

We have strategic investments in certain debt and/or equity securities that are included in noncurrent “Other investment securities” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Our debt securities are classified as available-for-sale and our equity securities are accounted for using the equity method of accounting or recorded at fair value. Certain of our equity method investments are detailed below.

NagraStar L.L.C. We own a 50% interest in NagraStar L.L.C. (“NagraStar”), a joint venture that is our primary provider of encryption and related security systems intended to assure that only authorized customers have access to our programming.

Invidi Technologies Corporation. In November 2016, we, AT&T Inc., and Cavendish Square Holding B.V., an affiliate of WPP plc, entered into a series of agreements to acquire Invidi Technologies Corporation (“Invidi”), an entity that provides proprietary software for the addressable advertising market. The transaction closed in January 2017.

Our ability to realize value from our strategic investments in securities that are not publicly traded depends on the success of the issuers’ businesses and their ability to obtain sufficient capital, on acceptable terms or at all, and to execute their business plans. Because private markets are not as liquid as public markets, there is also increased risk that we will not be able to sell these investments, or that when we desire to sell them we will not be able to obtain fair value for them.

9

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NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

Fair Value Measurements

Our investments measured at fair value on a recurring basis were as follows:

	As of
	September 30, 2021								December 31, 2020
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
	(In thousands)
Cash equivalents (including restricted)	$	1,101,160	$	63,783	$	1,037,377	$	—	$	1,278,971	$	172,025	$	1,106,946	$	—
Debt securities (including restricted):
U.S. Treasury and agency securities	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	22,476	$	22,476	$	—	$	—
Commercial paper		1,201,772		—		1,201,772		—		101,959		—		101,959		—
Corporate securities		173,141		—		173,141		—		8,068		—		8,068		—
Other		1,157		—		1,157		—		90		—		90		—
Total	$	1,376,070	$	—	$	1,376,070	$	—	$	132,593	$	22,476	$	110,117	$	—

As of September 30, 2021, restricted and non-restricted marketable investment securities included debt securities of $1.345 billion with contractual maturities within one year and $31 million with contractual maturities extending longer than one year through and including five years. Actual maturities may differ from contractual maturities as a result of our ability to sell these securities prior to maturity.

Gains and Losses on Sales and Changes in Carrying Amounts of Investments and Other

“Other, net” within “Other Income (Expense)” included on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) is as follows:

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
Other, net:	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Costs related to early redemption of debt	$	—	$	—	$	(3,587)	$	—
Equity in earnings (losses) of affiliates		368		(77)		1,931		(198)
Other		(37)		(14)		192		900
Total	$	331	$	(91)	$	(1,464)	$	702

5. Inventory

Inventory consisted of the following:

	As of
	September 30,		December 31,
	2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Finished goods	$	209,100	$	226,866
Work-in-process and service repairs		17,044		25,206
Raw materials		22,138		10,225
Total inventory	$	248,282	$	262,297

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NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

6. Property and Equipment

Property and equipment consisted of the following:

	Depreciable		As of
	Life	September 30,		December 31,
	(In Years)	2021		2020
		(In thousands)
Equipment leased to customers	2-5	$	1,577,182	$	1,719,778
EchoStar XV	15		277,658		277,658
EchoStar XVIII	15		411,255		411,255
Satellites acquired under finance lease agreements	15		398,107		398,107
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other	2-20		1,950,597		1,969,107
Buildings and improvements	5-40		297,191		301,037
Land	-		12,505		13,186
Construction in progress	-		36,203		51,800
Total property and equipment			4,960,698		5,141,928
Accumulated depreciation			(3,611,522)		(3,577,224)
Property and equipment, net		$	1,349,176	$	1,564,704

Depreciation and amortization expense consisted of the following:

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Equipment leased to customers	$	60,616	$	71,551	$	188,405	$	220,722
Satellites		23,797		23,796		71,390		71,389
Buildings, furniture, fixtures, equipment and other		25,506		29,669		76,757		90,859
Total depreciation and amortization	$	109,919	$	125,016	$	336,552	$	382,970

Cost of sales and operating expense categories included in our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) do not include depreciation expense related to satellites or equipment leased to customers.

Pay-TV Satellites. We currently utilize 11 satellites in geostationary orbit approximately 22,300 miles above the equator, two of which we own and depreciate over their estimated useful life. We currently utilize certain capacity on six satellites that we lease from DISH Network, one satellite that we lease from EchoStar, and two satellites that we lease from third parties. All leased satellites are accounted for as operating leases except Nimiq 5 and Anik F3, which are accounted for as financing leases and are depreciated over their economic life.

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DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

As of September 30, 2021, our pay-TV satellite fleet consisted of the following:

		Degree
	Launch	Orbital	Lease
Satellites	Date	Location	Termination Date
Owned:
EchoStar XV	July 2010	61.5	N/A
EchoStar XVIII	June 2016	61.5	N/A
Leased from EchoStar:
EchoStar IX	August 2003	121	Month to month
Leased from DISH Network (1):
EchoStar X	February 2006	110	February 2022
EchoStar XI	July 2008	110	September 2022
EchoStar XIV	March 2010	119	February 2023
EchoStar XVI	November 2012	61.5	January 2023
Nimiq 5	September 2009	72.7	September 2022
QuetzSat-1	September 2011	77	November 2021
Leased from Other Third Party:
Anik F3	April 2007	118.7	April 2022
Ciel II	December 2008	129	January 2022

(1) See Note 13 for further information on our Related Party Transactions with DISH Network.

7. Leases

We enter into operating and finance leases for, among other things, satellites, office space, warehouses and distribution centers, vehicles, and other equipment. Our leases have remaining lease terms from one to 11 years, some of which include renewal options, and some of which include options to terminate the leases within one year.

Our Anik F3 and Nimiq 5 satellites are accounted for as financing leases.  Substantially all of our remaining leases are accounted for as operating leases, including the remainder of our satellite fleet.

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DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

The components of lease expense were as follows:

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Operating lease cost	$	57,282	$	61,750	$	174,987	$	185,273
Short-term lease cost (1)		6,609		3,148		17,445		9,548
Finance lease cost:
Amortization of right-of-use assets		12,374		12,374		37,122		37,122
Interest on lease liabilities		3,138		4,270		10,282		13,602
Total finance lease cost		15,512		16,644		47,404		50,724
Total lease costs	$	79,403	$	81,542	$	239,836	$	245,545

(1) Leases that have terms of 12 months or less.

Supplemental cash flow information related to leases was as follows:

	For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
	2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:
Operating cash flows from operating leases	$	171,678	$	186,059
Operating cash flows from finance leases	$	10,035	$	13,602
Financing cash flows from finance leases	$	38,188	$	35,234
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations:
Operating leases	$	19,377	$	32,863
Finance leases	$	—	$	—

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NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows:

	As of
	September 30,		December 31,
	2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Operating Leases:
Operating lease assets	$	244,317	$	380,968
Other current liabilities	$	136,386	$	186,967
Operating lease liabilities		109,856		192,624
Total operating lease liabilities	$	246,242	$	379,591
Finance Leases:
Property and equipment, gross	$	398,875	$	398,875
Accumulated depreciation		(288,195)		(251,073)
Property and equipment, net	$	110,680	$	147,802
Other current liabilities	$	44,362	$	49,820
Other long-term liabilities		78,059		110,789
Total finance lease liabilities	$	122,421	$	160,609
Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term:
Operating leases		3.0 years		2.9 years
Finance leases		2.8 years		3.3 years
Weighted Average Discount Rate:
Operating leases		8.3%		8.7%
Finance leases		9.8%		9.6%

Maturities of lease liabilities as of September 30, 2021 were as follows:

	Maturities of Lease Liabilities
	Operating		Finance
For the Years Ending December 31,	Leases		Leases		Total
	(In thousands)
2021 (remaining three months)	$	41,321	$	14,390	$	55,711
2022		141,774		50,227		192,001
2023		35,591		42,862		78,453
2024		16,148		32,147		48,295
2025		9,278		—		9,278
Thereafter		35,907		—		35,907
Total lease payments		280,019		139,626		419,645
Less: Imputed interest		(33,777)		(17,205)		(50,982)
Total		246,242		122,421		368,663
Less: Current portion		(136,386)		(44,362)		(180,748)
Long-term portion of lease obligations	$	109,856	$	78,059	$	187,915

14

DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

8. Long-Term Debt and Finance Lease Obligations

Fair Value of our Long-Term Debt

The following table summarizes the carrying amount and fair value of our debt facilities as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020:

	As of
	September 30, 2021				December 31, 2020
	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Fair Value
	(In thousands)
6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021 (1)	$	—	$	—	$	2,000,000	$	2,047,260
5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022 (2)		2,000,000		2,063,900		2,000,000		2,095,820
5% Senior Notes due 2023		1,500,000		1,558,860		1,500,000		1,566,300
5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2024		2,000,000		2,157,200		2,000,000		2,099,580
7 3/4% Senior Notes due 2026		2,000,000		2,264,720		2,000,000		2,236,520
7 3/8% Senior Notes due 2028		1,000,000		1,067,980		1,000,000		1,070,130
5 1/8% Senior Notes due 2029		1,500,000		1,472,880		—		—
Other notes payable		23,565		23,565		23,565		23,565
Subtotal		10,023,565	$	10,609,105		10,523,565	$	11,139,175
Unamortized deferred financing costs and debt discounts, net		(19,150)				(12,684)
Finance lease obligations (3)		122,421				160,609
Total long-term debt and finance lease obligations (including current portion)	$	10,126,836			$	10,671,490

(1) As of June 1, 2021, we had repurchased or redeemed the principal balance of our 6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021.

(2) Our 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022 mature on July 15, 2022 and have been reclassified to “Current portion of long-term debt and finance lease obligations” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2021.

(3) Disclosure regarding fair value of finance leases is not required.

We estimated the fair value of our publicly traded long-term debt using market prices in less active markets (Level 2).

5 1/8% Senior Notes due 2029

On May 24, 2021, we issued $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of our 5 1/8% Senior Notes due June 1, 2029. Interest accrues at an annual rate of 5 1/8% and is payable semi-annually in cash, in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year, commencing on December 1, 2021.

The 5 1/8% Senior Notes are redeemable, in whole or in part, at any time at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount plus a “make-whole” premium, as defined in the related indenture, together with accrued and unpaid interest.  Prior to June 1, 2024, we may also redeem up to 35% of the 5 1/8% Senior Notes at a specified premium with the net cash proceeds from certain equity offerings or capital contributions.

15

DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

Our 5 1/8% Senior Notes are:

● general unsecured senior obligations of DISH DBS Corporation (“DISH DBS”);

● ranked equally in right of payment with all of DISH DBS’ and the guarantors’ existing and future unsecured senior debt; and

● ranked effectively junior to our and the guarantors’ current and future secured senior indebtedness up to the value of the collateral securing such indebtedness.

The indenture related to our 5 1/8% Senior Notes contains restrictive covenants that, among other things, impose limitations on the ability of DISH DBS and its restricted subsidiaries to:

● incur additional debt;

● pay dividends or make distributions on DISH DBS’ capital stock or repurchase DISH DBS’ capital stock;

● make certain investments;

● create liens or enter into sale and leaseback transactions;

● enter into transactions with affiliates;

● merge or consolidate with another company; and

● transfer or sell assets.

In the event of a change of control, as defined in the related indenture, we would be required to make an offer to repurchase all or any part of a holder’s 5 1/8% Senior Notes at a purchase price equal to 101% of the aggregate principal amount thereof, together with accrued and unpaid interest thereon, to the date of repurchase.

9. Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments

DISH Network’s 5G Network Deployment

DISH Network has directly invested over $12 billion to acquire certain wireless spectrum licenses and related assets and made over $10 billion in non-controlling investments in certain entities, for a total of over $22 billion, as described further below.

DISH Network Spectrum

DISH Network has directly invested over $12 billion to acquire certain wireless spectrum licenses and related assets. DISH Network’s wireless spectrum licenses are subject to certain interim and final build-out requirements, as well as certain renewal requirements. DISH Network plans to commercialize its wireless spectrum licenses through the completion of the nation’s first cloud-native, Open Radio Access Network (“O-RAN”) based 5G network (the “5G Network Deployment”). DISH Network currently expects capital expenditures, excluding capitalized interest, for its 5G Network Deployment to be approximately $10 billion. DISH Network will need to make significant additional investments or partner with others to, among other things, complete its 5G Network Deployment and further commercialize, build-out and integrate these licenses and related assets and any additional acquired licenses and related assets, as well as to comply with regulations applicable to such licenses. Depending on the nature and scope of such activities, any such investments or partnerships could vary significantly.

16

DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

In addition, as DISH Network completes its 5G Network Deployment, DISH Network will incur significant additional expenses and will have to make significant investments related to, among other things, research and development, wireless testing and wireless network infrastructure. DISH Network may also determine that additional wireless spectrum licenses may be required to complete its 5G Network Deployment and to compete with other wireless service providers. For example, on July 21, 2021, DISH Network filed an application with the FCC to participate as a potential bidder in the wireless spectrum auction for the Flexible-Use Service Licenses in the 3.45–3.55 GHz band (“Auction 110”).  On September 17, 2021, the FCC announced that DISH Network and 32 other applicants were qualified to participate in Auction 110. The auction commenced on October 5, 2021. The FCC determined that bidding in this auction will be “anonymous,” which means that prior to and during the course of the auction, the FCC will not make public any information about a specific applicant’s upfront deposit or its bids. In addition, FCC rules restrict information that bidders may disclose about their participation in the auction.

Asset Purchase Agreement. On July 26, 2019, DISH Network entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “APA”) with T-Mobile US, Inc. (“T-Mobile”) and Sprint Corporation (“Sprint” and together with T-Mobile, the “Sellers” and given the consummation of the Sprint T-Mobile merger, sometimes referred to as “NTM”) to acquire from NTM certain assets and liabilities associated with Sprint’s Boost Mobile and Sprint-branded prepaid mobile services businesses (the “Prepaid Business”) for an aggregate purchase price of $1.4 billion as adjusted for specific categories of net working capital on the closing date (the “Boost Mobile Acquisition”). Effective July 1, 2020 (the “Closing Date”), upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the APA, DISH Network and T-Mobile completed the Boost Mobile Acquisition.

In connection with the Boost Mobile Acquisition, DISH Network and T-Mobile entered into a transition services agreement under which DISH Network will receive certain transitional services (the “TSA”), a master network services agreement for the provision of network services by T-Mobile to DISH Network (the “MNSA”), an option agreement entitling DISH Network to acquire certain decommissioned cell sites and retail stores of T-Mobile (the “Option Agreement”) and an agreement under which DISH Network would purchase all of Sprint’s 800 MHz spectrum licenses, totaling approximately 13.5 MHz of nationwide wireless spectrum for an additional approximately $3.59 billion (the “Spectrum Purchase Agreement” and together with the APA, the TSA, the MNSA and the Option Agreement, the “Transaction Agreements”).  See Note 5 “Acquisitions – Boost Mobile Acquisition” in the Notes to DISH Network’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 for further information on the Transaction Agreements.

In connection with the development of DISH Network’s wireless business, including, without limitation, the efforts described above, we have made cash distributions to partially finance these efforts to date and may make additional cash distributions to finance, in whole or in part, DISH Network’s future efforts. There can be no assurance that DISH Network will be able to develop and implement a business model that will realize a return on these wireless spectrum licenses or that DISH Network will be able to profitably deploy the assets represented by these wireless spectrum licenses.

17

DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

DISH Network Non-Controlling Investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities Related to AWS-3 Wireless Spectrum Licenses

During 2015, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries American AWS-3 Wireless II L.L.C. (“American II”) and American AWS-3 Wireless III L.L.C. (“American III”), DISH Network initially made over $10 billion in certain non-controlling investments in Northstar Spectrum, LLC (“Northstar Spectrum”), the parent company of Northstar Wireless, LLC (“Northstar Wireless,” and collectively with Northstar Spectrum, the “Northstar Entities”), and in SNR Wireless HoldCo, LLC (“SNR HoldCo”), the parent company of SNR Wireless LicenseCo, LLC (“SNR Wireless,” and collectively with SNR HoldCo, the “SNR Entities”), respectively. On October 27, 2015, the FCC granted certain AWS-3 wireless spectrum licenses (the “AWS-3 Licenses”) to Northstar Wireless (the “Northstar Licenses”) and to SNR Wireless (the “SNR Licenses”), respectively. The Northstar Entities and/or the SNR Entities may need to raise significant additional capital in the future, which may be obtained from third party sources or from DISH Network, so that the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities may commercialize, build-out and integrate these AWS-3 Licenses, comply with regulations applicable to such AWS-3 Licenses, and make any potential payments related to the re-auction of AWS-3 licenses retained by the FCC. Depending upon the nature and scope of such commercialization, build-out, integration efforts, regulatory compliance, and potential re-auction payments, any such loans, equity contributions or partnerships could vary significantly. For further information regarding the potential re-auction of AWS-3 licenses retained by the FCC, see Note 11 “Commitments and Contingencies – Commitments – DISH Network Non-Controlling Investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities Related to AWS-3 Wireless Spectrum Licenses” in the Notes to DISH Network’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021.

We have made and may make additional cash distributions to DISH Network so that DISH Network may fund the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities related to DISH Network’s non-controlling investments in these entities. There can be no assurance that DISH Network will be able to obtain a profitable return on its non-controlling investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities.

We may need to raise significant additional capital in the future, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to among other things, continue investing in our business and to pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions.

See Note 11 “Commitments and Contingencies – Commitments” in the Notes to DISH Network’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 for further information.

18

DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

Contingencies

Separation Agreement

On January 1, 2008, DISH Network completed the distribution of its technology and set-top box business and certain infrastructure assets (the “Spin-off”) into a separate publicly-traded company, EchoStar. In connection with the Spin-off, DISH Network entered into a separation agreement with EchoStar that provides, among other things, for the division of certain liabilities, including liabilities resulting from litigation. Under the terms of the separation agreement, EchoStar has assumed certain liabilities that relate to its business, including certain designated liabilities for acts or omissions that occurred prior to the Spin-off. Certain specific provisions govern intellectual property related claims under which, generally, EchoStar will only be liable for its acts or omissions following the Spin-off and DISH Network will indemnify EchoStar for any liabilities or damages resulting from intellectual property claims relating to the period prior to the Spin-off, as well as DISH Network’s acts or omissions following the Spin-off. On February 28, 2017, DISH Network and EchoStar and certain of their respective subsidiaries completed the transactions contemplated by the Share Exchange Agreement (the “Share Exchange Agreement”) that was previously entered into on January 31, 2017 (the “Share Exchange”), pursuant to which certain assets that were transferred to EchoStar in the Spin-off were transferred back to DISH Network. On September 10, 2019, DISH Network and EchoStar and certain of their respective subsidiaries completed the transactions contemplated by the Master Transaction Agreement (the “Master Transaction Agreement”) that was previously entered into on May 19, 2019, pursuant to which certain assets that were transferred to EchoStar in the Spin-off were transferred back to DISH Network. The Share Exchange Agreement and the Master Transaction Agreement contain additional indemnification provisions between DISH Network and EchoStar for certain liabilities and legal proceedings.

Litigation

We are involved in a number of legal proceedings (including those described below) concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of our business activities. Many of these proceedings are at preliminary stages, and many of these proceedings seek an indeterminate amount of damages. We regularly evaluate the status of the legal proceedings in which we are involved to assess whether a loss is probable or there is a reasonable possibility that a loss or an additional loss may have been incurred and to determine if accruals are appropriate. If accruals are not appropriate, we further evaluate each legal proceeding to assess whether an estimate of the possible loss or range of possible loss can be made.

For certain cases described on the following pages, management is unable to provide a meaningful estimate of the possible loss or range of possible loss because, among other reasons, (i) the proceedings are in various stages; (ii) damages have not been sought; (iii) damages are unsupported and/or exaggerated; (iv) there is uncertainty as to the outcome of pending appeals or motions; (v) there are significant factual issues to be resolved; and/or (vi) there are novel legal issues or unsettled legal theories to be presented or a large number of parties. For these cases, however, management does not believe, based on currently available information, that the outcomes of these proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, though the outcomes could be material to our operating results for any particular period, depending, in part, upon the operating results for such period.

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American Patents

On November 23, 2020, American Patents LLC, filed a complaint against DISH Network and our wholly-owned subsidiaries DISH Network L.L.C. and Dish Network Service L.L.C., and a third party, Arcadyan Technology Corporation in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint alleges infringement of United States Patent No. 7,088,782 (the “782 patent”), entitled “Time and Frequency Synchronization In Multi-Input and Multi-Output (MIMO) Systems”; United States Patent No. 7,310,304 (the “304 patent”), entitled “Estimating Channel Parameters in Multi-Input, Multi-Output (MIMO) Systems”; United States Patent No. 7,706,458 (the “458 patent”), entitled “Time And Frequency Synchronization in Multi-Input, Multi-Output (MIMO) Systems”; and United States Patent No. 6,847,803 (the “803 patent”), entitled “Method for Reducing Interference in a Receiver.” The four patents are asserted against wireless 802.11 standard-compliant devices. The matter was dismissed with prejudice on September 16, 2021. This matter is now concluded.

