News: 0184301108

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

EchoStar's US Satellite Pay-TV Provider Dish DBS Files for Bankruptcy (deadline.com)

(Saturday July 04, 2026 @05:34PM (EditorDavid) from the breaking-a-Dish dept.)


EchoStar's satellite pay-TV unit Dish DBS has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, [1]reports Reuters . The move also applies to its wireless subsidiaries, according to the article, and "facilitates the wind-down of Dish Wireless's 5G network operations following an unexpected delay in a spectrum license sale to AT&T... under which EchoStar [2]agreed to sell about 50 megahertz of its nationwide spectrum for $23 billion."

Some [3]context from Deadline.com :

> Charlie Ergen, who co-founded EchoStar and Dish, recently returned as chairman and CEO to steer the company through its recent challenges... Even prior to the merger, Ergen had been working to pivot from the pay-TV business, where Dish now has just 5 million subscribers and streaming sibling Sling TV has another 2 million, toward wireless telecom. With wireless spectrum hitting the market due to the Sprint-T-Mobile merger and then Elon Musk's Starlink looking to ramp up in the sector, it seemed more attractive than the cord-cutting-ravaged pay-TV business. But it is still entails plenty of risk, especially given how tightly regulated the spectrum is due to security concerns.

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [4]schwit1 for sharing the news.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/echostars-dish-dbs-wireless-units-file-prepackaged-bankruptcy-2026-06-30/

[2] https://www.reuters.com/en/echostar-sell-wireless-spectrum-licenses-att-23-billion-deal-2025-08-26/

[3] https://deadline.com/2026/06/dish-satellite-pay-tv-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy-1236971845/

[4] https://www.slashdot.org/~schwit1


Re: (Score:2)

by PPH ( 736903 )

StarLink may eventually wipe it out. Until then, it's the only way some people have to watch TV. I'm not familiar with Starlink data caps and fees, if any. It could be that Satellite TV will always be a lower price point for this application.

Re: (Score:2)

by CommunityMember ( 6662188 )

> I'm surprised people still use this.

There are still locations where it is the cheapest most reliable option for the content some wish to consume (and sports bars were still using satellites in some cases so they could have all the games on all the screens (this, too, is changing)). However, the individual satellite subscriber numbers continue to shrink.

Please don't kill Sling! (Score:1)

by Frogking ( 126462 )

I really hope they don't kill Sling TV. In my area, it's the only provider that doesn't charge a monthly $35 "local channels rebroadcast fee" for simple TV service. I have an HDHomeRun and don't want to or need to pay extra for local channels! Sling Blue costs me just a little more than $35/month and gets me all the "cable" channels I really want with no crazy extra fees.

Re: (Score:3)

by DewDude ( 537374 )

So...in the land of normal cable television; you can't do this. Cable providers are legally required to offer local channels; and you're legally required to pay the rebroadcast fee.

Streaming providers....last I knew....were supposed to adhere to this too; broadcasters threw a fit at the possibility of people buying packages without locals and cutting them off of all that money.

At the very least...the reorganization might close whatever loophole they're using and you'll have to start paying for locals. This

Re: (Score:2)

by CommunityMember ( 6662188 )

> I really hope they don't kill Sling TV.

Not in the (current) plan. This is a prepackaged bankruptcy that was due to bank notes coming due July 1st, and the FCC not yet issuing of a final order (there is conditional approval) for the spectrum sales, such that Echostar could not yet get its money and pay their bills on time, so, bankruptcy filing.

We can predict everything, except the future.