Ergen Talks Merger, DISH 301 and Locals

[Gregg Lengling]

EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen said he's still very interested in pursuing his company's merger with DirecTV and Hughes, saying it's "the right thing for competition."

Ergen, speaking during his monthly Charlie Chat with retailers Tuesday, admitted that the merger is in a tough position, given that it was rejected in October by the Federal Communications Commission and by the antitrust staff at the Justice Department. "It's an uphill battle to get it done," he said. "But at DISH Network we have had tough things before."

He said there is room for the satellite TV merger, especially given the pending mega-merger of cable giants Comcast and AT&T Broadband. Discussions continue on remedies that may allow for regulatory approval of the combination, as well as a court challenge of the government's decision to block the deal. However, Ergen pointed out to his TV audience that Hughes can walk away from the merger agreement in January.

As for the DISH 301 set-top box outage, in which around 100,000 systems were knocked out of service late last week, Ergen said the glitch "was a little bigger than minor." However, he told retailers that most affected customers had their service restored days after the event.

Ergen also praised retailers for their efforts to get DISH 301 customers back in service.

Ergen also revealed two more local TV markets that will be added to the DISH Network slate. On Nov. 21, customers in Buffalo and Des Moines, Iowa, will get their locals from DISH Network.

The additions bring to 51 the number of local TV markets offered by DISH Network, a figure floated by EchoStar as the maximum number of local TV markets the company can deliver without a merger with DirecTV. However, Ergen said Tuesday that capacity aboard EchoStar VIII may allow the company to add a couple of additional cities.