Broadband iTV

On December 19, 2019, Broadband iTV, Inc. filed a complaint against our wholly-owned subsidiary DISH Network L.L.C. in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. The complaint alleges infringement of United States Patent No. 10,028,026 (the “026 patent”), entitled “System for addressing on-demand TV program content on TV services platform of a digital TV services provider”; United States Patent No. 10,506,269 (the “269 patent”), entitled “System for addressing on-demand TV program content on TV services platform of a digital TV services provider”; United States Patent No. 9,998,791 (“the 791 patent”), entitled “Video-on-demand content delivery method for providing video-on-demand services to TV service subscribers”; and United States Patent No. 9,648,388 (the “388 patent”), entitled “Video-on-demand content delivery system for providing video-on-demand services to TV services subscribers.” Generally, the asserted patents relate to providing video on demand content to subscribers.

On July 10, 2020, July 20, 2020, July 24, 2020 and July 31, 2020, DISH Network L.L.C. filed petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of, respectively, the 026 patent, the 791 patent, the 269 patent and the 388 patent. On January 21, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on one of the petitions challenging the 026 patent; on January 27, 2021, it agreed to institute proceedings on one of the petitions challenging the 269 patent; on February 4, 2021, it agreed to institute proceedings on one of the petitions challenging the 791 patent; and on February 12, 2021, it agreed to institute proceedings on one of the petitions challenging the 388 patent. Pursuant to an agreement between the parties, on August 13, 2021, Broadband iTV dismissed its claims related to the 269 patent and DISH Network L.L.C. dismissed its petition challenging the validity of the 269 patent. The United States Patent and Trademark Office heard oral argument on the three remaining petitions on November 1, 2021.

On October 21, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted DISH Network L.L.C.’s emergency appeal to have the case moved to the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. As a result, the trial scheduled for November 15, 2021 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas will not go forward. Broadband iTV’s damages expert contends that Broadband iTV is entitled to $162 million in damages.

We intend to vigorously defend this case. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe the asserted patents, we may be subject to substantial damages, which may include treble damages, and/or an injunction that could require us to materially modify certain features that we currently offer to consumers. We cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of the suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.

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Cedar Lane Technologies

On October 13, 2020, Cedar Lane Technologies Inc. (“Cedar Lane Technologies”) filed a complaint against our wholly-owned subsidiary, DISH Network L.L.C., in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. The complaint alleges infringement of United States Patent No. 6,502,194 (the “194 patent”), entitled “System for playback of network audio material on demand”; United States Patent No. 6,526,411 (the “411 patent”), entitled “System and method for creating dynamic playlists”; United States Patent No. 6,721,489 (the “489 patent”), entitled “Play list manager”; United States Patent No. 7,173,177 (the “177 patent”), entitled “User interface for simultaneous management of owned and unowned inventory”; United States Patent No. 7,642,443 (the “443 patent”), entitled “User interface for simultaneous management of owned and unowned inventory”; and United States Patent No. 8,165,867 (the “867 patent”), entitled “Methods for translating a device command.” Generally, the asserted patents relate to streaming digital audio to a home audio system; aspects of play lists and purchased content; and voice control. Cedar Lane Technologies is a non-practicing entity that has filed more than 75 patent infringement lawsuits. On March 11, 2021, pursuant to a stipulation of the parties, the Court dismissed the case without prejudice. This matter is now concluded.

City of Hallandale Beach Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Personnel Retirement Trust

On July 2, 2019, a putative class action lawsuit was filed by a purported EchoStar stockholder in the District Court of Clark County, Nevada under the caption City of Hallandale Beach Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Personnel Retirement Trust (“City of Hallandale”) v. Ergen, et al., Case No. A-19-797799-B. The lawsuit named as defendants Mr. Ergen, the other members of the EchoStar Board, as well as EchoStar, certain of its officers, DISH Network and certain of DISH Network’s and EchoStar’s affiliates. Plaintiff alleges, among other things, breach of fiduciary duties in approving the transactions contemplated under the Master Transaction Agreement for inadequate consideration and pursuant to an unfair and conflicted process, and that EchoStar, DISH Network and certain other defendants aided and abetted such breaches. In the operative First Amended Complaint, filed on October 11, 2019, the plaintiff dropped as defendants the EchoStar board members other than Mr. Ergen. The Court granted, in part, the plaintiff’s motion for class certification on January 15, 2021. The trial of this matter is scheduled to start sometime during the five-week “stack” beginning September 7, 2021. See Note 14 “Related Party Transactions” in the Notes to DISH Network’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 for further information on the Master Transaction Agreement. Plaintiff seeks equitable relief, including the issuance of additional DISH Network Class A common stock, monetary relief and other costs and disbursements, including attorneys’ fees.

The parties have entered into a global settlement agreement, subject to court approval. The parties’ joint motion for preliminary approval has been approved and the final approval hearing has been scheduled for December 9, 2021.

If the settlement is not approved, DISH Network intends to vigorously defend this case, but cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of this suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.

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ClearPlay, Inc.

On March 13, 2014, ClearPlay, Inc. (“ClearPlay”) filed a complaint against DISH Network, our wholly-owned subsidiary DISH Network L.L.C., EchoStar, and its then wholly-owned subsidiary EchoStar Technologies L.L.C., in the United States District Court for the District of Utah. The complaint alleges willful infringement of United States Patent Nos. 6,898,799 (the “799 patent”), entitled “Multimedia Content Navigation and Playback”; 7,526,784 (the “784 patent”), entitled “Delivery of Navigation Data for Playback of Audio and Video Content”; 7,543,318 (the “318 patent”), entitled “Delivery of Navigation Data for Playback of Audio and Video Content”; 7,577,970 (the “970 patent”), entitled “Multimedia Content Navigation and Playback”; and 8,117,282 (the “282 patent”), entitled “Media Player Configured to Receive Playback Filters From Alternative Storage Mediums.” ClearPlay alleges that the AutoHop^™ feature of our Hopper set-top box infringes the asserted patents. On February 11, 2015, the case was stayed pending various third-party challenges before the United States Patent and Trademark Office regarding the validity of certain of the patents asserted in the action.

In those third-party challenges, the United States Patent and Trademark Office found that all claims of the 282 patent are unpatentable, and that certain claims of the 784 patent and 318 patent are unpatentable. ClearPlay appealed as to the 784 patent and the 318 patent, and on August 23, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the findings of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. On October 31, 2016, the stay was lifted.

On October 16, October 21, November 2, 2020 and November 9, 2020, DISH Network L.L.C. filed petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office requesting ex parte reexamination of the validity of the asserted claims of, respectively, the 784 patent, the 799 patent, the 318 patent and the 970 patent; and on November 2, November 20, December 14 and December 15, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted each request for reexamination. On May 7, 2021, May 25, 2021, June 25, 2021 and July 7, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued Ex Parte Reexamination Certificates confirming the patentability of the challenged claims of, respectively, the 799 patent, the 784 patent, the 318 patent and the 970 patent. ClearPlay’s damages expert contends that ClearPlay is entitled to $543 million in damages.

We intend to vigorously defend this case. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe the asserted patents, we may be subject to substantial damages, which may include treble damages, and/or an injunction that could require us to materially modify certain features that we currently offer to consumers. We cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of the suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.

Contemporary Display LLC

On June 4, 2018, Contemporary Display LLC (“Contemporary”) filed a complaint against DISH Network and our wholly-owned subsidiary DISH Network L.L.C. in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. The complaint alleges infringement of United States Patent No. 6,028,643 (the “643 patent”), entitled “Multiple-Screen Video Adapter with Television Tuner”; United States Patent No. 6,429,903 (the “903 patent”), entitled “Video Adapter for Supporting at Least One Television Monitor”; United States Patent No. 6,492,997 (the “997 patent”), entitled “Method and System for Providing Selectable Programming in a Multi-Screen Mode”; United States Patent No. 7,500,202 (the “202 patent”), entitled “Remote Control for Navigating Through Content in an Organized and Categorized Fashion”; and United States Patent No. 7,809,842 (the “842 patent”), entitled “Transferring Sessions Between Devices.” The 643 patent and the 903 patent are directed to video adapters for use with multiple displays. The 997 patent is directed to a system for presenting multiple video programs on a display device simultaneously. The 202 patent is directed to a remote control for interacting with a set-top box having programmable features and “operational controls” on at least three sides of the remote control. The 842 patent is directed to a system for managing online communication sessions between multiple devices. Contemporary is an entity that seeks to license a patent portfolio without itself practicing any of the claims recited therein.

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In a First Amended Complaint filed on August 6, 2018, Contemporary added our wholly-owned subsidiary DISH Network L.L.C. as a defendant. In a Second Amended Complaint filed on October 9, 2018, Contemporary named only our wholly-owned subsidiary DISH Network L.L.C. as a defendant and dropped certain indirect infringement allegations. On June 10, 2019, DISH Network L.L.C. filed petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of the asserted claims of the 842 patent, the 903 patent, the 643 patent and the 997 patent. On December 13, 2019 and January 7, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on each of our petitions. Following Contemporary’s decision not to file Patent Owner Responses to DISH Network L.L.C.’s petitions on the 842 patent and the 903 patent, on April 24, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office entered judgments granting those petitions and canceling the challenged claims of those patents. On November 25, 2020 and December 18, 2020, respectively, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued final written decisions invalidating all challenged claims of, respectively, the 643 patent and the 997 patent. On February 12, 2021, Contemporary Display noticed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit challenging the final written decision as to the 997 patent, and briefing is under way. On July 11, 2019, the Court entered an order staying the case pending resolution of the petitions. On January 31, 2020, pursuant to the parties’ joint motion, the Court dismissed all claims arising from the 202 patent, and extended its stay of the litigation pending non-appealable determinations on all of the petitions before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

We intend to vigorously defend this case. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe the asserted patents, we may be subject to substantial damages, which may include treble damages, and/or an injunction that could require us to materially modify certain features that we currently offer to consumers. We cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of the suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.

Customedia Technologies, L.L.C.

On February 10, 2016, Customedia Technologies, L.L.C. (“Customedia”) filed a complaint against DISH Network and our wholly-owned subsidiary DISH Network L.L.C. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint alleges infringement of four patents: United States Patent No. 8,719,090 (the “090 patent”); United States Patent No. 9,053,494 (the “494 patent”); United States Patent No. 7,840,437 (the “437 patent”); and United States Patent No. 8,955,029 (the “029 patent”). Each patent is entitled “System for Data Management And On-Demand Rental And Purchase Of Digital Data Products.” Customedia alleges infringement in connection with our addressable advertising services, our DISH Anywhere feature, and our Pay-Per-View and video-on-demand offerings. Customedia is an entity that seeks to license a patent portfolio without itself practicing any of the claims recited therein.

In December 2016 and January 2017, DISH Network L.L.C. filed petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of the asserted claims of each of the asserted patents. On June 12, 2017, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on our petitions challenging the 090 patent and the 437 patent; on July 18, 2017, it agreed to institute proceedings on our petitions challenging the 029 patent; and on July 28, 2017, it agreed to institute proceedings on our petitions challenging the 494 patent. These instituted proceedings cover all asserted claims of each of the asserted patents.

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Pursuant to an agreement between the parties, on December 20, 2017, DISH Network L.L.C. dismissed its petitions challenging the 029 patent in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and on January 9, 2018, the parties dismissed their claims, counterclaims and defenses as to that patent in the litigation. On March 5, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office conducted a trial on the remaining petitions. On June 11, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued final written decisions on DISH Network L.L.C.’s petitions challenging the 090 patent and it invalidated all of the asserted claims. On July 25, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued final written decisions on DISH Network L.L.C.’s petitions challenging the 437 patent and the 494 patent and it invalidated all of the asserted claims. Customedia appealed its losses. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral argument on November 6, 2019 on the appeal involving the 437 patent, and summarily affirmed the patent’s invalidity on November 8, 2019. On January 7, 2020, Customedia petitioned the Court of Appeals for rehearing or rehearing en banc, raising issues about the constitutionality of the appointment of the administrative patent judges that heard the petition before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but the Court of Appeals denied rehearing on March 5, 2020. On July 31, 2020, Customedia filed a petition with the United States Supreme Court asking it to hear a further appeal, but its petition was denied on October 13, 2020. On November 6, 2020, it filed a petition for rehearing on the United States Supreme Court’s decision not to hear a further appeal, but on November 17, 2020, the Supreme Court rejected that petition.

The Court of Appeals heard oral argument on the appeal involving the 090 patent and the 494 patent on December 3, 2019, and affirmed those patents’ invalidity on March 6, 2020. On May 5, 2020, Customedia filed petitions in the Federal Circuit for rehearing and rehearing en banc, but those petitions were denied on June 9, 2020. On November 6, 2020, Customedia served a petition to the United States Supreme Court asking it to hear a further appeal. On June 16, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a certificate cancelling the challenged claims of the 437 patent and, on July 9, 2021, it issued certificates cancelling the challenged claims of the 090 and 494 patents. The litigation in the District Court has been stayed since August 8, 2017 pending resolution of the proceedings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

We intend to vigorously defend this case. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe the asserted patents, we may be subject to substantial damages, which may include treble damages, and/or an injunction that could require us to materially modify certain features that we currently offer to consumers. We cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of the suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.

Innovative Foundry Technologies LLC

On December 20, 2019, Innovative Foundry Technologies LLC filed a complaint against DISH Network (as well as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation; Broadcom Incorporated; Broadcom Corporation; and Cypress Semiconductor Corporation) in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. The complaint alleges infringement of United States Patent No. 6,580,122 (the “122 patent”), entitled “Transistor Device Having an Enhanced Width Dimension and a Method of Making Same”; United States Patent No. 6,806,126 (the “126 patent”), entitled “Method of Manufacturing a Semiconductor Component”; United States Patent No. 6,933,620 (the “620 patent”), entitled “Semiconductor Component and Method of Manufacture”; and United States Patent No. 7,009,226 (the “226 patent”), entitled “In-Situ Nitride/Oxynitride Processing with Reduced Deposition Surface Pattern Sensitivity.” On April 9, 2020, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of the asserted claims of the 226 patent, and on April 14, 2020, it filed petitions challenging the validity of the asserted claims of the 126 patent and 620 patent. On December 30, 2020, the Court entered an order severing and staying the claims against DISH Network and certain other defendants not involved in the manufacturing of the accused chips. On April 22, 2021, the parties filed a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice of all claims against DISH Network. This matter is now concluded.

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Optic153

On January 29, 2021, Optic153 LLC (“Optic 153”) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas against DISH Network and our wholly-owned subsidiaries DISH Network L.L.C and Dish Network Service L.L.C. The complaint alleges infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,115,174 (the “174 patent”), entitled “Optical Signal Varying Devices”; U.S. Patent No. 6,236,487 (the “487 patent”), entitled “Optical Communication Control System”; U.S. Patent No. 6,344,922 (the “922 patent”), entitled “Optical Signal Varying Devices”; U.S. Patent No. 6,356,383 (the “383 patent”), entitled “Optical Transmission Systems Including Optical Amplifiers Apparatuses and Methods”; U.S. Patent No. 6,587,261 (the “261 patent”), entitled “Optical Transmission Systems Including Optical Amplifiers Apparatuses and Methods of Use Therein”; and U.S. Patent No. 6,771,413 (the “413 patent”), entitled “Optical Transmission Systems Including Optical Amplifiers, Apparatuses and Methods.” In general, the patents relate to various aspects of the provisioning of fiber optics communications. On April 26, 2021, Optic153 filed a request for dismissal of its claims against DISH Network, DISH Network L.L.C. and Dish Network Service L.L.C. This matter is now concluded.

Realtime Data LLC and Realtime Adaptive Streaming LLC

On June 6, 2017, Realtime Data LLC d/b/a IXO (“Realtime”) filed an amended complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (the “Original Texas Action”) against DISH Network; our wholly-owned subsidiaries DISH Network L.L.C., DISH Technologies L.L.C. (then known as EchoStar Technologies L.L.C.), Sling TV L.L.C. and Sling Media L.L.C.; EchoStar, and EchoStar’s wholly-owned subsidiary Hughes Network Systems, L.L.C. (“HNS”); and Arris Group, Inc. Realtime’s initial complaint in the Original Texas Action, filed on February 14, 2017, had named only EchoStar and HNS as defendants. The amended complaint in the Original Texas Action alleges infringement of United States Patent No. 8,717,204 (the “204 patent”), entitled “Methods for encoding and decoding data”; United States Patent No. 9,054,728 (the “728 patent”), entitled “Data compression systems and methods”; United States Patent No. 7,358,867 (the “867 patent”), entitled “Content independent data compression method and system”; United States Patent No. 8,502,707 (the “707 patent”), entitled “Data compression systems and methods”; United States Patent No. 8,275,897 (the “897 patent”), entitled “System and methods for accelerated data storage and retrieval”; United States Patent No. 8,867,610 (the “610 patent”), entitled “System and methods for video and audio data distribution”; United States Patent No. 8,934,535 (the “535 patent”), entitled “Systems and methods for video and audio data storage and distribution”; and United States Patent No. 8,553,759 (the “759 patent”), entitled “Bandwidth sensitive data compression and decompression.”

Realtime alleges that DISH Network, Sling TV L.L.C., Sling Media L.L.C. and Arris Group, Inc. streaming video products and services compliant with various versions of the H.264 video compression standard infringe the 897 patent, the 610 patent and the 535 patent, and that the data compression system in Hughes’ products and services infringe the 204 patent, the 728 patent, the 867 patent, the 707 patent and the 759 patent.

On July 19, 2017, the Court severed Realtime’s claims against DISH Network, DISH Network L.L.C., Sling TV L.L.C., Sling Media L.L.C. and Arris Group, Inc. (alleging infringement of the 897 patent, the 610 patent and the 535 patent) from the Original Texas Action into a separate action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (the “Second Texas Action”). On August 31, 2017, Realtime dismissed the claims against DISH Network, Sling TV L.L.C., Sling Media Inc., and Sling Media L.L.C. from the Second Texas Action and refiled these claims (alleging infringement of the 897 patent, the 610 patent and the 535 patent) against Sling TV L.L.C., Sling Media Inc., and Sling Media L.L.C. in a new action in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado (the “Colorado Action”). Also on August 31, 2017, Realtime dismissed DISH Technologies L.L.C. from the Original Texas Action, and on September 12, 2017, added it as a defendant in an amended complaint in the Second Texas Action. On November 6, 2017, Realtime filed a joint motion to dismiss the Second Texas Action without prejudice, which the Court entered on November 8, 2017.

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On October 10, 2017, Realtime Adaptive Streaming LLC (“Realtime Adaptive Streaming”) filed suit against our wholly-owned subsidiaries DISH Network L.L.C. and DISH Technologies L.L.C., as well as Arris Group, Inc., in a new action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (the “Third Texas Action”), alleging infringement of the 610 patent and the 535 patent. Also on October 10, 2017, an amended complaint was filed in the Colorado Action, substituting Realtime Adaptive Streaming as the plaintiff instead of Realtime, and alleging infringement of only the 610 patent and the 535 patent, but not the 897 patent. On November 6, 2017, Realtime Adaptive Streaming filed a joint motion to dismiss the Third Texas Action without prejudice, which the court entered on November 8, 2017. Also on November 6, 2017, Realtime Adaptive Streaming filed a second amended complaint in the Colorado Action, adding our wholly-owned subsidiaries DISH Network L.L.C. and DISH Technologies L.L.C., as well as Arris Group, Inc., as defendants.

As a result, neither DISH Network nor any of its subsidiaries is a defendant in the Original Texas Action; the Court has dismissed without prejudice the Second Texas Action and the Third Texas Action; and our wholly-owned subsidiaries DISH Network L.L.C., DISH Technologies L.L.C., Sling TV L.L.C. and Sling Media L.L.C. as well as Arris Group, Inc., are defendants in the Colorado Action, which now has Realtime Adaptive Streaming as the named plaintiff.

