Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen admits the company has a “narrow path” to walk toward financial stability; DirecTV’s merger hunt is on hold as stock prices fall to their lowest level in 25 years

With shares in freefall after a dismal third-quarter earnings report, Dish Network executives turned to Wall Street and acknowledged in an earnings release that they face a number of growing challenges.

“We have a narrow path, but there is a path to achieving financial stability and ensuring that we meet our obligations,” said Chairman Charlie Ergen. “Because we’ve been going through this for a long time, we used to have roads close by.”

The company’s shares fell more than 37% on more than eight times normal trading volume, ending the day at $3.44. It was the stock’s biggest one-day drop in nearly three decades of trading and its lowest closing price in 25 years.

In addition to trying to squeeze money out of its existing pay-TV business, which has been shedding double-digit subscribers annually, the company also continues to attempt a major strategic overhaul. With deep roots in satellite television, a business that thrived until about a decade ago, Dish has moved in recent years to acquire billions of dollars worth of spectrum and try to kill off its wireless business. But the battle against established rivals AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile has proven to be a daunting proposition. The wireless sector is extremely capital intensive, both in terms of physical infrastructure and consumer marketing, and year-to-date results fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Ergen, who has long earned a reputation as an outspoken outsider who seizes the opportunity to move the industry, struck a more thoughtful tone, at one point even thanking an analyst for his “constructive criticism.” Most corporate earnings calls begin with an extended period of written commentary from executives, followed by a question-and-answer session with analysts. In contrast, this Dish call featured little prepared commentary and took up nearly an hour of questions and answers with analysts and members of the press.

The company’s enormous debt load, about 11 times less than EBITDA (at least three times the level of a healthy company), includes a series of emergency obligations due in 2026. Ergen compared the road from here to there to “a “It’s a pretty big wall,” but he said, “My crystal ball says we can do it.”

Asked if Dish wants to merge with DirecTV, a private company owned by AT&T and private equity firm TPG, Ergen said there are other priorities to address. First, a recent statement: “We still have a lot of work to do to bring the companies and management teams together and ensure that we are not waiting for synergies,” he said. “Based on this, we have no plans for DirecTV.”

Executives were also asked about the company’s approach to pay TV, especially in light of Charter’s epic conflict with Disney in September, in which Gary Schanman, EVP and group president, Video Services, said that Dish “always looks out for its customers and programmers. “looking”. Relationships. Schanman said Dish “broadly agreed with the position Charter took” when it reached a carriage deal with Disney that included ending coverage for Freeform and several other Disney networks. “Certain parts of the model are broken,” Schanman said. “This company has taken these steps in the past, especially when you look at our history with regional sports networks.”