Dish and EchoStar reunion draws mixed reaction from investors as Charlie Ergen continues to shift from pay TV to over-the-air TV

Shares of EchoStar were flat Tuesday morning on the first day of trading since the wireless company’s merger with Dish Network was completed.

The all-stock deal, which was announced last summer, officially closed on Sunday. Dish has been a separate entity since it was spun off from EchoStar in 2008. The reunion gives Charlie Ergen a little more leeway to try to execute his strategic pivot away from pay TV and into over-the-air TV, though EchoStar is for now no. 4 is. Player in a competitive market led by Verizon and AT&T.

Ergen, 70, long known as an empathetic negotiator and outspoken critic of the traditional economics of pay-TV packages, will become chief executive of the combined company. He co-founded both companies and previously served as chairman of both companies. Hamid Akhavan, head of EchoStar since March 2022, took over CEO duties at Dish in November. Dish’s former CEO Erik Carlson left the company as part of the merger.

Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., the combined company will continue to operate Dish TV and Sling TV, positioning them alongside consumer and business brands such as Boost Mobile, EchoStar and satellite services Hughes and Jupiter.

Dish has struggled with a heavy debt load and a steady decline in customers, with the number of pay-TV subscribers falling by a third over the past decade, reaching 8.8 million as of September 30. Last Friday, the last day of trading on the Nasdaq, Dish shares closed at $5.77. The stock fell from a 52-week high of around $16 before hitting a 25-year low last November after a dismal third-quarter earnings report. Ergen admitted to Wall Street analysts at the time that the company would have to follow a “narrow path” to achieve financial stability.

EchoStar shares are trading at about $16.50 today, giving the company a market value of nearly $1.4 billion.

“The completion of this merger represents an important milestone for our company and our customers and ushers in a new era of connectivity,” Ergen said in a press release today. “We have brought together two pioneering companies with complementary portfolios to create a global connectivity leader with world-class wireless, satellite and video distribution capabilities. Together, EchoStar and Dish deliver a comprehensive consumer connectivity business and an unparalleled managed enterprise services business. In an increasingly wireless world, we are well positioned to drive revenue and profitable growth.”