On July 3, 2018, Sling TV L.L.C., Sling Media L.L.C., DISH Network L.L.C., and DISH Technologies L.L.C. filed petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of each of the asserted patents. On January 31, 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on our petitions challenging all asserted claims of each of the asserted patents, and it held trial on the petitions on December 5, 2019. On January 17, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office terminated the petitions as time-barred, but issued a final written decision invalidating the 535 patent to third parties that had timely joined in our petition (and, on January 10, 2020, issued a final written decision invalidating the 535 patent in connection with a third party’s independent petition). On March 16, 2020, Sling TV L.L.C., Sling Media L.L.C., DISH Network L.L.C., and DISH Technologies L.L.C. filed a notice of appeal from the terminated petitions to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On June 29, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office filed a notice of intervention in the appeal. On March 16, 2021, the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. On April 29, 2021, Sling TV L.L.C., Sling Media L.L.C., DISH Network L.L.C., and DISH Technologies L.L.C. filed a petition for rehearing, which was denied on June 28, 2021. On January 12, 2021, Realtime Adaptive Streaming filed a notice of dismissal of its claims on the 535 patent.

On July 30, 2021, the District Court granted summary judgment in favor of DISH Network L.L.C., DISH Technologies L.L.C., Sling TV L.L.C. and Sling Media L.L.C., holding that the remaining asserted patent, the 610 patent, is invalid because it claims patent-ineligible abstract subject matter. Realtime Adaptive Streaming has filed a notice of appeal from that ruling. Independently, on September 21, 2021, in connection with an ex parte reexamination of the validity of the 610 patent, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a final office action rejecting each asserted claim of the 610 patent.

We intend to vigorously defend this case. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe the asserted patents, we may be subject to substantial damages, which may include treble damages, and/or an injunction that could require us to materially modify certain features that we currently offer to consumers. We cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of the suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages. Realtime Adaptive Streaming is an entity that seeks to license an acquired patent portfolio without itself practicing any of the claims recited therein.

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Scenic Licensing LLC

On October 27, 2021, Scenic Licensing LLC filed a complaint against our wholly-owned subsidiary Sling Media L.L.C. in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The complaint alleges that the Sling Studio product infringes U.S. Patent No. 8,677,420 (the “420 patent”), entitled “Personal monitoring and information apparatus.”

We intend to vigorously defend this case. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe the asserted patents, we may be subject to substantial damages, which may include treble damages, and/or an injunction that could require us to materially modify certain features that we currently offer to consumers. We cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of the suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.

Sound View Innovations, LLC

On December 30, 2019, Sound View Innovations, LLC filed one complaint against our wholly-owned subsidiaries DISH Network L.L.C. and DISH Technologies L.L.C. and a second complaint against our wholly-owned subsidiary Sling TV L.L.C. in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. The complaint against DISH Network L.L.C. and DISH Technologies L.L.C. alleges infringement of United States Patent No 6,502,133 (the “133 patent”), entitled “Real-Time Event Processing System with Analysis Engine Using Recovery Information” and both complaints allege infringement of United States Patent No. 6,708,213 (the “213 patent), entitled “Method for Streaming Multimedia Information Over Public Networks”; United States Patent No. 6,757,796 (the “796 patent”), entitled “Method and System for Caching Streaming Live Broadcasts transmitted Over a Network”; and United States Patent No. 6,725,456 (the “456 patent”), entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Ensuring Quality of Service in an Operating System.” All but the 133 patent are also asserted in the complaint against Sling TV L.L.C.

On May 21, 2020, June 3, 2020, June 5, 2020 and July 10, 2020, DISH Network L.L.C., DISH Technologies L.L.C. and Sling TV L.L.C. filed petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of, respectively, the 213 patent, the 133 patent, the 456 patent and the 796 patent. On November 25, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office declined to review the validity of the 213 patent, and on December 18, 2020, DISH Network L.L.C., DISH Technologies L.L.C. and Sling TV L.L.C. filed a request for rehearing of that decision, which was denied on September 29, 2021. On January 19, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on the 456 patent but declined to review the 133 patent. On February 24, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on the 796 patent. On January 26, 2021, the District Court agreed to stay the case pending the outcome of the petitions to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

We intend to vigorously defend these cases. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe the asserted patents, we may be subject to substantial damages, which may include treble damages, and/or an injunction that could require us to materially modify certain features that we currently offer to consumers. We cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of the suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages. The plaintiff is an entity that seeks to license a patent portfolio without itself practicing any of the claims recited therein.

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(Unaudited)

Telemarketing Shareholder Derivative Litigation

On October 19, 2017, Plumbers Local Union No. 519 Pension Trust Fund (“Plumbers Local 519”), a purported shareholder of DISH Network, filed a putative shareholder derivative action in the District Court for Clark County, Nevada alleging, among other things, breach of fiduciary duty claims against the following current and former members of DISH Network’s Board of Directors: Charles W. Ergen; James DeFranco; Cantey M. Ergen; Steven R. Goodbarn; David K. Moskowitz; Tom A. Ortolf; Carl E. Vogel; George R. Brokaw; and Gary S. Howard (collectively, the “Director Defendants”). In its complaint, Plumbers Local 519 contends that, by virtue of their alleged failure to appropriately ensure DISH Network’s compliance with telemarketing laws, the Director Defendants exposed DISH Network to liability for telemarketing violations, including those in the Krakauer Action. It also contends that the Director Defendants caused DISH Network to pay improper compensation and benefits to themselves and others who allegedly breached their fiduciary duties to DISH Network. Plumbers Local 519 alleges causes of action for breach of fiduciary duties of loyalty and good faith, gross mismanagement, abuse of control, corporate waste and unjust enrichment. Plumbers Local 519 is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.

On November 13, 2017, City of Sterling Heights Police and Fire Retirement System (“Sterling Heights”), a purported shareholder of DISH Network, filed a putative shareholder derivative action in the District Court for Clark County, Nevada. Sterling Heights makes substantially the same allegations as Plumbers Union 519, and alleges causes of action against the Director Defendants for breach of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets and unjust enrichment. Sterling Heights is seeking an unspecified amount of damages. Pursuant to a stipulation of the parties, on January 4, 2018, the District Court agreed to consolidate the Sterling Heights action with the Plumbers Local 519 action, and on January 12, 2018, the derivative plaintiffs filed an amended consolidated complaint that largely duplicates the original Plumbers Local 519 complaint. DISH Network’s Board of Directors has established a Special Litigation Committee to review the factual allegations and legal claims in this action. On May 15, 2018, the District Court granted the Special Litigation Committee’s motion to stay the case pending its investigation. The Special Litigation Committee’s report was filed on November 27, 2018, and recommended that the Company not pursue the claims asserted by the derivative plaintiffs. On December 20, 2018, the Special Litigation Committee filed a motion seeking deferral to its determination that the claims should be dismissed. Following a two-day evidentiary hearing on July 6-7, 2020, on July 17, 2020, the District Court entered an order granting the Special Litigation Committee’s motion. On August 25, 2020, the derivative plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court and that appeal has been fully briefed since June 25, 2021.

DISH Network cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of these suits or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.

TQ Delta, LLC

On July 17, 2015, TQ Delta, LLC (“TQ Delta”) filed a complaint against us, DISH Network and our wholly-owned subsidiary DISH Network L.L.C. in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The Complaint alleges infringement of United States Patent No. 6,961,369 (the “369 patent”), which is entitled “System and Method for Scrambling the Phase of the Carriers in a Multicarrier Communications System”; United States Patent No. 8,718,158 (the “158 patent”), which is entitled “System and Method for Scrambling the Phase of the Carriers in a Multicarrier Communications System”; United States Patent No. 9,014,243 (the “243 patent”), which is entitled “System and Method for Scrambling Using a Bit Scrambler and a Phase Scrambler”; United States Patent No. 7,835,430 (the “430 patent”), which is entitled “Multicarrier Modulation Messaging for Frequency Domain Received Idle Channel Noise Information”; United States Patent No. 8,238,412 (the “412 patent”), which is entitled “Multicarrier Modulation Messaging for Power Level per Subchannel Information”; United States Patent No. 8,432,956 (the “956 patent”), which is entitled “Multicarrier Modulation Messaging for Power Level per Subchannel Information”; and United States Patent No. 8,611,404 (the “404 patent”), which is entitled “Multicarrier Transmission System with Low Power Sleep Mode and Rapid-On Capability.”

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(Unaudited)

On September 9, 2015, TQ Delta filed a first amended complaint that added allegations of infringement of United States Patent No. 9,094,268 (the “268 patent”), which is entitled “Multicarrier Transmission System With Low Power Sleep Mode and Rapid-On Capability.” On May 16, 2016, TQ Delta filed a second amended complaint that added EchoStar Corporation and its then wholly-owned subsidiary EchoStar Technologies L.L.C. as defendants. TQ Delta alleges that our satellite TV service, Internet service, set-top boxes, gateways, routers, modems, adapters and networks that operate in accordance with one or more Multimedia over Coax Alliance Standards infringe the asserted patents. TQ Delta has filed actions in the same court alleging infringement of the same patents against Comcast Corp., Cox Communications, Inc., DirecTV, Time Warner Cable Inc. and Verizon Communications, Inc. TQ Delta is an entity that seeks to license an acquired patent portfolio without itself practicing any of the claims recited therein.

On July 14, 2016, TQ Delta stipulated to dismiss with prejudice all claims related to the 369 patent and the 956 patent. On July 20, 2016, we filed petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of all of the patent claims of the 404 patent and the 268 patent that have been asserted against us. Third parties have filed petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of all of the patent claims that have been asserted against us in the action. On November 4, 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on the third-party petitions related to the 158 patent, the 243 patent, the 412 patent and the 430 patent.

On December 20, 2016, pursuant to a stipulation of the parties, the Court stayed the case until the resolution of all petitions to the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of all of the patent claims at issue. On January 19, 2017, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted our motions to join the instituted petitions on the 430 and 158 patents.

On February 9, 2017, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on our petition related to the 404 patent, and on February 13, 2017, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on our petition related to the 268 patent. On February 27, 2017, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted our motions to join the instituted petitions on the 243 and 412 patents. On October 26, 2017, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued final written decisions on the petitions challenging the 158 patent, the 243 patent, the 412 patent and the 430 patent, and it invalidated all of the asserted claims of those patents. On February 7, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued final written decisions on the petitions challenging the 404 patent, and it invalidated all of the asserted claims of that patent on the basis of our petition. On February 10, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a final written decision on our petition challenging the 268 patent, and it invalidated all of the asserted claims.

On March 12, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a final written decision on a third-party petition challenging the 268 patent, and it invalidated all of the asserted claims. All asserted claims have now been invalidated by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. TQ Delta has filed notices of appeal from the final written decisions adverse to it. On May 9, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the invalidity of the 430 patent and the 412 patent. On July 10, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the invalidity of the asserted claims of the 404 patent. On July 15, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the invalidity of the asserted claims of the 268 patent. On November 22, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the invalidity finding on the 243 patent and the 158 patent, and then, on March 29, 2020, denied a petition for panel rehearing as to those findings. On April 13, 2021, the Court lifted the stay. On April 23 and April 26, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued orders granting requests for ex parte reexamination of, respectively, the 158 patent and the 243 patent.

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(Unaudited)

We intend to vigorously defend this case. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe the asserted patents, we may be subject to substantial damages, which may include treble damages, and/or an injunction that could require us to materially modify certain features that we currently offer to consumers. We cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of the suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.

Turner Network Sales

On October 6, 2017, Turner Network Sales, Inc. (“Turner”) filed a complaint against our wholly-owned subsidiary DISH Network L.L.C. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The operative First Amended Complaint alleges that DISH Network L.L.C. improperly calculated and withheld licensing fees owing to Turner in connection with its carriage of CNN and other networks. On December 14, 2017, DISH Network L.L.C. filed its operative first amended counterclaims against Turner. In the counterclaims, DISH Network L.L.C. seeks a declaratory judgment that it properly calculated the licensing fees owed to Turner for carriage of CNN, and also alleges claims for unrelated breaches of the parties’ affiliation agreement. On September 27, 2019, the Court granted, in part, Turner’s motion for summary judgment, holding, in part, that Turner was entitled to recover approximately $20 million in license fee payments that DISH Network L.L.C. had withheld after it discovered previous over-payments. On February 12, 2020, the parties filed a stipulation to dismiss certain of their respective claims. Trial on the remaining claims in this matter has been re-set for October 3, 2021. Turner’s damages expert contends that Turner is entitled to approximately $206 million in damages. On July 13, 2021, pursuant to a joint request of the parties, the Court dismissed the case with prejudice. This matter is now concluded.

Uniloc

On January 31, 2019, Uniloc 2017 LLC (“Uniloc”) filed a complaint against our wholly-owned subsidiary Sling TV L.L.C. in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. The Complaint alleges infringement of United States Patent No. 6,519,005 (the “005 patent”), which is entitled “Method of Concurrent Multiple-Mode Motion Estimation for Digital Video”; United States Patent No. 6,895,118 (the “118 patent”), which is entitled “Method of Coding Digital Image Based on Error Concealment”; United States Patent No. 9,721,273 (the “273 patent”), which is entitled “System and Method for Aggregating and Providing Audio and Visual Presentations Via a Computer Network”); and United States Patent No. 8,407,609 (the “609 patent”), which is entitled “System and Method for Providing and Tracking the Provision of Audio and Visual Presentations Via a Computer Network.” Uniloc is an entity that seeks to license an acquired patent portfolio without itself practicing any of the claims recited therein.

On June 25, 2019, Sling TV L.L.C. filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of all of the asserted claims of the 005 patent. On July 19, 2019 and July 22, 2019, respectively, Sling TV L.L.C. filed petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of all asserted claims of the 273 patent and the 609 patent. On August 12, 2019, Sling TV L.L.C. filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of all of the asserted claims of the 118 patent. On October 18, 2019, pursuant to a stipulation of the parties, the Court entered a stay of the trial proceedings. On January 9, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on the petition challenging the 005 patent. On January 15, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on the petition challenging the 273 patent. On February 4, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to institute proceedings on the petition challenging the 609 patent. On February 25, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office declined to institute proceedings on the petition challenging the 118 patent. On December 28, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a final written decision upholding the validity of the challenged claims of the 273 patent, Sling TV L.L.C. filed a notice of appeal from that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and oral argument on that appeal was heard on November 2, 2021. On January 5, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a final written decision invalidating all challenged claims of the 005 patent. On January 19, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a final written decision invalidating all challenged claims of the 609 patent (and a second final written decision invalidating all challenged claims of the 609 patent based on a third party’s petition).

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(Unaudited)

We intend to vigorously defend this case. In the event that a court ultimately determines that we infringe the asserted patents, we may be subject to substantial damages, which may include treble damages, and/or an injunction that could require us to materially modify certain features that we currently offer to consumers. We cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of the suit or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.

Vermont National Telephone Company

On September 23, 2016, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia unsealed a qui tam complaint that was filed by Vermont National Telephone Company (“Vermont National”) against DISH Network; DISH Network’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, American AWS-3 Wireless I L.L.C., American II, American III, and DISH Wireless Holding L.L.C.; Charles W. Ergen (our Chairman) and Cantey M. Ergen (a member of DISH Network’s board of directors); Northstar Wireless; Northstar Spectrum; Northstar Manager, LLC; SNR Wireless; SNR HoldCo; SNR Wireless Management, LLC; and certain other parties. The complaint was unsealed after the United States Department of Justice notified the Court that it had declined to intervene in the action. The complaint is a civil action that was filed under seal on May 13, 2015 by Vermont National, which participated in the AWS-3 Auction through its wholly-owned subsidiary, VTel Wireless. The complaint alleges violations of the federal civil False Claims Act (the “FCA”) based on, among other things, allegations that Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless falsely claimed bidding credits of 25% in the AWS-3 Auction when they were allegedly under the de facto control of DISH Network and, therefore, were not entitled to the bidding credits as designated entities under applicable FCC rules. Vermont National seeks to recover on behalf of the United States government approximately $10 billion, which reflects the $3.3 billion in bidding credits that Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless claimed in the AWS-3 Auction, trebled under the FCA. Vermont National also seeks civil penalties of not less than $5,500 and not more than $11,000 for each violation of the FCA. On March 2, 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered a stay of the litigation until such time as the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (the “D.C. Circuit”) issued its opinion in SNR Wireless LicenseCo, LLC, et al. v. F.C.C. The D.C. Circuit issued its opinion on August 29, 2017 and remanded the matter to the FCC for further proceedings. See Note 11 “Commitments – DISH Network Non-Controlling Investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities Related to AWS-3 Wireless Spectrum Licenses” in the Notes to DISH Network’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 for further information.

Thereafter, the Court maintained the stay until October 26, 2018. On February 11, 2019, the Court granted Vermont National’s unopposed motion for leave to file an amended complaint. On March 28, 2019, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss Vermont National’s amended complaint, and on March 23, 2021, the Court granted the motion to dismiss. On April 21, 2021, Vermont National filed a notice of appeal.

DISH Network intends to vigorously defend this case. DISH Network cannot predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of this proceeding or determine the extent of any potential liability or damages.

Waste Disposal Inquiry

The California Attorney General and the Alameda County (California) District Attorney are investigating whether certain of our waste disposal policies, procedures and practices are in violation of the California Business and Professions Code and the California Health and Safety Code. We expect that these entities will seek injunctive and monetary relief. The investigation appears to be part of a broader effort to investigate waste handling and disposal processes of a number of industries. While we are unable to predict the outcome of this investigation, we do not believe that the outcome will have a material effect on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

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(Unaudited)

Other

In addition to the above actions, we are subject to various other legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, including, among other things, disputes with programmers regarding fees. In our opinion, the amount of ultimate liability with respect to any of these actions is unlikely to materially affect our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity, though the outcomes could be material to our operating results for any particular period, depending, in part, upon the operating results for such period.

10. Financial Information for Subsidiary Guarantors

Our senior notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally on a senior unsecured basis by certain of our wholly-owned subsidiaries (the “Guarantors”).

Our 7 3/8% Senior Notes due 2028 and 5 1/8% Senior Notes due 2029 are guaranteed by our current principal operating subsidiaries. Our 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022, 5% Senior Notes due 2023, 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2024 and 7 3/4% Senior Notes due 2026 are guaranteed by our current principal operating subsidiaries other than Sling TV Holding L.L.C. (“Sling TV Holding”). However, Sling TV Holding, including all of its assets and operations, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network L.L.C., which is a Guarantor on all of our outstanding senior notes. Certain of our wholly-owned subsidiaries are designated as “Unrestricted Subsidiaries” and do not guarantee any of our senior notes. These Unrestricted Subsidiaries are non-operating entities that hold minimal or no assets.

We and our subsidiaries participate with our parent company, DISH Network, in a centralized system for the management of our cash and marketable investment securities. Please see Note 3 for further information.

The assets, liabilities and results of operations of the combined issuer and guarantors (excluding Unrestricted Subsidiaries) of the guaranteed securities are not materially different than corresponding amounts presented in the condensed consolidated financial statements of the parent company issuer. Therefore, summarized financial information of the issuer and the guarantor subsidiaries is not required.

The below descriptions apply to all of our existing senior notes. There are no material differences between our senior notes guaranteed by all of our current principal operating subsidiaries and our senior notes guaranteed by our current principal operating subsidiaries other than Sling TV Holding, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network L.L.C., which is a Guarantor on all of our outstanding senior notes.

The guarantee of a Guarantor will be deemed automatically discharged and released in accordance with the terms of the applicable indenture (i) in connection with any direct or indirect sale, conveyance or other disposition of all of the capital stock or all or substantially all of the assets of that Guarantor (including by way of merger or consolidation), if such sale or disposition is made in compliance with the applicable provisions of the indenture; (ii) if such Guarantor is dissolved or liquidated in accordance with the provisions of the indenture; (iii) if we designate any such Guarantor as an “Unrestricted Subsidiary” in compliance with the terms of the indenture; or (iv) with respect to a Guarantor which constitutes a Non-Core Asset (as such term is defined in the applicable indenture), upon the sale or other disposition of certain equity interests of such Guarantor, if such sale or disposition is made in compliance with the applicable provisions of the indenture. There are no restrictions on our ability to obtain cash dividends or other distributions of funds from the Guarantors, except those imposed by applicable law.

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(Unaudited)

The rights of holders of the senior notes against the Guarantors may be limited under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or state fraudulent transfer or conveyance law. Under certain circumstances (including a finding that a Guarantor was insolvent at the time its guarantee of the senior notes was issued), a court could hold that the obligations of a Guarantor under a guarantee may be voided or are subordinate to other obligations of the Guarantor. Each guarantee contains a provision intended to limit the Guarantor’s liability to the maximum amount that it could incur without causing the incurrence of obligations under its guarantee to be a fraudulent conveyance or transfer under U.S. federal or state law.

11. Disaggregation of Revenue

Geographic Information. Revenue is attributed to geographic regions based upon the location where the goods and services are provided. All service revenue was derived from the United States. Substantially all of our long-lived assets reside in the United States.

The following table summarizes revenue by geographic region:

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
Revenue:	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(In thousands)
United States	$	3,166,822	$	3,139,811	$	9,525,620	$	9,442,107
Canada and Mexico		9,467		11,218		25,076		25,235
Total revenue	$	3,176,289	$	3,151,029	$	9,550,696	$	9,467,342

The revenue from external customers disaggregated by major revenue source was as follows:

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
Category:	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Pay-TV subscriber and related revenue	$	3,151,144	$	3,109,479	$	9,465,241	$	9,357,713
Equipment sales and other revenue		25,145		41,550		85,455		109,629
Total	$	3,176,289	$	3,151,029	$	9,550,696	$	9,467,342

12. Contract Balances

Our valuation and qualifying accounts as of September 30, 2021 were as follows:

Allowance for credit losses	Balance at Beginning of Period		Current Period Provision for Expected Credit Losses		Write-offs Charged Against Allowance		Balance at End of Period
	(In thousands)
For the nine months ended September 30, 2021	$	43,233	$	32,224	$	(39,457)	$	36,000

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(Unaudited)

Contract liabilities arise when we bill our customers and receive consideration in advance of providing the service. Contract liabilities are recognized as revenue when the service has been provided to the customer. Contract liabilities are recorded in “Deferred revenue and other” and “Long-term deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

	As of
	September 30,		December 31,
	2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Contract liabilities	$	556,895	$	593,797

Our beginning of period contract liability recorded as customer contract revenue during 2021 was $586 million.

We apply a practical expedient and do not disclose the value of the remaining performance obligations for contracts that are less than one year in duration, which represent a substantial majority of our revenue. As such, the amount of revenue related to unsatisfied performance obligations is not necessarily indicative of our future revenue.

13. Related Party Transactions

Related Party Transactions with EchoStar

Following the Spin-off, DISH Network and EchoStar have operated 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, and by certain entities established by Mr. Ergen for the benefit of his family.

In connection with and following the Spin-off, we and EchoStar have entered into certain agreements pursuant to which we obtain certain products, services and rights from EchoStar, EchoStar obtains certain products, services and rights from us, and we and EchoStar have indemnified each other against certain liabilities arising from our respective businesses.  Pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreement, among other things, EchoStar transferred to us certain assets and liabilities of the EchoStar technologies and EchoStar broadcasting businesses. Pursuant to the Master Transaction Agreement, among other things, EchoStar transferred to DISH Network certain assets and liabilities of its EchoStar Satellite Services segment. In connection with the Share Exchange and the Master Transaction Agreement, DISH Network and EchoStar and certain of their respective subsidiaries entered into certain agreements covering, among other things, tax matters, employee matters, intellectual property matters and the provision of transitional services.  In addition, certain agreements that we had with EchoStar have terminated, and we entered into certain new agreements with EchoStar. We also may enter into additional agreements with EchoStar in the future. As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 and during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, none of these agreements with EchoStar had a material impact on our financial condition or our results of operations.

Related Party Transactions with DISH Network

As a result of the Master Transaction Agreement in September 2019, certain agreements that we had with EchoStar were transferred to DISH Network. The following is a summary of the terms of our principal agreements with DISH Network that may have an impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

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(Unaudited)

“Cost of services”

During each of the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we incurred expenses of $56 million for satellite capacity leased from DISH Network and telemetry, tracking and control (“TT&C”) and other professional services provided to us by DISH Network. During each of the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we incurred expenses of $168 million for satellite capacity leased from DISH Network and TT&C and other professional services provided to us by DISH Network. As a result of the Master Transaction Agreement, DISH Network is now a supplier of the vast majority of our transponder capacity. These amounts are recorded in “Cost of services” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). The agreements pertaining to these expenses are discussed below.

Satellite Capacity Leased from DISH Network. On September 10, 2019, in connection with the Master Transaction Agreement DISH Network entered into with EchoStar on May 19, 2019, we began leasing satellite capacity on satellites owned or leased by DISH Network from a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network. See “Pay-TV Satellites” in Note 6 for further information. The term of each lease is set forth below:

● EchoStar X, XI and XIV. On March 1, 2014, we began leasing all available capacity from EchoStar on the EchoStar X, XI and XIV satellites. The term of each satellite capacity agreement generally terminates upon the earlier of: (i) the end-of-life of the satellite; (ii) the date the satellite fails; or (iii) a certain date, which depends upon, among other things, the estimated useful life of the satellite. We generally have the option to renew each satellite capacity agreement on a year-to-year basis through the end of the respective satellite’s life. There can be no assurance that any options to renew such agreements will be exercised. Pursuant to the Master Transaction Agreement, on September 10, 2019, the satellite capacity agreement we previously had with EchoStar for EchoStar X, XI and XIV was transferred to DISH Network and we began leasing satellite capacity on these satellites from a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network as of the same date.

● EchoStar XVI. In December 2009, we entered into a transponder service agreement with EchoStar to lease all of the capacity on EchoStar XVI, a DBS satellite, after its service commencement date. EchoStar XVI was launched in November 2012 to replace EchoStar XV at the 61.5 degree orbital location and is currently in service. Effective December 21, 2012, we and EchoStar amended the transponder service agreement to, among other things, change the initial term to generally expire upon the earlier of: (i) the end-of-life or replacement of the satellite; (ii) the date the satellite fails; (iii) the date the transponder(s) on which service is being provided under the agreement fails; or (iv) four years following the actual service commencement date. In July 2016, we and EchoStar amended the transponder service agreement to, among other things, extend the initial term by one additional year and to reduce the term of the first renewal option by one year. Prior to expiration of the initial term, we had the option to renew for an additional five-year period. In May 2017, we exercised our first renewal option for an additional five-year period ending in January 2023. We also have the option to renew for an additional five-year period prior to expiration of the first renewal period in January 2023. There can be no assurance that the option to renew this agreement will be exercised. During 2018, we and EchoStar further amended the agreement to, among other things, allow us to place and use certain satellites at the 61.5 degree orbital location. Pursuant to the Master Transaction Agreement, on September 10, 2019, the transponder service agreement we previously had with EchoStar for EchoStar XVI was transferred to DISH Network and we began receiving transponder services from a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network as of the same date.

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(Unaudited)

Nimiq 5 Agreement. During 2009, EchoStar entered into a fifteen-year satellite service agreement with Telesat Canada (“Telesat”) to receive service on all 32 DBS transponders on the Nimiq 5 satellite at the 72.7 degree orbital location (the “Telesat Transponder Agreement”). During 2009, EchoStar also entered into a satellite service agreement (the “DISH Nimiq 5 Agreement”) with us, pursuant to which we received service from EchoStar on all 32 of the DBS transponders covered by the Telesat Transponder Agreement.

Under the terms of the DISH Nimiq 5 Agreement, we made certain monthly payments to EchoStar that commenced in 2009 when the Nimiq 5 satellite was placed into service and continued through the service term, which expired ten years following the date the Nimiq 5 satellite was placed into service. Upon expiration of the initial term, we had the option to renew on a year-to-year basis through the end-of-life of the Nimiq 5 satellite. Pursuant to the Master Transaction Agreement, on September 10, 2019, the Telesat Transponder Agreement was transferred to DISH Network and we began receiving transponder services on the Nimiq 5 satellite from a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network as of the same date. We have exercised our option to renew for a one-year period through September 2021. The Nimiq 5 satellite lease has been accounted for as a finance lease since September 2019. Accordingly, expenses related to this lease are no longer recorded in “Cost of services,” but rather in “Depreciation and amortization” and “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss).  During each of the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we recorded $9 million of “Depreciation and amortization expense” and $3 million of “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized” related to Nimiq 5. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we recorded $26 million and $26 million, respectively, of “Depreciation and amortization expense” and $9 million and $11 million of “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized,” respectively, related to Nimiq 5.

QuetzSat-1 Lease Agreement. During 2008, EchoStar entered into a ten-year satellite service agreement with SES Latin America S.A. (“SES”), which provided, among other things, for the provision by SES to EchoStar of service on 32 DBS transponders on the QuetzSat-1 satellite (“SES Transponder Agreement”). During 2008, EchoStar also entered into a transponder service agreement (“QuetzSat-1 Transponder Agreement”) with us pursuant to which we received service from EchoStar on 24 DBS transponders. QuetzSat-1 was launched on September 29, 2011 and was placed into service during the fourth quarter of 2011 at the 67.1 degree orbital location. In January 2013, QuetzSat-1 was moved to the 77 degree orbital location and we commenced commercial operations at that location in February 2013.

Unless earlier terminated under the terms and conditions of the SES Transponder Agreement and QuetzSat-1 Transponder Agreement, the initial service term will expire in November 2021. Upon expiration of the initial term, DISH Network has the option to renew the SES Transponder Agreement on a year-to-year basis through the end-of-life of the QuetzSat-1 satellite. There can be no assurance that any options to renew the SES Transponder Agreement will be exercised. Pursuant to the Master Transaction Agreement, on September 10, 2019, the SES Transponder Agreement was transferred to DISH Network and we began receiving transponder services on QuetzSat-1 from a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network as of the same date. Our lease arrangement with DISH Network expires in November 2021.

EchoStar XVIII Satellite. The EchoStar XVIII satellite was launched on June 18, 2016 and became operational as an in-orbit spare at the 61.5 degree orbital location during the third quarter of 2016, at which time we began leasing it from a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network. On May 14, 2019, we and DOLLC II entered into an agreement to sell our interests in the LMDS and MVDDS licenses in exchange for the EchoStar XVIII satellite.

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DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

TT&C Agreement. Effective January 1, 2012, we entered into a TT&C agreement pursuant to which we receive TT&C services from EchoStar for certain satellites (the “TT&C Agreement”). In February 2018, we amended the TT&C Agreement to, among other things, extend the term for one-year with four automatic one-year renewal periods. The fees for services provided under the TT&C Agreement are calculated at either: (i) a fixed fee; or (ii) cost plus a fixed margin, which will vary depending on the nature of the services provided. We and EchoStar are able to terminate the TT&C Agreement for any reason upon 12 months’ notice. On May 19, 2019, DISH Network entered into a Master Transaction Agreement pursuant to which, on September 10, 2019, the assets and employees that provide these services were transferred to DISH Network. We began receiving TT&C services from a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network as of the same date.

“Selling, general and administrative expenses”

During each of the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we incurred $2 million for selling, general and administrative expenses for services provided to us by DISH Network. During each of the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we incurred $5 million and $6 million, respectively, for selling, general and administrative expenses for services provided to us by DISH Network. These amounts are recorded in “Selling, general and administrative expenses” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). The agreements pertaining to these expenses are discussed below.

Real Estate Lease Agreements. On September 10, 2019, in connection with the Master Transaction Agreement, we began leasing office space owned or leased by DISH Network from a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network. The term of each lease is set forth below:

● Santa Fe Lease Agreement. The lease for all of 5701 S. Santa Fe Dr. in Littleton, Colorado originally from EchoStar to us was for a period ending on December 31, 2018. In December 2018, we and EchoStar amended this lease to, among other things, extend the term thereof for one additional year until December 31, 2019. Pursuant to the Master Transaction Agreement, on September 10, 2019, this lease was transferred to DISH Network and we began leasing all of 5701 S. Santa Fe Dr. in Littleton, Colorado from a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network as of the same date. In December 2020, we and DISH Network amended this lease to, among other things, extend the term thereof for one additional year until December 31, 2021.

● Cheyenne Lease Agreement. The lease for certain space at 530 EchoStar Drive in Cheyenne, Wyoming is for a period ending on December 31, 2031.  In connection with the completion of the Share Exchange, EchoStar transferred ownership of a portion of this property to DISH Network, and, effective March 1, 2017, DISH Network and EchoStar amended this lease agreement to (i) terminate the lease of certain space at the portion of the property that was transferred to DISH Network and (ii) provide for the continued lease to us of certain space at the portion of the property that EchoStar retained. Pursuant to the Master Transaction Agreement, the portion of the property EchoStar retained was transferred to DISH Network, and on September 10, 2019, this lease was transferred to DISH Network and we began leasing certain space from a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network as of the same date.

Other Agreements – DISH Network

Broadband, Wireless and Other Operations. We provide certain administrative, call center, installation, marketing and other services to DISH Network’s broadband, wireless and other operations. During the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, the costs associated with these services was $26 million and $16 million, respectively. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, the costs associated with these services was $66 million and $55 million, respectively.

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DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

Related Party Transactions with NagraStar L.L.C.

We own a 50% interest in NagraStar, a joint venture that is our primary provider of encryption and related security systems intended to assure that only authorized customers have access to our programming. Certain payments related to NagraStar are recorded in “Cost of services” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). In addition, certain other payments are initially included in “Inventory” and are subsequently capitalized as “Property and equipment, net” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets or expensed as “Selling, general and administrative expenses” or “Cost of services” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) when the equipment is deployed. We record all payables in “Trade accounts payable” or “Other accrued expenses” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Our investment in NagraStar is accounted for using the equity method.

The table below summarizes our transactions with NagraStar:

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Purchases (including fees):
Purchases from NagraStar	$	11,451	$	14,073	$	35,124	$	41,424
	As of
	September 30,		December 31,
	2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Amounts Payable and Commitments:
Amounts payable to NagraStar	$	7,588	$	9,038
Commitments to NagraStar	$	5,980	$	3,260

Related Party Transactions with Dish Mexico

Dish Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. (“Dish Mexico”) is an entity that provides direct-to-home satellite services in Mexico, which is owned 49% by EchoStar. We provide certain broadcast services and certain satellite services to Dish Mexico, which are recorded in “Equipment sales and other revenue” on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss).

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DISH DBS CORPORATION

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Continued

(Unaudited)

The table below summarizes our transactions with Dish Mexico:

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Sales:
Uplink services	$	1,255	$	1,207	$	3,700	$	3,876
	As of
	September 30,		December 31,
	2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Amounts Receivable:
Amounts receivable from Dish Mexico	$	2,425	$	3,343

14. Subsequent Events
​

Subsequent to September 30, 2021, we sold certain assets and equity interests to DISH Network at fair value for approximately $65 million, which will be accounted for as entities under common control. Cash was received during the fourth quarter of 2021.

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Item 2.MANAGEMENT’S NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following management’s narrative analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with the condensed consolidated financial statements and notes to our financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. This management’s narrative analysis is intended to help provide an understanding of our financial condition, changes in financial condition and results of our operations and contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections about our industry, business and future financial results. Our actual results could differ materially from the results contemplated by these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” Furthermore, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and we expressly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Overview

We currently operate one business segment.

Our Pay-TV business strategy is to be the best provider of video services in the United States by providing products with the best technology, outstanding customer service, and great value. We offer pay-TV services under the DISH® brand and the SLING® brand (collectively “Pay-TV” services). The DISH branded pay-TV service consists of, among other things, FCC licenses authorizing us to use direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) and Fixed Satellite Service (“FSS”) spectrum, our owned and leased satellites, receiver systems, broadcast operations, a leased fiber optic network, in-home service and call center operations, and certain other assets utilized in our operations (“DISH TV”). We also design, develop and distribute receiver systems and provide digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and other services to third-party pay-TV providers. The SLING branded pay-TV services consist of, among other things, multichannel, live-linear streaming over-the-top (“OTT”) Internet-based domestic, international and Latino video programming services (“SLING TV”). We promote our Pay-TV services as providing our subscribers with a better “price-to-value” relationship than those available from other subscription television service providers. We market our SLING TV services to consumers who do not subscribe to traditional satellite and cable pay-TV services, as well as to current and recent traditional pay-TV subscribers who desire a lower cost alternative.

Recent Developments

COVID-19 Update

A novel strain of coronavirus which causes the disease COVID-19 has resulted in a worldwide pandemic.  COVID-19 has surfaced in nearly all regions around the world and resulted in global travel restrictions and business slowdowns or shutdowns.  The COVID-19 pandemic has also created unanticipated circumstances and uncertainty, disruption, and significant volatility in the economic environment generally, which have adversely affected, and may continue to adversely affect, our business operations and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.  As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many of our subscribers are impacted by recommendations and/or mandates from federal, state, and local authorities to practice social distancing, to refrain from gathering in groups and, in some areas, to refrain from non-essential movements outside of their homes. While certain government regulations and/or mandates have eased, or are expected to ease in 2021 and COVID-19 vaccines have become broadly available in certain areas, governmental authorities are continuing to monitor the situation and take various actions in an effort to slow or prevent an increase in the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 continues to impact our business during 2021, in particular in the following areas:

● In response to the outbreak and business disruption, first and foremost, we have prioritized the health and safety of our employees. We have implemented increased health and safety practices including, increased use of personal protective equipment for employees to protect them and our subscribers, and temperature checks at certain locations.

● Our DISH TV business has been and may be further impacted by: (i) government recommendations and/or mandates for commercial establishments to operate at reduced capacity; and (ii) reduced in person selling opportunities due to subscriber preferences and actions as well as government restrictions.

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● Our supply chain has been impacted by COVID-19, and there have been and could be additional significant and unanticipated interruptions and/or delays in the supply of materials and/or equipment across our supply chain, due to, among other things, surges in COVID-19.  Moreover, the recent surges in COVID-19 cases in areas outside the United States and the stringent lockdowns implemented in response to such surges are causing interruptions and/or delays that are adversely impacting our business. In addition, during 2021 there have been worldwide interruptions and delays in the supply of electronic components including semi-conductors, which have negatively impacted our ability to obtain set-top boxes. Furthermore, we may not be able to diversify sources of supply in a timely manner to mitigate these interruptions and/or delays. These interruptions and/or delays in our supply chain could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We continue to monitor the evolving situation and guidance from international and domestic authorities, including federal, state and local public health agencies and may take additional actions based on their recommendations. In these circumstances, there may be developments beyond our control requiring us to adjust our operating plan. As such, given the dynamic nature of this situation, we cannot reasonably estimate the impacts of COVID-19 on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows in the future.

Pay-TV

We offer Pay-TV services under the DISH^® brand and the SLING^® brand. As of September 30, 2021, we had 10.980 million Pay-TV subscribers in the United States, including 8.424 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.556 million SLING TV subscribers. We promote our Pay-TV services as providing our subscribers with better service, technology and value than those available from other subscription television service providers. We offer a wide selection of video services under the DISH TV brand, with access to hundreds of channels depending on the level of subscription. Our standard programming packages generally include programming provided by national and regional cable networks. We also offer programming packages that include local broadcast networks, specialty sports channels, premium movie channels and Latino and international programming. We market our SLING TV services to consumers who do not subscribe to traditional satellite and cable pay-TV services, as well as to current and recent traditional pay-TV subscribers who desire a lower cost alternative. Our SLING TV services require an Internet connection and are available on multiple streaming-capable devices including streaming media devices, TVs, tablets, computers, game consoles and phones. We offer SLING domestic, SLING International, and SLING Latino video programming services.

Trends

Competition

Competition has intensified in recent years as the pay-TV industry has matured. 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. We face substantial competition from established pay-TV providers and broadband service providers and increasing competition from companies providing/facilitating the delivery of video content via the Internet to computers, televisions, and other streaming and mobile devices, including wireless service providers. In recent years, industry consolidation and convergence has created competitors with greater scale and multiple product/service offerings. These developments, among others, have contributed to intense and increasing competition, and we expect such competition to continue. We incur significant costs to retain our existing DISH TV subscribers, mostly as a result of upgrading their equipment to next generation receivers, primarily including our Hopper receivers, and by providing retention credits. Our DISH TV subscriber retention costs may vary significantly from period to period.

Many of our competitors have been especially aggressive by offering discounted programming and services for both new and existing subscribers, including bundled offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other promotional offers. Certain competitors have been able to subsidize the price of video services with the price of broadband and/or wireless services.

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Our Pay-TV services also face increased competition from programmers and other companies who distribute video directly to consumers over the Internet, as well as traditional satellite television providers, cable companies and large telecommunications companies that are increasing their Internet-based video offerings. We also face competition from providers of video content, many of which are providers of our programming content, that distribute content over the Internet including services with live-linear television programming, as well as single programmer offerings and offerings of large libraries of on-demand content, including in certain cases original content. These providers include, among others, Netflix, Hulu, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Disney, Verizon, AT&T, ViacomCBS, STARZ, Peacock, Fubo and Philo.

Significant changes in consumer behavior with regard to the means by which consumers obtain video entertainment and information in response to digital media competition could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or otherwise disrupt our business. In particular, consumers have shown increased interest in viewing certain video programming in any place, at any time and/or on any broadband-connected device they choose. Online content providers may cause our subscribers to disconnect our DISH TV services (“cord cutting”), downgrade to smaller, less expensive programming packages (“cord shaving”) or elect to purchase through these online content providers a certain portion of the services that they would have historically purchased from us, such as pay per view movies.

Mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances among cable television providers, telecommunications companies, programming providers and others may result in, among other things, greater scale and financial leverage and increase the availability of offerings from providers capable of bundling video, broadband and/or wireless services in competition with our services and may exacerbate the risks described in our public filings. These transactions may affect us adversely by, among other things, making it more difficult for us to obtain access to certain programming networks on nondiscriminatory and fair terms, or at all.

Our Pay-TV subscriber base has been declining due to, among other things, the factors described above. There can be no assurance that our Pay-TV subscriber base will not continue to decline and that the pace of such decline will not accelerate. As our Pay-TV subscriber base continues to decline, it could have a material adverse long-term effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.

Programming

Our ability to compete successfully will depend, among other things, on our ability to continue to obtain desirable programming and deliver it to our subscribers at competitive prices. Programming costs represent a large percentage of our “Cost of services” and the largest component of our total expense. We expect these costs to continue to increase due to contractual price increases and the renewal of long-term programming contracts on less favorable pricing terms and certain programming costs are rising at a much faster rate than wages or inflation. In particular, the rates we are charged for retransmitting local broadcast channels have been increasing substantially and may exceed our ability to increase our prices to our subscribers. Going forward, our margins may face pressure if we are unable to renew our long-term programming contracts on acceptable pricing and other economic terms or if we are unable to pass these increased programming costs on to our subscribers.

Increases in programming costs have caused us to increase the rates that we charge to our subscribers, which could in turn cause our existing Pay-TV subscribers to disconnect our service or cause potential new Pay-TV subscribers to choose not to subscribe to our service. Additionally, even if our subscribers do not disconnect our services, they may purchase through new and existing online content providers a certain portion of the services that they would have historically purchased from us, such as pay-per-view movies.

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Furthermore, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate may be negatively impacted if we are unable to renew our long-term programming carriage contracts before they expire. In the past, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate have been negatively impacted as a result of programming interruptions and threatened programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of programming carriage contracts with content providers. On October 6, 2021, Tegna Inc. (“Tegna”) removed its channels from our DISH TV programming lineup in 53 markets, after we and Tegna were unable to negotiate the terms and conditions of a new programming carriage contract. As a result, there can be no assurance that the removal of these or other channels will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or otherwise disrupt our business. In addition, we cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate resulting from additional programming interruptions or threatened programming interruptions that may occur in the future. As a result, we may at times suffer from periods of lower net Pay-TV subscriber additions or higher net Pay-TV subscriber losses.

Operational Liquidity

We make general investments in property such as satellites, set-top boxes, information technology and facilities that support our Pay-TV business. Moreover, since we are a subscriber-based company, we also make subscriber-specific investments to acquire new subscribers and retain existing subscribers. While the general investments may be deferred without impacting the business in the short-term, the subscriber-specific investments are less discretionary. Our overall objective is to generate sufficient cash flow over the life of each subscriber to provide an adequate return against the upfront investment. Once the upfront investment has been made for each subscriber, the subsequent cash flow is generally positive, but there can be no assurances that over time we will recoup or earn a return on the upfront investment.

There are a number of factors that impact our future cash flow compared to the cash flow we generate at a given point in time. The first factor is our churn rate and how successful we are at retaining our current subscribers. To the extent we lose subscribers from our existing base, the positive cash flow from that base is correspondingly reduced. The second factor is how successful we are at maintaining our service margins. To the extent our “Cost of services” grow faster than our “Service revenue,” the amount of cash flow that is generated per existing subscriber is reduced. Our Pay-TV service margins have been reduced by, among other things, a shift to lower priced Pay-TV programming packages and higher programming costs. The third factor is the rate at which we acquire new subscribers. The faster we acquire new subscribers, the more our positive ongoing cash flow from existing subscribers is offset by the negative upfront cash flow associated with acquiring new subscribers. Conversely, the slower we acquire subscribers, the more our operating cash flow is enhanced in that period. Finally, our future cash flow is impacted by the rate at which we make general investments, incur litigation expense, and any cash flow from financing activities. Declines in our Pay-TV subscriber base and subscriber-related margins continue to negatively impact our cash flow, and there can be no assurances that these declines will not continue.

Availability of Credit and Effect on Liquidity

The ability to raise capital has generally existed for us despite economic weakness and uncertainty. While modest fluctuations in the cost of capital will not likely impact our current operational plans, significant fluctuations could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Debt Issuances and Maturity

On May 24, 2021, we issued $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of our 5 1/8% Senior Notes due June 1, 2029. Interest accrues at an annual rate of 5 1/8% and is payable semi-annually in cash, in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year, commencing on December 1, 2021.

Our 6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021 with an aggregate principal balance of $2.0 billion were repurchased or redeemed as of June 1, 2021.

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Our 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022 with an aggregate principal balance of $2.0 billion mature on July 15, 2022. We expect to fund this obligation from cash and marketable investment securities balances at that time.  But, depending on market conditions, we may refinance this obligation in whole or in part.

Future Liquidity

We have made cash distributions to partially finance the development of DISH Network’s 5G Network Deployment and retail wireless business to date and may make additional funds available to DISH Network in the form of cash distributions or loans to finance, in whole or in part, DISH Network’s future efforts. We may need to raise significant additional capital in the future, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to among other things, make additional cash distributions to DISH Network, continue investing in our business and to pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions. See Note 9 in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.

Covenants and Restrictions Related to our Long-Term Debt

We are subject to the covenants and restrictions set forth in the indentures related to our long-term debt. In particular, the indentures related to our outstanding senior notes contain restrictive covenants that, among other things, impose limitations on our ability to: (i) incur additional indebtedness; (ii) enter into sale and leaseback transactions; (iii) pay dividends or make distributions on our capital stock or repurchase our capital stock; (iv) make certain investments; (v) create liens; (vi) enter into certain transactions with affiliates; (vii) merge or consolidate with another company; and (viii) transfer or sell assets. Should we fail to comply with these covenants, all or a portion of the debt under the senior notes could become immediately payable. The senior notes also provide that the debt may be required to be prepaid if certain change-in-control events occur. As of the date of filing of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we were in compliance with the covenants and restrictions related to our respective long-term debt.

EXPLANATION OF KEY METRICS AND OTHER ITEMS

Service revenue. “Service revenue” consists principally of Pay-TV subscriber revenue. Certain of the amounts included in “Service revenue” are not recurring on a monthly basis.

Equipment sales and other revenue. “Equipment sales and other revenue” principally includes the non-subsidized sales of Pay-TV equipment.

Cost of services. “Cost of services” principally include Pay-TV programming expenses and other operating costs related to our Pay-TV services.

Cost of sales - equipment and other. “Cost of sales – equipment and other” principally includes the cost of the non-subsidized sales of Pay-TV equipment. Costs are generally recognized as products are delivered to customers and the related revenue is recognized.

Selling, general and administrative expenses. “Selling, general and administrative expenses” consists primarily of direct sales costs, advertising, third-party commissions related to the acquisition of subscribers, costs related to the installation of our new Pay-TV subscribers, the cost of subsidized sales of Pay-TV equipment for new subscribers and employee-related costs associated with administrative services such as legal, information systems, and accounting and finance.

Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized. “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized” primarily includes interest expense associated with our long-term debt (net of capitalized interest), prepayment premiums, amortization of debt discounts and debt issuance costs associated with our long-term debt, and interest expense associated with our finance lease obligations.

Other, net. The main components of “Other, net” are gains and losses realized on the sale of investments, impairment of marketable and non-marketable investment securities, unrealized gains and losses from changes in fair value of certain marketable investment securities and equity in earnings and losses of our affiliates.

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Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”). EBITDA is defined as “Net income (loss)” plus “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized” and net of “Interest income,” “Income tax (provision) benefit, net” and “Depreciation and amortization.” This “non-GAAP measure” is reconciled to “Net income (loss)” in our discussion of “Results of Operations” below.

Operating income before depreciation and amortization (“OIBDA”).  OIBDA is defined as “Operating income (loss)” plus “Depreciation and amortization.”  This “non-GAAP measure” is reconciled to “Operating income (loss)” in our discussion of “Results of Operations” below.

DISH TV subscribers. We include customers obtained through direct sales, independent third-party retailers and other independent third-party distribution relationships in our DISH TV subscriber count. We also provide DISH TV services to hotels, motels and other commercial accounts. For certain of these commercial accounts, we divide our total revenue for these commercial accounts by $34.99, and include the resulting number, which is substantially smaller than the actual number of commercial units served, in our DISH TV subscriber count.

SLING TV subscribers. We include customers obtained through direct sales and third-party marketing agreements in our SLING TV subscriber count. SLING TV subscribers are recorded net of disconnects. SLING TV customers receiving service for no charge, under certain new subscriber promotions, are excluded from our SLING TV subscriber count. For customers who subscribe to multiple SLING TV packages, each customer is only counted as one SLING TV subscriber.

Pay-TV subscribers. Our Pay-TV subscriber count includes all DISH TV and SLING TV subscribers discussed above. For customers who subscribe to both our DISH TV services and our SLING TV services, each subscription is counted as a separate Pay-TV subscriber.

Pay-TV average monthly revenue per subscriber (“Pay-TV ARPU”). We are not aware of any uniform standards for calculating ARPU and believe presentations of ARPU may not be calculated consistently by other companies in the same or similar businesses. We calculate Pay-TV average monthly revenue per Pay-TV subscriber, or Pay-TV ARPU, by dividing average monthly Pay-TV “Service revenue,” for the period by our average number of Pay-TV subscribers for the period. The average number of Pay-TV subscribers is calculated for the period by adding the average number of Pay-TV subscribers for each month and dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of Pay-TV subscribers for each month is calculated by adding the beginning and ending Pay-TV subscribers for the month and dividing by two. SLING TV subscribers on average purchase lower priced programming services than DISH TV subscribers, and therefore, as SLING TV subscribers increase as a percentage of total Pay-TV subscribers, it has had a negative impact on Pay-TV ARPU.

DISH TV average monthly subscriber churn rate (“DISH TV churn rate”). We are not aware of any uniform standards for calculating subscriber churn rate and believe presentations of subscriber churn rates may not be calculated consistently by different companies in the same or similar businesses. We calculate DISH TV churn rate for any period by dividing the number of DISH TV subscribers who terminated service during the period by the average number of DISH TV subscribers for the same period, and further dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of DISH TV subscribers is calculated for the period by adding the average number of DISH TV subscribers for each month and dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of DISH TV subscribers for each month is calculated by adding the beginning and ending DISH TV subscribers for the month and dividing by two.

DISH TV SAC. Subscriber acquisition cost measures are commonly used by those evaluating traditional companies in the pay-TV industry.  We are not aware of any uniform standards for calculating the “average subscriber acquisition costs per new DISH TV subscriber activation,” or DISH TV SAC, and we believe presentations of pay-TV SAC may not be calculated consistently by different companies in the same or similar businesses.  Our DISH TV SAC is calculated using all costs of acquiring DISH TV subscribers (e.g., subsidized equipment, advertising, installation, commissions and direct sales, etc.), which are included in “Selling, general and administrative expenses,” plus capitalized payments made under certain sales incentive programs and the value of equipment capitalized under our lease program for new DISH TV subscribers, divided by gross new DISH TV subscriber activations. We include all new DISH TV subscribers in our calculation, including DISH TV subscribers added with little or no subscriber acquisition costs.

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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Three Months Ended September 30, 2021 Compared to the Three Months Ended September 30, 2020.

	For the Three Months Ended
	September 30,						Variance
Statements of Operations Data	2021			2020			Amount			%
	(In thousands)
Revenue:
Service revenue	$	3,151,144		$	3,109,479		$	41,665		1.3
Equipment sales and other revenue		25,145			41,550			(16,405)		(39.5)
Total revenue		3,176,289			3,151,029			25,260		0.8
Costs and Expenses:
Cost of services		1,984,349			1,849,824			134,525		7.3
% of Service revenue		63.0	%		59.5	%
Cost of sales - equipment and other		23,982			28,366			(4,384)		(15.5)
Selling, general and administrative expenses		392,605			379,167			13,438		3.5
% of Total revenue		12.4	%		12.0	%
Depreciation and amortization		109,919			125,016			(15,097)		(12.1)
Total costs and expenses		2,510,855			2,382,373			128,482		5.4
Operating income (loss)		665,434			768,656			(103,222)		(13.4)
Other Income (Expense):
Interest income		943			652			291		44.6
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized		(159,783)			(171,246)			11,463		6.7
Other, net		331			(91)			422		*
Total other income (expense)		(158,509)			(170,685)			12,176		7.1
Income (loss) before income taxes		506,925			597,971			(91,046)		(15.2)
Income tax (provision) benefit, net		(120,296)			(148,098)			27,802		18.8
Effective tax rate		23.7	%		24.8	%
Net income (loss)	$	386,629		$	449,873		$	(63,244)		(14.1)
Other Data:
Pay-TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions) **		10.980			11.423			(0.443)		(3.9)
DISH TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions) **		8.424			8.965			(0.541)		(6.0)
SLING TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)		2.556			2.458			0.098		4.0
Pay-TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)		(0.013)			0.116			(0.129)		*
DISH TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)		(0.130)			(0.087)			(0.043)		(49.4)
SLING TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)		0.117			0.203			(0.086)		(42.4)
Pay-TV ARPU	$	96.31		$	91.79		$	4.52		4.9
DISH TV subscriber additions, gross (in millions)		0.224			0.292			(0.068)		(23.3)
DISH TV churn rate		1.39	%		1.41	%		(0.02)	%	(1.4)
DISH TV SAC	$	824		$	864		$	(40)		(4.6)
EBITDA	$	775,684		$	893,581		$	(117,897)		(13.2)
OIBDA	$	775,353		$	893,672		$	(118,319)		(13.2)

* Percentage is not meaningful.

**During the first quarter of 2020, we removed approximately 250,000 subscribers representing commercial accounts impacted by COVID-19 from our ending Pay-TV subscriber count.  During the second, third and fourth quarters of 2020, 45,000, 35,000 and zero, respectively, of these subscribers came off pause or had temporary rate relief end and were added to our Pay-TV subscriber count during the periods they returned in 2020, and 17,000, 5,000 and 47,000, respectively, of these subscribers disconnected. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the remaining commercial accounts representing 101,000 subscribers disconnected. The effect of the removal of the 250,000 subscribers, the addition of these 80,000 subscribers and disconnect of 170,000 subscribers was excluded from the calculation of our gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations, net Pay-TV subscriber additions/losses and Pay-TV churn rate.  See “Results of Operations – Pay-TV subscribers” for further information.

46

Pay-TV Subscribers

DISH TV subscribers. We lost approximately 130,000 net DISH TV subscribers during the three months ended September 30, 2021 compared to the loss of approximately 87,000 net DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2020. This increase in net DISH TV subscriber losses primarily resulted from lower gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, partially offset by a lower DISH TV churn rate.

SLING TV subscribers. We added approximately 117,000 net SLING TV subscribers during the three months ended September 30, 2021 compared to the addition of approximately 203,000 net SLING TV subscribers during the same period in 2020. The decrease in net SLING TV subscriber additions was primarily related to higher subscriber disconnects, partially offset by higher Sling TV subscriber activations. We continue to experience increased competition, including competition from other subscription video on-demand and live-linear OTT service providers. The three months ended September 30, 2020 was negatively impacted by delays and cancellations of sporting events as a result of COVID-19.

DISH TV subscribers, gross. During the three months ended September 30, 2021, we activated approximately 224,000 gross new DISH TV subscribers compared to approximately 292,000 gross new DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2020, a decrease of 23.3%. This decrease in our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations was primarily related to the lack of demand, as well as increased competitive pressures, including aggressive short term introductory pricing and bundled offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers, live-linear OTT service providers, direct-to-consumer offerings by certain of our programmers, and channel removals. In addition, our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations continue to be negatively impacted by stricter customer acquisition policies for our DISH TV subscribers, including an emphasis on acquiring higher quality subscribers. Furthermore, we continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 and cannot predict with certainty the impact to our gross new DISH TV subscribers as a result of, among other things, lower discretionary spending and reduced ability to perform our in-home service operations due to the impact of social distancing.

DISH TV churn rate. Our DISH TV churn rate for the three months ended September 30, 2021 was 1.39% compared to 1.41% for the same period in 2020. Our DISH TV churn rate for the three months ended September 30, 2021 continues to be positively impacted by COVID-19 and the resulting increased consumption of our Pay-TV services. We continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 and cannot predict with certainty the impact to our DISH TV churn rate as a result of, among other things, lower discretionary spending and reduced ability to perform our in-home service operations due to the impact of social distancing. Our DISH TV churn rate was positively impacted by our emphasis on acquiring and retaining higher quality subscribers. Our DISH TV churn rate continues to be adversely impacted by external factors, such as, among other things, increased competitive pressures, including aggressive marketing, bundled discount offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers, as well as cord cutting. Our DISH TV churn rate is also impacted by internal factors, such as, among other things, our ability to consistently provide outstanding customer service, price increases, programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of certain programming carriage contracts, our ability to control piracy and other forms of fraud and the level of our retention efforts.

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Beginning in March 2020, several federal, state, and local government agencies implemented recommendations, guidelines, and orders regarding “social distancing” in an attempt to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19. As a result of these actions, many bars, restaurants, and other commercial establishments were ordered to and in certain cases continue to be recommended and/or ordered to suspend all non-essential “in-person” business operations and/or operate at reduced capacity. In addition, airlines and hotels significantly reduced operations as a result of government actions and/or related lower consumer demand. In an effort to avoid charging commercial customers for services in their establishments which were no longer open to the public, we paused service or provided temporary rate relief for certain of those commercial accounts. For certain commercial accounts, each subscription is counted as one Pay-TV subscriber. For other commercial accounts, as discussed above, we divide our total revenue for these commercial accounts by $34.99, and include the resulting number, which is substantially smaller than the actual number of commercial units served, in our Pay-TV subscriber count. During the first quarter of 2020, we removed 250,000 subscribers from our ending Pay-TV subscriber count for commercial accounts we placed on pause, or received reduced revenue, or for which we anticipate the account to disconnect due to COVID-19. During the second, third and fourth quarters of 2020, 45,000, 35,000 and zero, respectively, of these subscribers came off pause or had temporary rate relief end and 17,000, 5,000 and 47,000, respectively, of these subscribers disconnected. We did not incur any significant expenses in connection with the return of the 80,000 commercial accounts and accordingly, those commercial accounts were added to our ending subscriber count during the periods they returned in 2020 and were not recorded as gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations. During the first quarter of 2021, the remaining commercial accounts representing 101,000 subscribers disconnected.

We cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV subscriber churn rate resulting from programming interruptions or threatened programming interruptions that may occur in the future. As a result, we may at times suffer from periods of lower net Pay-TV subscriber additions or higher net Pay-TV subscriber losses.

We have not always met our own standards for performing high-quality installations, effectively resolving subscriber issues when they arise, answering subscriber calls in an acceptable timeframe, effectively communicating with our subscriber base, reducing calls driven by the complexity of our business, improving the reliability of certain systems and subscriber equipment and aligning the interests of certain independent third-party retailers and installers to provide high-quality service. Most of these factors have affected both gross new DISH TV subscriber activations as well as DISH TV subscriber churn rate. Our future gross new DISH TV subscriber activations and our DISH TV subscriber churn rate may be negatively impacted by these factors, which could in turn adversely affect our revenue.

Service revenue. “Service revenue” totaled $3.151 billion for the three months ended September 30, 2021, an increase of $42 million or 1.3% compared to the same period in 2020. The increase in “Service revenue” compared to the same period in 2020 was primarily related to an increase in Pay-TV ARPU, discussed below, partially offset by a lower average Pay-TV subscriber base.

Pay-TV ARPU. Pay-TV ARPU was $96.31 during the three months ended September 30, 2021 versus $91.79 during the same period in 2020. The $4.52 or 4.9% increase in Pay-TV ARPU was primarily attributable to the DISH TV programming package price increases in the first quarter of 2021 and 2020, the SLING TV programming package price increases in the first quarter of 2021 and 2020, partially offset by an increase in SLING TV subscribers as a percentage of our total Pay-TV subscriber base. SLING TV subscribers on average purchase lower priced programming services than DISH TV subscribers, and therefore, the increase in SLING TV subscribers as a percentage of our total Pay-TV subscriber base had a negative impact on Pay-TV ARPU.

Cost of services. “Cost of services” totaled $1.984 billion during the three months ended September 30, 2021, an increase of $135 million or 7.3% compared to the same period in 2020. The increase in “Cost of services” was primarily attributable to higher programming costs per subscriber, partially offset by a lower average Pay-TV subscriber base. Programming costs per subscriber increased during the three months ended September 30, 2021 due to rate increases in certain of our programming contracts, including the renewal of certain contracts at higher rates, particularly for local broadcast channels. Furthermore, programming costs per subscriber were lower during the three months ended September 30, 2020 due to multiple one-time programming adjustments. “Cost of services” represented 63.0% and 59.5% of “Service revenue” during the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

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In the normal course of business, we enter into contracts to purchase programming content in which our payment obligations are generally contingent on the number of Pay-TV subscribers to whom we provide the respective content. Our “Cost of services” have and will continue to face further upward pressure from price increases and the renewal of long-term programming contracts on less favorable pricing terms. In addition, our programming expenses will increase to the extent we are successful in growing our Pay-TV subscriber base.

Selling, general and administrative expenses. “Selling, general and administrative expenses” totaled $393 million during the three months ended September 30, 2021, a $13 million or 3.5% increase compared to the same period in 2020. This change was primarily driven by an increase costs to support Pay-TV.

DISH TV SAC. DISH TV SAC was $824 during the three months ended September 30, 2021 compared to $864 during the same period in 2020, a decrease of $40 or 4.6%. This change was primarily attributable to a decrease in hardware costs per activation and higher commercial additions compared to the same period in 2020, partially offset by an increase in advertising costs per subscriber.  The decrease in hardware costs per activation primarily resulted from lower average costs per receiver and a higher percentage of remanufactured receivers being activated on new subscriber accounts. Commercial activations historically have lower DISH TV SAC than residential activations, and therefore the increase in commercial activations have a positive impact on DISH TV SAC.

During the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, the amount of equipment capitalized under our lease program for new DISH TV subscribers totaled $16 million and $49 million, respectively. This decrease in capital expenditures primarily resulted from a decrease in gross new DISH TV subscriber activations and a higher percentage of remanufactured receivers being activated on new subscriber accounts.

To remain competitive, we upgrade or replace subscriber equipment periodically as technology changes, and the costs associated with these upgrades may be substantial. To the extent technological changes render a portion of our existing equipment obsolete, we would be unable to redeploy all returned equipment and consequently would realize less benefit from the DISH TV SAC reduction associated with redeployment of that returned lease equipment.

Our “DISH TV SAC” may materially increase in the future to the extent that we, among other things, transition to newer technologies, introduce more aggressive promotions, or provide greater equipment subsidies.

Income tax (provision) benefit, net. Our income tax provision was $120 million during the three months ended September 30, 2021, a decrease of $28 million compared to the same period in 2020. The decrease in the provision was primarily related to a decrease in “Income (loss) before income taxes” and a decrease in our effective tax rate.

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Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021 Compared to the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020.

	For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						Variance
Statements of Operations Data	2021			2020			Amount			%
	(In thousands)
Revenue:
Service revenue	$	9,465,241		$	9,357,713		$	107,528		1.1
Equipment sales and other revenue		85,455			109,629			(24,174)		(22.1)
Total revenue		9,550,696			9,467,342			83,354		0.9
Costs and Expenses:
Cost of services		5,892,809			5,911,995			(19,186)		(0.3)
% of Service revenue		62.3	%		63.2	%
Cost of sales - equipment and other		65,159			82,840			(17,681)		(21.3)
Selling, general and administrative expenses		1,057,739			1,149,782			(92,043)		(8.0)
% of Total revenue		11.1	%		12.1	%
Depreciation and amortization		336,552			382,970			(46,418)		(12.1)
Total costs and expenses		7,352,259			7,527,587			(175,328)		(2.3)
Operating income (loss)		2,198,437			1,939,755			258,682		13.3
Other Income (Expense):
Interest income		2,751			2,614			137		5.2
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized		(495,971)			(517,633)			21,662		4.2
Other, net		(1,464)			702			(2,166)		*
Total other income (expense)		(494,684)			(514,317)			19,633		3.8
Income (loss) before income taxes		1,703,753			1,425,438			278,315		19.5
Income tax (provision) benefit, net		(415,854)			(356,432)			(59,422)		(16.7)
Effective tax rate		24.4	%		25.0	%
Net income (loss)	$	1,287,899		$	1,069,006		$	218,893		20.5
Other Data:
Pay-TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions) **		10.980			11.423			(0.443)		(3.9)
DISH TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions) **		8.424			8.965			(0.541)		(6.0)
SLING TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)		2.556			2.458			0.098		4.0
Pay-TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)		(0.310)			(0.393)			0.083		21.1
DISH TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)		(0.392)			(0.259)			(0.133)		(51.4)
SLING TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)		0.082			(0.134)			0.216		*
Pay-TV ARPU	$	95.41		$	90.88		$	4.53		5.0
DISH TV subscriber additions, gross (in millions)		0.635			0.859			(0.224)		(26.1)
DISH TV churn rate		1.32	%		1.36	%		(0.04)	%	(2.9)
DISH TV SAC	$	834		$	854		$	(20)		(2.3)
EBITDA	$	2,533,525		$	2,323,427		$	210,098		9.0
OIBDA	$	2,534,989		$	2,322,725		$	212,264		9.1

* Percentage is not meaningful.

**During the first quarter of 2020, we removed approximately 250,000 subscribers representing commercial accounts impacted by COVID-19 from our ending Pay-TV subscriber count.  During the second, third and fourth quarters of 2020, 45,000, 35,000 and zero, respectively, of these subscribers came off pause or had temporary rate relief end and were added to our Pay-TV subscriber count during the periods they returned in 2020, and 17,000, 5,000 and 47,000, respectively, of these subscribers disconnected. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the remaining commercial accounts representing 101,000 subscribers disconnected. The effect of the removal of the 250,000 subscribers, the addition of these 80,000 subscribers and disconnect of 170,000 subscribers was excluded from the calculation of our gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations, net Pay-TV subscriber additions/losses and Pay-TV churn rate.  See “Results of Operations – Pay-TV subscribers” for further information.

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Pay-TV Subscribers

DISH TV subscribers. We lost approximately 392,000 net DISH TV subscribers during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 compared to the loss of approximately 259,000 net DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2020. This increase in net DISH TV subscriber losses primarily resulted from lower gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, offset by a lower DISH TV churn rate.

SLING TV subscribers. We added approximately 82,000 net SLING TV subscribers during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 compared to the loss of approximately 134,000 net SLING TV subscribers during the same period in 2020. The increase in net SLING TV subscribers was primarily related to higher SLING TV subscriber activations. We continue to experience increased competition, including competition from other subscription video on-demand and live-linear OTT service providers. The nine months ended September 30, 2020 was negatively impacted by delays and cancellations of sporting events as a result of COVID-19.

DISH TV subscribers, gross. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we activated approximately 635,000 gross new DISH TV subscribers compared to approximately 859,000 gross new DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2020, a decrease of 26.1%. This decrease in our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations was primarily related to the lack of demand, as well as increased competitive pressures, including aggressive short term introductory pricing and bundled offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers, live-linear OTT service providers, direct-to-consumer offerings by certain of our programmers, and channel removals. In addition, our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations continue to be negatively impacted by stricter customer acquisition policies for our DISH TV subscribers, including an emphasis on acquiring higher quality subscribers. Furthermore, we continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 and cannot predict with certainty the impact to our gross new DISH TV subscribers as a result of, among other things, lower discretionary spending and reduced ability to perform our in-home service operations due to the impact of social distancing.

DISH TV churn rate. Our DISH TV churn rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was 1.32% compared to 1.36% for the same period in 2020. This decrease primarily resulted from the impact of COVID-19 beginning in the second quarter of 2020, including, among other things, the recommendations and/or mandates from federal, state, and local authorities that customers refrain from non-essential movements outside of their homes and the resulting increased consumption of our Pay-TV services. In addition, COVID-19 had an impact on competitive pressures due to, among other things, a reduction in customers’ willingness to allow competitors’ technicians into their homes. We continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 and cannot predict with certainty the impact to our DISH TV churn rate as a result of, among other things, lower discretionary spending and reduced ability to perform our in-home service operations due to the impact of social distancing. Our DISH TV churn rate was positively impacted by our emphasis on acquiring and retaining higher quality subscribers. Our DISH TV churn rate continues to be adversely impacted by external factors, such as, among other things, increased competitive pressures, including aggressive marketing, bundled discount offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers, as well as cord cutting. Our DISH TV churn rate is also impacted by internal factors, such as, among other things, our ability to consistently provide outstanding customer service, price increases, programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of certain programming carriage contracts, our ability to control piracy and other forms of fraud and the level of our retention efforts.

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Beginning in March 2020, several federal, state, and local government agencies implemented recommendations, guidelines, and orders regarding “social distancing” in an attempt to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19. As a result of these actions, many bars, restaurants, and other commercial establishments were ordered to and in certain cases continue to be recommended and/or ordered to suspend all non-essential “in-person” business operations and/or operate at reduced capacity. In addition, airlines and hotels significantly reduced operations as a result of government actions and/or related lower consumer demand. In an effort to avoid charging commercial customers for services in their establishments which were no longer open to the public, we paused service or provided temporary rate relief for certain of those commercial accounts. For certain commercial accounts, each subscription is counted as one Pay-TV subscriber. For other commercial accounts, as discussed above, we divide our total revenue for these commercial accounts by $34.99, and include the resulting number, which is substantially smaller than the actual number of commercial units served, in our Pay-TV subscriber count. During the first quarter of 2020, we removed 250,000 subscribers from our ending Pay-TV subscriber count for commercial accounts we placed on pause, or received reduced revenue, or for which we anticipate the account to disconnect due to COVID-19. During the second, third and fourth quarters of 2020, 45,000, 35,000 and zero, respectively, of these subscribers came off pause or had temporary rate relief end and 17,000, 5,000 and 47,000, respectively, of these subscribers disconnected. We did not incur any significant expenses in connection with the return of the 80,000 commercial accounts and accordingly, those commercial accounts were added to our ending subscriber count during the periods they returned in 2020 and were not recorded as gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations. During the first quarter of 2021, the remaining commercial accounts representing 101,000 subscribers disconnected.

Service revenue. “Service revenue” totaled $9.465 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, an increase of $108 million or 1.1% compared to the same period in 2020. The increase in “Service revenue” compared to the same period in 2020 was primarily related to an increase in Pay-TV ARPU, discussed below, partially offset by a lower average Pay-TV subscriber base.

Pay-TV ARPU. Pay-TV ARPU was $95.41 during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 versus $90.88 during the same period in 2020. The $4.53 or 5.0% increase in Pay-TV ARPU was primarily attributable to the DISH TV programming package price increases in the first quarter of 2021 and 2020, and the SLING TV programming package price increases in the first quarter of 2021 and 2020, partially offset by an increase in SLING TV subscribers as a percentage of our total Pay-TV subscriber base. SLING TV subscribers on average purchase lower priced programming services than DISH TV subscribers, and therefore, the increase in SLING TV subscribers as a percentage of our total Pay-TV subscriber base had a negative impact on Pay-TV ARPU. 

Cost of services. “Cost of services” totaled $5.893 billion during the nine months ended September 30, 2021, a decrease of $19 million or 0.3% compared to the same period in 2020. The decrease in “Cost of services” was primarily attributable to a lower average Pay-TV subscriber base and a decrease in variable and retention costs per subscriber, partially offset by higher programming costs per subscriber. Variable and retention costs per subscriber decreased due to, among other things, increased operational efficiencies, including a focused set of staffing reductions in 2020. Programming costs per subscriber increased during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 due to rate increases in certain of our programming contracts, including the renewal of certain contracts at higher rates, particularly for local broadcast channels. Furthermore, programming costs per subscriber were lower during the three months ended September 30, 2020 due to multiple one-time programming adjustments. “Cost of services” represented 62.3% and 63.2% of “Service revenue” during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Selling, general and administrative expenses. “Selling, general and administrative expenses” totaled $1.058 billion during the nine months ended September 30, 2021, a $92 million or 8.0% decrease compared to the same period in 2020. This change was primarily driven by a decrease in subscriber acquisition costs resulting from reduced marketing expenditures and fewer gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and by cost cutting initiatives, including a focused set of staffing reductions in 2020.

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DISH TV SAC. DISH TV SAC was $834 during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 compared to $854 during the same period in 2020, a decrease of $20 or 2.3%. This change was primarily attributable to a decrease in hardware costs per activation and higher commercial additions compared to the same period in 2020, partially offset by an increase in advertising costs per subscriber.  The decrease in hardware costs per activation primarily resulted from lower average costs per receiver and a higher percentage of remanufactured receivers being activated on new subscriber accounts. Commercial activations historically have lower DISH TV SAC than residential activations, and therefore the increase in commercial activations have a positive impact on DISH TV SAC.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, the amount of equipment capitalized under our lease program for new DISH TV subscribers totaled $56 million and $120 million, respectively. This decrease in capital expenditures primarily resulted from a decrease in gross new DISH TV subscriber activations and a higher percentage of remanufactured receivers being activated on new subscriber accounts.

Income tax (provision) benefit, net. Our income tax provision was $416 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2021, an increase of $59 million compared to the same period in 2020. The increase in the provision was primarily related to an increase in “Income (loss) before income taxes,” partially offset by a decrease in our effective tax rate.

Non-GAAP Performance Measures and Reconciliation

It is management’s intent to provide non-GAAP financial information to enhance the understanding of our GAAP financial information, and it should be considered by the reader in addition to, but not instead of, the financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Each non-GAAP financial measure is presented along with the corresponding GAAP measure so as not to imply that more emphasis should be placed on the non-GAAP measure. We believe that providing these non-GAAP measures in addition to the GAAP measures allows management, investors and other users of our financial information to more fully and accurately assess both consolidated and segment performance. The non-GAAP financial information presented may be determined or calculated differently by other companies and may not be directly comparable to that of other companies.

EBITDA

EBITDA is not a measure determined in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered a substitute for operating income, net income or any other measure determined in accordance with GAAP. EBITDA is used as a measurement of operating efficiency and overall financial performance and we believe it is a helpful measure for those evaluating operating performance in relation to our competitors. Conceptually, EBITDA measures the amount of income generated each period that could be used to service debt, pay taxes and fund capital expenditures. EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Net income (loss)	$	386,629	$	449,873	$	1,287,899	$	1,069,006
Interest, net		158,840		170,594		493,220		515,019
Income tax provision (benefit), net		120,296		148,098		415,854		356,432
Depreciation and amortization		109,919		125,016		336,552		382,970
EBITDA	$	775,684	$	893,581	$	2,533,525	$	2,323,427

The changes in EBITDA during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, compared to the same periods in 2020, were primarily a result of the factors described in connection with operating revenues and operating expenses.

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OIBDA

OIBDA, which is presented below, is a non-GAAP measure and does not purport to be an alternative to operating income (loss) as a measure of operating performance. We believe this measure is useful to management, investors and other users of our financial information in evaluating operating profitability of our business on a more variable cost basis as it excludes the depreciation and amortization expenses related primarily to capital expenditures and acquisitions, as well as in evaluating operating performance in relation to our competitors. OIBDA is calculated by adding back depreciation and amortization expense to operating income (loss).

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
	(In thousands)
Operating income (loss)	$	665,434	$	768,656	$	2,198,437	$	1,939,755
Depreciation and amortization		109,919		125,016		336,552		382,970
OIBDA	$	775,353	$	893,672	$	2,534,989	$	2,322,725

The changes in OIBDA during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, compared to the same period in 2020, were primarily a result of the factors described in connection with operating revenues and operating expenses.

Item 4.CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Conclusion regarding disclosure controls and procedures

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this report.

Changes in internal control over financial reporting

There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) during our most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. However, we are continually monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and any potential impact to our internal controls.

PART II — OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1.LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

See Note 9 “Commitments and Contingencies - Litigation” in the Notes to our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding certain legal proceedings in which we are involved.

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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing us. We may face other risks described from time to time in periodic and current reports we file with the SEC. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economic environment generally, and on us specifically, have adversely impacted our business. Furthermore, any continuation or worsening of the pandemic and economic environment could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

A novel strain of coronavirus which causes the disease COVID-19 has resulted in a worldwide pandemic. COVID-19 has surfaced in nearly all regions around the world and resulted in global travel restrictions and business slowdowns or shutdowns. The COVID-19 pandemic has also created unanticipated circumstances and uncertainty, disruption, and significant volatility in the economic environment generally, which have adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect our business operations and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many of our subscribers are impacted by recommendations and/or mandates from federal, state, and local authorities to practice social distancing, to refrain from gathering in groups and, in some areas, to refrain from non-essential movements outside of their homes. Governmental authorities are continuing to monitor the situation and take various actions in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

These recommendations and/or mandates have created reduced in person selling opportunities and a reduction in subscribers’ willingness to open direct mail marketing and allow our in-home technicians into their homes which has had, and will continue to have, a negative impact on our gross subscriber activations. The removal of such recommendations and/or mandates may not change subscribers’ behaviors. The future impact from the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, financial condition and results of operations is uncertain and not predictable and will depend largely on future developments, including the duration and spread of the pandemic within and outside the United States, the response by all levels of government in their efforts to contain or combat the pandemic and to mitigate the economic disruptions, and the related impact on consumer confidence and spending, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. We cannot predict with certainty how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last, how effective vaccines may be, or what other government responses may occur.

The following risks and uncertainties related to our business, among others, could be impacted and/or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and any resulting worsening of the economic environment:

● We have faced, and could continue to face, fewer subscriber activations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worsening of the global business and economic environment due to, among other things, the reduced ability to perform our in-home service operations due to the impact of social distancing and reduced on-premises operations of our commercial subscribers.

● Our revenue comes from subscribers whose spending patterns may be affected by economic weakness and uncertainty, including any economic weakness and/or uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

● Weakness in the capital markets related to the COVID-19 pandemic could make it more difficult for us to satisfy our substantial long-term payment obligations, including, without limitation, repayment and/or refinancing of existing indebtedness, payments related to certain litigation and other contractual obligations.

● As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and any resulting worsening of the global business and economic environment, we may not be able to make sufficient investments in staffing, training, information systems, and other initiatives, including in our call center and in-home service operations.

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● As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a large portion of the global workforce is working remotely, which could have a material adverse effect on our information technology infrastructure and communications systems, and our ability to monitor, prevent and respond to system failures and/or cyber-attacks. The capacity, reliability and security of our information technology infrastructure (including our billing systems) and communications systems, or those of third parties that we use in our operations, are important to the operation of our current business, which would be significantly disrupted in the event of a system failure or cyber-attack.

● Our supply chain has been impacted by COVID-19, and there have been and could be additional significant and unanticipated interruptions and/or delays in the supply of materials and/or equipment across our supply chain, due to, among other things, surges in COVID-19.  Moreover, the recent surges in COVID-19 cases in areas outside the United States and the stringent lockdowns implemented in response to such surges are causing interruptions and/or delays that are adversely impacting our business. In addition, during 2021 there have been worldwide interruptions and delays in the supply of electronic components including semi-conductors, which have negatively impacted our ability to obtain set-top boxes. Furthermore, we may not be able to diversify sources of supply in a timely manner to mitigate these interruptions and/or delays.  These interruptions and/or delays in our supply chain could have a material adverse effect on our business. 

To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic continues to adversely affect the U.S. and/or global economy and/or adversely affects our businesses, results of operations or financial condition, it may also have the effect of increasing the likelihood and/or magnitude of other risks described below.

Competition and Economic Risks

We face intense and increasing competition from providers of video, broadband and/or wireless services, which may require us to further increase subscriber acquisition and retention spending or accept lower subscriber activations and higher subscriber churn.

Our Pay-TV business faces substantial competition from established pay-TV providers and broadband service providers and increasing competition from companies providing/facilitating the delivery of video content via the Internet to computers, televisions, and other streaming and mobile devices, including wireless service providers. In recent years, the traditional pay-TV industry has matured, and industry consolidation and convergence has created competitors with greater scale and multiple product/service offerings. Some of these services charge nominal or no fees for access to their content, which could adversely affect demand for our Pay-TV services. 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, including competition from piracy-based video offerings. These developments, among others, have contributed to intense and increasing competition, which we expect to continue.

We face increasing competition from content providers and other companies who distribute video directly to consumers over the Internet. These content providers and other companies, as well as traditional satellite television providers, cable companies and large telecommunication companies, are rapidly increasing their Internet-based video offerings. See “Item 2. Management’s Narrative Analysis of Results of Operations – Trends” for further information.

Mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances among cable television providers, telecommunications companies, programming providers and others may result in, among other things, greater scale and financial leverage and increase the availability of offerings from providers capable of bundling video, broadband and/or wireless services in competition with our services, and may exacerbate the risks described herein. Such providers may be able to, among other things, utilize their increased leverage over third-party content owners and programmers to withhold online rights from us and reduce the price they pay for programming at the expense of other MVPDs, including us; underutilize key orbital spectrum resources that could be more efficiently used by us; foreclose or degrade our online video offerings at various points in the broadband pipe; and impose data caps on consumers who access our online video offerings. See “Item 2. Management’s Narrative Analysis of Results of Operations – Trends – Programming” for further information.

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We believe that the availability and extent of programming, including unique programming services such as foreign language, sports programming and original content, and other value-added services such as access to video via mobile devices, continue to be significant factors in consumers’ choice among pay-TV providers. Other pay-TV providers may have more successfully marketed and promoted their programming packages and value-added services and may also be better equipped and have greater resources to increase their programming offerings and value-added services to respond to increasing consumer demand. We may be required to make substantial additional investments in infrastructure to respond to competitive pressure to deliver enhanced programming, and other value-added services, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to compete effectively with offerings from other pay-TV providers.

Furthermore, this increasingly competitive environment may require us to increase subscriber acquisition and retention spending or accept lower subscriber activations and higher subscriber churn.  Increasingly, we must seek to attract a greater proportion of new subscribers from our competitors’ 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 and/or provide greater discounts or credits to acquire and retain subscribers who may spend less on our services. Our SLING TV subscribers on average purchase lower priced programming services than DISH TV subscribers. Accordingly, an increase in SLING TV subscribers has a negative impact on our Pay-TV average monthly revenue per subscriber (“Pay-TV ARPU”). If our Pay-TV ARPU decreases or does not increase commensurate with increases in programming or other costs, our margins may be reduced and the long-term value of a subscriber would then decrease.

In addition, as a result of this increased competitive environment and the maturation of the pay-TV industry, future growth opportunities of our DISH 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. Our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations continue to be negatively impacted by stricter subscriber acquisition policies (including a focus on attaining higher quality subscribers) and increased competitive pressures, including aggressive marketing, more aggressive retention efforts, bundled discount offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers. There can be no assurance that our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, net DISH TV subscriber additions, and DISH TV churn rate will not continue to be negatively impacted and that the pace of such negative impact will not accelerate. In the event that our DISH TV subscriber base continues to decline, it could have a material adverse long-term effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.

Changing consumer behavior and new technologies in our Pay-TV business may reduce our 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.

New technologies, products and services are driving rapid changes in consumer behavior as consumers seek more control over when, where and how they consume content and access communications services. In particular, through technological advancements and with the large increase in the number of consumers with broadband service, a significant amount of video content has become available through online content providers for users to stream and view on their personal computers, televisions, phones, tablets, videogame consoles, and other devices, in some cases without a fee required to access the content. While our subscribers can use their traditional video subscription to access mobile programming, an increasing number of subscribers are also using mobile devices as the sole means of viewing video, and an increasing number of non-traditional video providers are developing content and technologies to satisfy that demand. For example, these technological advancements, changes in consumer behavior, and the increasing number of choices available to consumers with regard to the means by which consumers obtain video content may cause DISH TV subscribers to disconnect our services (“cord cutting”), downgrade to smaller, less expensive programming packages (“cord shaving”) or elect to purchase through online content providers a certain portion of the services that they would have historically purchased from us, such as pay per view movies. These technological advancements and changes in consumer behavior and/or our failure to effectively anticipate or adapt to such changes, could reduce our gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations and increase our subscriber churn rate, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.

New technologies could also create new competitors for us. For instance, we face increasing consumer demand for the delivery of digital video services via the Internet. We expect to continue to face increased competition from companies who use the Internet to deliver digital video services as the speed and quality of broadband and wireless networks continue to improve.

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Our pay-TV competitors may be able to leverage their relationships with programmers to reduce their programming costs and/or offer exclusive content that will place them at a competitive advantage to us.

The cost of programming represents the largest percentage of our overall Pay-TV costs. Certain of our competitors own directly or are affiliated with companies that own programming content that may enable them to obtain lower programming costs or offer exclusive programming that may be attractive to prospective subscribers. Unlike our larger cable and satellite competitors, some of which also provide IPTV services, we have not made significant investments in programming providers. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to obtain access to such programming networks on nondiscriminatory and fair terms, or at all. See “Changes in the Cable Act, and/or the rules of the FCC that implement the Cable Act, may limit our ability to access programming from cable-affiliated programmers at nondiscriminatory rates,” below and “Item 1. Business – Government Regulations – FCC Regulations Governing our Pay-TV Operations – Cable Act and Program Access” in DISH Network’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 for further information.

Changes in how network operators handle and charge for access to data that travels across their networks could adversely impact our Pay-TV business.

With respect to our Pay-TV business, we rely upon the ability of consumers to access our SLING TV services and certain DISH TV functionality through the Internet. If network operators block, restrict or otherwise impair access to our services over their networks, our business could be negatively affected. To the extent that network operators implement usage-based pricing, including meaningful bandwidth caps, or otherwise try to monetize access to their networks by data providers, we could incur greater operating expenses and our SLING TV subscriber count could be negatively impacted. Furthermore, to the extent network operators create tiers of Internet access service and either charge us for or prohibit us from being available through these tiers, our SLING TV business could be negatively impacted.

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. These risks may be exacerbated to the extent network operators are able to provide preferential treatment to their data, including, for example, by offering wireless subscribers access to owned video content over the Internet without counting against a subscriber’s monthly data caps (“zero rating”), which may give an unfair advantage to the network operator’s own video content.

We cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our business that may result from changes in how network operators handle and charge for access to data that travels across their networks.

Economic weakness and uncertainty may adversely affect our ability to grow or maintain our business.

Our ability to grow or maintain our business may be adversely affected by economic weakness and uncertainty, which could result in the following:

● Fewer subscriber activations and increased subscriber churn rate. We could face fewer subscriber activations and increased subscriber churn rate due to, among other things: (i) certain economic factors that impact consumers, including, among others, rising interest rates, a potential downturn in the housing market in the United States (including a decline in housing starts) and higher unemployment, which could lead to a lack of consumer confidence and lower discretionary spending; (ii) increased price competition for our products and services; and (iii) the potential loss of independent third-party retailers, who generate a meaningful percentage of our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, because many of them are small businesses that are more susceptible to the negative effects of economic weakness. In particular, our DISH TV churn rate may increase with respect to subscribers who purchase our lower tier programming packages and who may be more sensitive to economic weakness, including, among others, our pay-in-advance subscribers.

● Higher subscriber acquisition and retention costs. Our profits may be adversely affected by increased subscriber acquisition and retention costs necessary to attract and retain subscribers during a period of economic weakness.

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Operational and Service Delivery Risks

Any deterioration in our operational performance and subscriber satisfaction could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If our operational performance and subscriber satisfaction were to deteriorate, we may experience a decrease in subscriber activations and an increase in our subscriber churn rate, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. To improve our operational performance, we continue to make investments in staffing, training, information systems, and other initiatives, primarily in our call center and in-home service operations. These investments are intended to help combat inefficiencies introduced by the increasing complexity of our business, improve subscriber satisfaction, reduce subscriber churn, increase productivity, and allow us to scale better over the long run. We cannot, however, be certain that our spending will ultimately be successful in improving our operational performance, and if unsuccessful, we may have to incur higher costs to improve our operational performance. While we believe that such costs will be outweighed by longer-term benefits, there can be no assurance when or if we will realize these benefits at all.

If our subscriber activations decrease, or if our subscriber churn rate, subscriber acquisition costs or retention costs increase, our financial performance will be adversely affected.

We may incur increased costs to acquire new subscribers and retain existing subscribers. For example, with respect to our Pay-TV business, our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, net DISH TV subscriber additions, and DISH TV churn rate continue to be negatively impacted by stricter subscriber acquisition and retention policies for our DISH TV subscribers, including an emphasis on acquiring and retaining higher quality subscribers. In addition, our subscriber acquisition costs could increase as a result of increased spending for advertising and, with respect to our DISH TV services, the installation of more DVR receivers, which are generally more expensive than other receivers. Retention costs with respect to our DISH TV services may be driven higher by increased upgrades of existing subscribers’ equipment to DVR receivers.

Although we expect to continue to incur expenses, such as providing retention credits and other subscriber acquisition and retention expenses, to attract and retain subscribers, there can be no assurance that our efforts will generate new subscribers or result in a lower churn rate. Additionally, certain of our promotions, including, among others, pay-in-advance, continue to allow consumers with relatively lower credit scores to become subscribers. These subscribers typically churn at a higher rate.

Our subscriber acquisition costs and our subscriber retention costs can vary significantly from period to period and can cause material variability to our net income (loss) and free cash flow. Any material increase in subscriber acquisition or retention costs from current levels could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

With respect to our Pay-TV business, programming expenses are increasing, which may adversely affect our future financial condition and results of operations.

Our programming costs represent a significant component of our total expense and we expect these costs to continue to increase on a per subscriber basis. The pay-TV industry has continued to experience an increase in the cost of programming, especially local broadcast channels and sports programming. In addition, certain programming costs are rising at a much faster rate than wages or inflation. These factors may be exacerbated by the increasing trend of consolidation in the media industry, which may further increase our programming expenses. Our ability to compete successfully will depend, among other things, on our ability to continue to obtain desirable programming and deliver it to our subscribers at competitive prices.

When offering new programming, or upon expiration of existing contracts, programming suppliers have historically attempted to increase the rates that they charge us for programming. We expect this practice to continue, which, if successful, would increase our programming costs. In addition, our programming expenses may also increase as we add programming to our video services or distribute existing programming to our subscribers through additional delivery services, such as SLING TV. As a result, our margins may face further pressure if we are unable to renew our long-term programming contracts on acceptable pricing and other economic terms. Alternatively, to attempt to mitigate the effect of price increases or for other reasons, we may elect not to carry or may be unable to carry certain channels, which could adversely affect our net Pay-TV subscriber additions.

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In addition, increases in programming costs cause us to increase the rates that we charge our Pay-TV subscribers, which could in turn cause our existing Pay-TV subscribers to disconnect our service or cause potential new Pay-TV subscribers to choose not to subscribe to our service. Therefore, we may be unable to pass increased programming costs on to our subscribers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on others to provide the programming that we offer to our Pay-TV subscribers and, if we fail to obtain or lose access to certain programming, our Pay-TV subscriber activations and our subscriber churn rate may be negatively impacted.

We depend on third parties to provide us with programming services. Our programming agreements have remaining terms ranging from less than one to up to several years and contain various renewal, expiration and/or termination provisions. We may not be able to renew these agreements on acceptable terms or at all, and these agreements may be terminated prior to expiration of their original term. In recent years, negotiations over programming carriage contracts generally remain contentious, and certain programmers have, in the past, limited our access to their programming in connection with those negotiations and the scheduled expiration of their programming carriage contracts with us. In recent years, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions have been negatively impacted as a result of programming interruptions and threatened programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of programming carriage contracts with content providers. We cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate resulting from programming interruptions or threatened programming interruptions that may occur in the future. As a result, we may at times suffer from periods of lower net Pay-TV subscriber additions or higher net Pay-TV subscriber losses.

We typically have a few programming contracts with major content providers up for renewal each year and if we are unable to renew any of these agreements or the other parties terminate the agreements, there can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain substitute programming, or that such substitute programming would be comparable in quality or cost to our existing programming. In addition, failure to obtain access to certain programming or loss of access to programming, particularly programming provided by major content providers and/or programming popular with our subscribers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including, among other things, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions.

Our programming signals in our Pay-TV business are subject to theft, and we are vulnerable to other forms of fraud that could require significant expenditures to remedy. Increases in theft of our signal or our competitors’ signals could, in addition to reducing gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, also cause our DISH TV churn rate to increase.

We may not be able to obtain necessary retransmission consent agreements at acceptable rates, or at all, from local network stations.

The Copyright Act generally gives satellite companies a statutory copyright license to retransmit local broadcast channels by satellite back into the market from which they originated, subject to obtaining the retransmission consent of local network stations that do not elect “must carry” status, as required by the Communications Act. If we fail to reach retransmission consent agreements with such broadcasters, we cannot carry their signals. This could have an adverse effect on our strategy to compete with cable and other satellite companies that provide local signals. While we have been able to reach retransmission consent agreements with most of these local network stations, from time to time there are stations with which we have not been able to reach an agreement, resulting in the removal of their channels primarily from our DISH TV lineup. There can be no assurance that we will secure these agreements or that we will secure new agreements on acceptable terms, or at all, upon the expiration of our current retransmission consent agreements, some of which are short-term.

In recent years, national broadcasters have used their ownership of certain local broadcast stations to require us to carry additional cable programming in exchange for retransmission consent of their local broadcast stations. These requirements may place constraints on available capacity on our satellites for other programming. Furthermore, the rates we are charged for retransmitting local channels have been increasing substantially and may exceed our ability to increase our prices to our subscribers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Any failure or inadequacy of our information technology infrastructure and communications systems or those of third parties that we use in our operations, including, without limitation, those caused by cyber-attacks or other malicious activities, could disrupt or harm our business.

The capacity, reliability and security of our information technology hardware and software infrastructure (including our billing systems) and communications systems, or those of third parties that we use in our operations, are important to the operation of our business, which would suffer in the event of system failures or cyber-attacks. Likewise, our ability to expand and update our information technology infrastructure in response to our growth and changing needs is important to the continued implementation of our new service offering initiatives. Our inability to expand or upgrade our technology infrastructure could have adverse consequences, which could include, among other things, the delayed implementation of new service offerings, service or billing interruptions, and the diversion of development resources. We rely on third parties for developing key components of our information technology and communications systems and ongoing service, all of which affect our Pay-TV services. Some of our key systems and operations, including those supplied by third-party providers, are not fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities. Interruption and/or failure of any of these systems could disrupt our operations, interrupt our services, result in significant financial expenditures and damage our reputation, thus adversely impacting our ability to provide our services, retain our current subscribers and attract new Pay-TV subscribers.

In addition, although we take protective measures designed to secure our information technology systems and endeavor to modify such protective measures as circumstances warrant, our information technology hardware and software infrastructure and communications systems, or those of third parties that we use in our operations, may be vulnerable to a variety of interruptions, including, without limitation, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, telecommunications failures, cyber-attacks and other malicious activities such as unauthorized access, physical or electronic break-ins, misuse, computer viruses or other malicious code, computer denial of service attacks and other events that could disrupt or harm our business. These protective measures may not be sufficient for all eventualities and may themselves be vulnerable to hacking, malfeasance, system error or other irregularities. For example, certain parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or subscribers into disclosing usernames, passwords or other sensitive information, which may in turn be used to access our information technology systems.

In addition, third-party providers of some of our key systems may also experience interruptions to their information technology hardware and software infrastructure and communications systems that could adversely impact us and over which we may have limited or no control. We may obtain certain confidential, proprietary and personal information about our subscribers, personnel and vendors, and may provide this information to third parties in connection with our business. If one or more of such interruptions or failures occur to us or our third-party providers, it potentially could jeopardize such information and other information processed and stored in, and transmitted through, our or our third-party providers’ information technology hardware and software infrastructure and communications systems, or otherwise cause interruptions or malfunctions in our operations, which could result in lawsuits, government claims, investigations or proceedings, significant losses or reputational damage. Due to the fast-moving pace of technology, it may be difficult to detect, contain and remediate every such event. We may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify our protective measures or to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures, and we may be subject to financial losses. Furthermore, the amount and scope of insurance we maintain may not cover all expenses related to such activities or all types of claims that may arise.

As a result of the increasing awareness concerning the importance of safeguarding personal information, the potential misuse of such information and legislation that has been adopted or is being considered regarding the protection, privacy and security of personal information, the potential liability associated with information-related risks is increasing, particularly for businesses like ours that handle personal subscriber data. The occurrence of any network or information system related events or security breaches could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. Significant incidents could result in a disruption of our operations, subscriber dissatisfaction, damage to our reputation or a loss of subscribers and revenues.

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We currently depend on DISH Network to provide the vast majority of our satellite transponder capacity and other related services to us. Our business would be adversely affected if DISH Network ceases to provide these services to us and we are unable to obtain suitable replacement services from third parties.

We lease the vast majority of our satellite transponder capacity from DISH Network and DISH Network is a key supplier of other related services to us. Satellite transponder leasing costs may increase beyond our current expectations. Our inability to obtain satellite transponder capacity and other related services from DISH Network or third parties could adversely affect our subscriber activations and subscriber churn rate and cause related revenue to decline. See Note 13 in the Notes to our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for further information on our Related Party Transactions with DISH Network.

Our failure to effectively invest in, introduce, and implement new competitive products and services could cause our products and services to become obsolete and could negatively impact our business.

Technology in the pay-TV industry changes rapidly as new technologies are developed, which could cause our products and services to become obsolete. We and our suppliers may not be able to keep pace with technological developments. Our operating results are dependent to a significant extent upon our ability to continue to introduce new products and services, to upgrade existing products and services on a timely basis, and to reduce costs of our existing products and services. We may not be able to successfully identify new product or service opportunities or develop and market these opportunities in a timely or cost-effective manner. The research and development of new, technologically advanced products is a complex and uncertain process requiring high levels of innovation and investment. The success of new product and service development depends on many factors, including among others, the following:

● difficulties and delays in the development, production, timely completion, testing and marketing of products and services;

● the cost of the products and services;

● proper identification of subscriber need and subscriber acceptance of products and services;

● the development of, approval of and compliance with industry standards;

● the amount of resources we must devote to the development of new technologies; and

● the ability to differentiate our products and services and compete with other companies in the same markets.

If the new technologies on which we focus our research and development investments fail to achieve acceptance in the marketplace, our competitive position could be negatively impacted, causing a reduction in our revenues and earnings. For example, our competitors could use proprietary technologies that are perceived by the market as being superior. In addition, delays in the delivery of components or other unforeseen problems associated with our technology may occur that could materially and adversely affect our ability to generate revenue, offer new products and services and remain competitive. Further, after we have incurred substantial costs, one or more of the products or services under our development, or under development by one or more of our strategic partners, could become obsolete prior to it being widely adopted.

If our products and services are not competitive, our business could suffer and our financial performance could be negatively impacted. Our products and services may also experience quality problems, including outages and service slowdowns, from time to time. If the quality of our products and services do not meet our subscribers’ expectations, then our business, and ultimately our reputation, could be negatively impacted.

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We rely on a single vendor or a limited number of vendors to provide certain key products or services to us, and the inability of these key vendors to meet our needs could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Historically, we have contracted with and rely on a single vendor or a limited number of vendors to provide certain key products or services to us such as information technology support, billing systems, security access devices, and many components that we provide to subscribers in order to deliver our Pay-TV services. If these vendors are unable to meet our needs because they fail to perform adequately, are no longer in business, are experiencing shortages or discontinue a certain product or service we need, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. We have experienced in the past and may continue to experience shortages driven by raw material availability (which may be negatively impacted by, among other things, trade protection policies such as tariffs and or/escalating trade tensions, particularly with countries in Asia), manufacturing capacity, labor shortages, industry allocations, natural disasters, logistical delays and significant changes in the financial or business conditions of its suppliers that negatively impact our operations.

While alternative sources for these products and services exist, we may not be able to develop these alternative sources quickly and cost-effectively, which could materially impair our ability to timely deliver our products to our subscribers or operate our business. Furthermore, our vendors may request changes in pricing, payment terms or other contractual obligations between the parties, which could require us to make substantial additional investments.

We depend on independent third parties to solicit orders for our services that represent a meaningful percentage of our total gross new subscriber activations.

While we offer products and services through direct sales channels, a meaningful percentage of our total gross new subscriber activations are generated through independent third parties such as small retailers, direct marketing groups, local and regional consumer electronics stores, nationwide retailers, and telecommunications companies. Most of our independent third-party retailers are not exclusive to us and some of our independent third-party retailers may favor our competitors’ products and services over ours based on the relative financial arrangements associated with marketing our products and services and those of our competitors. Furthermore, most of these independent third-party retailers are significantly smaller than we are and may be more susceptible to economic weaknesses that make it more difficult for them to operate profitably. Because our independent third-party retailers receive most of their incentive value at activation and not over an extended period of time, our interests may not always be aligned with our independent third-party retailers. It may be difficult to better align our interests with our independent third-party retailers because of their capital and liquidity constraints. Loss of these relationships could have an adverse effect on our subscriber base and certain of our other key operating metrics because we may not be able to develop comparable alternative distribution channels.

We have limited satellite capacity and failures or reduced capacity could adversely affect our business financial condition and results of operations.

Operation of our DISH TV services requires that we have adequate satellite transmission capacity for the programming we offer. While we generally have had in-orbit satellite capacity sufficient to transmit our existing channels and some backup capacity to recover the transmission of certain critical programming, our backup capacity is limited.

Our ability to earn revenue from our DISH TV services depends on the usefulness of our owned and leased satellites, each of which has a limited useful life. A number of factors affect the useful lives of the satellites, including, among other things, the quality of their construction, the durability of their component parts, the ability to continue to maintain proper orbit and control over the satellite’s functions, the efficiency of the launch vehicle used, and the remaining on-board fuel following orbit insertion. Generally, the minimum design life of each of our owned and leased satellites ranges from 12 to 15 years. We can provide no assurance, however, as to the actual useful lives of any of these satellites. Our operating results could be adversely affected if the useful life of any of our owned or leased satellites were significantly shorter than the minimum design life.

Satellites are subject to significant operational risks while in orbit. These risks include malfunctions, commonly referred to as anomalies, which have occurred in our satellites and the satellites of other operators as a result of various factors, such as manufacturing defects, problems with the power systems or control systems of the satellites and general failures resulting from operating satellites in the harsh environment of space.

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In the event of a failure or loss of any of our owned or leased satellites, we may need to acquire or lease additional satellite capacity or relocate one of our other owned or leased satellites and use it as a replacement for the failed or lost satellite, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Such a failure could result in a prolonged loss of critical programming. A relocation would require FCC approval and, we cannot be certain that we could obtain such FCC approval. If we choose to use a satellite in this manner, such use could adversely affect our ability to satisfy certain operational conditions associated with our authorizations and could result in the loss of such authorizations, which would have an adverse effect on our ability to generate revenues.

From time to time, new satellites need to be built and launched. Satellite construction and launch is subject to significant risks, including construction and launch delays, launch failure and incorrect orbital placement.

Other than in certain limited circumstances, we do not carry commercial in-orbit insurance on any of the satellites we own, and generally do not use commercial insurance to mitigate the potential financial impact of in-orbit failures because we believe that the cost of insurance premiums is uneconomical relative to the risk of such failures. If one or more of our owned in-orbit satellites fail, we could be required to record significant impairment charges.

We may have potential conflicts of interest with EchoStar due to our and DISH Network’s common ownership and management.

Questions relating to conflicts of interest may arise between EchoStar and us in a number of areas relating to our past and ongoing relationships between DISH Network and EchoStar. Areas in which conflicts of interest between EchoStar and us, as a result of our relationship with DISH Network, could arise include, but are not limited to, the following:

● Cross officerships, directorships and stock ownership. We and DISH Network have certain overlap in directors and executive officers with EchoStar. These individuals may have actual or apparent conflicts of interest with respect to matters involving or affecting each company. Currently, our and DISH Network’s Board of Directors and executive officers include Charles W. Ergen, who serves as the Chairman of EchoStar and DISH Network and our Chairman. Mr. Ergen also has fiduciary duties to EchoStar’s shareholders. For example, there is the potential for a conflict of interest when DISH Network and/or us, on the one hand, or EchoStar, on the other hand, look at acquisitions and other business opportunities that may be suitable for both companies. In addition, certain of DISH Network’s and our directors and officers own EchoStar stock. Mr. Ergen beneficially owns approximately 55.6% of EchoStar’s total equity securities (assuming conversion of all Class B common stock into Class A common stock) and controls approximately 92.2% of the voting power of EchoStar. These ownership interests could create actual, apparent or potential conflicts of interest when these individuals are faced with decisions that could have different implications for DISH Network and/or us, on the one hand, and EchoStar, on the other hand. Furthermore, Mr. Ergen is employed by both us and EchoStar.

● Intercompany agreements with EchoStar. In connection with and following the Spin-off, Share Exchange Agreement and Master Transaction Agreement (as defined in Note 13 in the Notes to our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q), we, DISH Network and EchoStar have entered into certain agreements pursuant to which DISH Network and we obtain certain products, services and rights from EchoStar, EchoStar obtains certain products, services and rights from DISH Network and us, and DISH Network and EchoStar have indemnified each other against certain liabilities arising from our respective businesses. The terms of certain of these agreements were established while EchoStar was a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network and us and were not the result of arm’s length negotiations. The allocation of assets, liabilities, rights, indemnifications and other obligations between EchoStar and DISH Network under the separation and other intercompany agreements DISH Network entered into with EchoStar, in connection with the Spin-off, may have been different if agreed to by two unaffiliated parties. Had these agreements been negotiated with unaffiliated third parties, their terms may have been more favorable, or less favorable, to DISH Network. In addition, conflicts could arise between DISH Network and/or us, on the one hand, and EchoStar, on the other hand, in the interpretation or any extension or renegotiation of these existing agreements.

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● Additional intercompany transactions. EchoStar and its subsidiaries have and may continue to enter into transactions with DISH Network and its subsidiaries. Although the terms of any such transactions will be established based upon negotiations between EchoStar and DISH Network and, when appropriate, subject to the approval of a committee of the non-interlocking directors or in certain instances non-interlocking management, there can be no assurance that the terms of any such transactions will be as favorable to DISH Network or its subsidiaries or affiliates as may otherwise be obtained between unaffiliated parties.

● Business opportunities. DISH Network has historically retained, and in the future may acquire, interests in various companies that have subsidiaries or controlled affiliates that own or operate domestic or foreign services that may compete with services offered by EchoStar. DISH Network and we may also compete with EchoStar for orbital slots for our satellites.

Neither we nor DISH Network may be able to resolve any potential conflicts of interest with EchoStar, and, even if either we or DISH Network do so, the resolution may be less favorable than if either we or DISH Network were dealing with an unaffiliated party. DISH Network does not have agreements with EchoStar that would prevent either company from competing with the other.

We rely on highly skilled personnel for our business, and any inability to hire and retain key personnel or hire qualified personnel may negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We believe that our future success will depend to a significant extent upon the performance of Charles W. Ergen, our Chairman, and certain other executives. The loss of Mr. Ergen or of certain other key executives could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Although all of our executives have executed agreements with certain non-competition restrictions that apply if they leave us, we do not have employment agreements with any of them. Mr. Ergen also serves as the Chairman of EchoStar. To the extent our officers are performing services for EchoStar, this may divert their time and attention away from our business and may therefore adversely affect our business.

In addition, technological innovation is important to our success and depends, to a significant degree, on the work of technically skilled employees. If we are unable to attract and retain appropriately technically skilled employees, our competitive position could be materially and adversely affected.

Acquisition and Capital Structure Risks

Our parent, DISH Network, has made substantial investments to acquire certain wireless spectrum licenses and other related assets and we may make funds available to DISH Network in the form of cash distributions or loans in connection with the development of DISH Network’s wireless business.

DISH Network has directly invested over $12 billion to acquire certain wireless spectrum licenses and related assets. See Note 11 in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in DISH Network’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 for detailed information regarding these licenses, including certain interim and final build-out requirements, as well as certain renewal requirements.

DISH Network will need to make significant additional investments or partner with others to, among other things, complete its 5G Network Deployment and further commercialize, build-out and integrate these licenses and related assets and any additional acquired licenses and related assets, as well as to comply with regulations applicable to such licenses. Depending on the nature and scope of such activities, any such investments or partnerships could vary significantly. In addition, as DISH Network completes its 5G Network Deployment, DISH Network will incur significant additional expenses and will have to make significant investments related to, among other things, research and development, wireless testing and wireless network infrastructure. DISH Network may also determine that additional wireless spectrum licenses may be required to complete its 5G Network Deployment and to compete with other wireless service providers.

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In connection with the development of DISH Network’s wireless business, including, without limitation, the efforts described above, we have historically made funds available to DISH Network in the form of cash distributions to partially finance these efforts to date. Subject to compliance with applicable legal requirements, including the covenants applicable to our outstanding debt securities, we may make additional funds available, including through cash distributions or loans to finance, in whole or in part, DISH Network’s future efforts. There can be no assurance that DISH Network will be able to develop and implement a business model that will realize a return on these wireless spectrum licenses or that DISH Network will be able to profitably deploy the assets represented by these wireless spectrum licenses.

Our parent, DISH Network, has made substantial non-controlling investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities related to AWS-3 wireless spectrum licenses and we have made and may make additional cash distributions to DISH Network so that DISH Network may fund the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities.

During 2015, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries American AWS-3 Wireless II L.L.C. (“American II”) and American AWS-3 Wireless III L.L.C. (“American III”), DISH Network initially made over $10 billion in certain non-controlling investments in Northstar Spectrum, LLC (“Northstar Spectrum”), the parent company of Northstar Wireless, LLC (“Northstar Wireless,” and collectively with Northstar Spectrum, the “Northstar Entities”), and in SNR Wireless HoldCo, LLC (“SNR HoldCo”), the parent company of SNR Wireless LicenseCo, LLC (“SNR Wireless,” and collectively with SNR HoldCo, the “SNR Entities”), respectively. On October 27, 2015, the FCC granted certain AWS-3 wireless spectrum licenses (the “AWS-3 Licenses”) to Northstar Wireless (the “Northstar Licenses”) and to SNR Wireless (the “SNR Licenses”), respectively. The Northstar Entities and/or the SNR Entities may need to raise significant additional capital in the future, which may be obtained from third party sources or from DISH Network, so that the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities may commercialize, build-out and integrate these AWS-3 Licenses, comply with regulations applicable to such AWS-3 Licenses, and make any potential payments related to the re-auction of AWS-3 licenses retained by the FCC. Depending upon the nature and scope of such commercialization, build-out, integration efforts, regulatory compliance, and potential re-auction payments, any such loans, equity contributions or partnerships could vary significantly. For further information regarding the potential re-auction of AWS-3 licenses retained by the FCC, see Note 11 “Commitments and Contingencies – Commitments – DISH Network Non-Controlling Investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities Related to AWS-3 Wireless Spectrum Licenses” in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in DISH Network’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. There can be no assurance that DISH Network will be able to obtain a profitable return on its non-controlling investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities.

In connection with certain funding obligations related to the investments by American II and American III discussed above, in February 2015, we paid a dividend of $8.250 billion to DOC for, among other things, general corporate purposes, which included such funding obligations, and to fund other DISH Network cash needs. We have made and may make additional cash distributions to DISH Network so that DISH Network may fund the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities related to DISH Network’s non-controlling investments in these entities. We may need to raise significant additional capital in the future, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to among other things, continue investing in our business and to pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions.

We may pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions to complement or expand our business that may not be successful, and we may lose up to the entire value of our investment in these acquisitions and transactions.

Our future success may depend on opportunities to buy other businesses or technologies that could complement, enhance or expand our current business or products or that might otherwise offer us growth opportunities. To pursue this strategy successfully, we must identify attractive acquisition or investment opportunities and successfully complete transactions, some of which may be large and complex. We may not be able to identify or complete attractive acquisition or investment opportunities due to, among other things, the intense competition for these transactions. If we are not able to identify and complete such acquisition or investment opportunities, our future results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

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We may be unable to obtain in the anticipated timeframe, or at all, any regulatory approvals required to complete proposed acquisitions and other strategic transactions. Furthermore, the conditions imposed for obtaining any necessary approvals could delay the completion of such transactions for a significant period of time or prevent them from occurring at all. We may not be able to complete such transactions and such transactions, if executed, pose significant risks and could have a negative effect on our operations. Any transactions that we are able to identify and complete may involve a number of risks, including:

● the diversion of our management’s attention from our existing business to integrate the operations and personnel of the acquired or combined business or joint venture;

● possible adverse effects on our operating results during the integration process;

● a high degree of risk inherent in these transactions, which could become substantial over time, and higher exposure to significant financial losses if the underlying ventures are not successful;

● our possible inability to achieve the intended objectives of the transaction; and

● the risks associated with complying with contractual provisions and regulations applicable to the acquired business, which may cause us to incur substantial expenses.

In addition, we may not be able to successfully or profitably integrate, operate, maintain and manage our newly acquired operations or employees. We may not be able to maintain uniform standards, controls, procedures and policies, and this may lead to operational inefficiencies. In addition, the integration process may strain our financial and managerial controls and reporting systems and procedures.

New acquisitions, joint ventures and other transactions may require the commitment of significant capital that would otherwise be directed to investments in our existing business. To pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions, we may need to raise additional capital in the future, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all. In addition, we make cash distributions to DISH Network to finance acquisitions or investments that will not be part of our business.

In addition to committing capital to complete the acquisitions, substantial capital may be required to operate the acquired businesses following their acquisition. These acquisitions may result in significant financial losses if the intended objectives of the transactions are not achieved. Some of the businesses acquired by DISH Network have experienced significant operating and financial challenges in their recent history, which in some cases resulted in these businesses commencing bankruptcy proceedings prior to DISH Network’s acquisition. DISH Network may acquire similar businesses in the future. There is no assurance that DISH Network will be able to successfully address the challenges and risks encountered by these businesses following their acquisition. If DISH Network is unable to successfully address these challenges and risks, our business, financial condition and/or results of operations may suffer.

We have substantial debt outstanding and may incur additional debt.

As of September 30, 2021, our total long-term debt and finance lease obligations, including the debt of our subsidiaries, was $10.127 billion. Our debt levels could have significant consequences, including:

● making it more difficult to satisfy our obligations;

● a dilutive effect on our future earnings;

● increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic conditions, including changes in interest rates;

● requiring us to devote a substantial portion of our cash to make interest and principal payments on our debt, thereby reducing the amount of cash available for other purposes. As a result, we would have limited financial and operating flexibility in responding to changing economic and competitive conditions;

● limiting our ability to raise additional debt because it may be more difficult for us to obtain debt financing on attractive terms; and

● placing us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors that are less leveraged.

In addition, we may incur substantial additional debt in the future. The terms of the indentures relating to our senior notes permit us to incur additional debt. If new debt is added to our current debt levels, the risks we now face could intensify.

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We may need additional capital, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to continue investing in our business and to finance acquisitions and other strategic transactions.

We may need to raise significant additional capital in the future, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to among other things, continue investing in our business, pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions. Adverse changes in the credit markets, including rising interest rates, could increase our borrowing costs and/or make it more difficult for us to obtain financing for our operations or refinance existing indebtedness. In addition, economic weakness or weak results of operations may limit our ability to generate sufficient internal cash to fund investments, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other strategic transactions, as well as to fund ongoing operations and service our debt. We may be unable to generate cash flows from operating activities sufficient to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our debt and other obligations. If we are unable to service our debt and other obligations from cash flows from operating activities, we may need to refinance or restructure all or a portion of such obligations prior to maturity. Any refinancing or restructuring could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and/or financial condition. In addition, we cannot guarantee that any refinancing or restructuring would sufficiently meet any debt or other obligations then due. Furthermore, our borrowing costs can be affected by short and long-term debt ratings assigned by independent rating agencies, which are based, in significant part, on our performance as measured by their credit metrics. A decrease in these ratings would likely increase our cost of borrowing and/or make it more difficult for us to obtain financing. A severe disruption in the global financial markets could impact some of the financial institutions with which we do business, and such instability could also affect our access to financing. As a result, these conditions make it difficult for us to accurately forecast and plan future business activities because we may not have access to funding sources necessary for us to pursue organic and strategic business development opportunities.

Our parent, DISH Network, is controlled by one principal stockholder who is also our Chairman.

Charles W. Ergen, DISH Network’s Chairman, beneficially owns approximately 51.9% of DISH Network’s total equity securities (assuming conversion of all Class B common stock into Class A common stock) and controls approximately 90.0% of the total voting power. Through his voting power, Mr. Ergen has the ability to elect a majority of DISH Network’s directors and to control all other matters requiring the approval of DISH Network’s stockholders. As a result, DISH Network is a “controlled company” as defined in the Nasdaq listing rules and is, therefore, not subject to Nasdaq requirements that would otherwise require DISH Network to have: (i) a majority of independent directors; (ii) a nominating committee composed solely of independent directors; (iii) compensation of our executive officers determined by a majority of the independent directors or a compensation committee composed solely of independent directors; and (iv) director nominees selected, or recommended for the Board’s selection, either by a majority of the independent directors or a nominating committee composed solely of independent directors. Mr. Ergen is also the principal stockholder and Chairman of EchoStar.

Legal and Regulatory Risks

Our business depends on certain intellectual property rights and on not infringing the intellectual property rights of others.

We rely on our patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, as well as licenses and other agreements with our vendors and other parties, to use our technologies, conduct our operations and sell our products and services. Legal challenges to our intellectual property rights and claims of intellectual property infringement by third parties could require that we enter into royalty or licensing agreements on unfavorable terms, incur substantial monetary liability or be enjoined preliminarily or permanently from further use of the intellectual property in question or from the continuation of our business as currently conducted, which could require us to change our business practices or limit our ability to compete effectively or could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Even if we believe any such challenges or claims are without merit, they can be time-consuming and costly to defend and divert management’s attention and resources away from our business. Moreover, because of the rapid pace of technological change, we rely on technologies developed or licensed by third parties, and if we are unable to obtain or continue to obtain licenses from these third parties on reasonable terms, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

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In addition, we work with third parties such as vendors, contractors and suppliers for the development and manufacture of components that are integrated into our products and services, and our products and services may contain technologies provided to us by these third parties or other third parties. We may have little or no ability to determine in advance whether any such technology infringes the intellectual property rights of others. Our vendors, contractors and suppliers may not be required to indemnify us if a claim of infringement is asserted against us, or they may be required to indemnify us only up to a maximum amount, above which we would be responsible for any further costs or damages. Legal challenges to these intellectual property rights may impair our ability to use the products, services and technologies that we need in order to operate our business and may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, our digital content offerings depend in part on effective digital rights management technology to control access to digital content. If the digital rights management technology that we use is compromised or otherwise malfunctions, content providers may be unwilling to provide access to their content. Changes in the copyright laws or how such laws may be interpreted could impact our ability to deliver content and provide certain features and functionality, particularly over the Internet.

We are, and may become, party to various lawsuits which, if adversely decided, could have a significant adverse impact on our business, particularly lawsuits regarding intellectual property.

We are, and may become, subject to various legal proceedings and claims which arise in the ordinary course of business, including among other things, intellectual property disputes.

Many entities, including some of our competitors, have or may in the future obtain patents and other intellectual property rights that may cover or affect products or services related to those that we offer. In general, if a court determines that one or more of our products or services infringes on intellectual property held by others, we may be required to cease developing or marketing those products or services, to obtain licenses from the holders of the intellectual property at a material cost, or to redesign those products or services in such a way as to avoid infringing the intellectual property. If those intellectual property rights are held by a competitor, we may be unable to obtain the intellectual property at any price, which could adversely affect our competitive position. See “Item 1. Business – Patents and Other Intellectual Property” of DISH Network’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 for further information.

We may not be aware of all intellectual property rights that our services or the products used in connection with our services may potentially infringe. In addition, patent applications in the United States are confidential until the Patent and Trademark Office either publishes the application or issues a patent (whichever arises first). Therefore, it is difficult to evaluate the extent to which our services or the products used in connection with our services may infringe claims contained in pending patent applications. Further, it is sometimes not possible to determine definitively whether a claim of infringement is valid.

Our services depend on FCC licenses that can expire or be revoked or modified and applications for FCC licenses that may not be granted.

If the FCC were to cancel, revoke, suspend, restrict, significantly condition, or fail to renew any of our licenses or authorizations, or fail to grant our applications for FCC licenses that we may file from time to time, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. As an example, a loss of a frequency authorization would reduce the amount of spectrum available to us, potentially reducing the amount of DISH TV services available to our DISH TV subscribers. The materiality of such a loss of authorizations would vary based upon, among other things, the location of the frequency used or the availability of replacement spectrum. In addition, Congress often considers and enacts legislation that affects us and FCC proceedings to implement the Communications Act and enforce its regulations are ongoing. We cannot predict the outcomes of these legislative or regulatory proceedings or their effect on our business.

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If our internal controls are not effective, our business, DISH Network’s stock price and investor confidence in our financial results may be adversely affected.

We periodically evaluate and test our internal control over financial reporting to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of September 30, 2021. If in the future we are unable to report that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, investors, subscribers and business partners could lose confidence in the accuracy of our financial reports, which could in turn have a material adverse effect on our business, investor confidence in our financial results may weaken, and DISH Network’s stock price may suffer.

We may face other risks described from time to time in periodic and current reports we file with the SEC.

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Item 6.EXHIBITS

(a) Exhibits.

22*	List of Subsidiary Guarantors
31.1*	Section 302 Certification of Chief Executive Officer.
31.2*	Section 302 Certification of Chief Financial Officer.
32.1*	Section 906 Certification of Chief Executive Officer.
32.2*	Section 906 Certification of Chief Financial Officer.
101*	The following materials from the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of DISH DBS for the quarter ended September 30, 2021, filed on November 5, 2021, formatted in Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (“iXBRL”): (i) Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, (ii) Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss), (iii) Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholder’s Equity (Deficit), (iv) Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and (v) related notes to these financial statements.
104*	Cover Page Interactive Data File (the cover page XBRL tags are embedded in the Inline XBRL document).

*Filed herewith.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

DISH DBS CORPORATION
By:	/s/ W. Erik Carlson
	W. Erik Carlson
	President and Chief Executive Officer
	(Duly Authorized Officer)
By:	/s/ Paul W. Orban
	Paul W. Orban
	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
	(Principal Financial Officer)
By:	/s/ James S. Allen
	James S. Allen
	Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer
	(Principal Accounting Officer)

Date: November 5, 2021

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