Charlie Ergen Goes For Broke

[cnsf]

Charlie Ergen Goes for Broke (http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/021002/nf20021021243_1.html)

[gowilk]

It looks like good ole Courthouse Charlie is going to get some deposition time. This is typical business strategy:

1. Find a banker to loan you money for something you can't afford.
2. Spend it to try to buy some politician.
3. if that doesn't work, spend the rest on lawyers to try to get what you shouldn't have been able to get in the first place.
4. If all that fails, go bankrupt and blame your employees, consumers, competition or any combination of the above for your miserable failing.

The list is disgracefully endless of companies that have tried this strategy and in the end, the only ones really hurt are the employees and stockholders of the company.... SAD

[Martyva]

The article fails to mention how valuable PanAm assetts are.

[cnsf]

Agreed. This appeared to be an Anti-Charlie article rather than an objective one. BusinessWeek doesn't like the merger much, I believe.

[markh]

With Murdoch back sniffing around, you can bet that nobody at Hughes will say anything that makes it look like they aren't "using their best efforts" to get the deal done.

It would be a horrible irony if it falls apart and the money E* pays Hughes would allow GM to sell Hughes to Murdoch cheaper than before. DOH!

[Chris Blount]

Originally posted by cnsf
Agreed. This appeared to be an Anti-Charlie article rather than an objective one. BusinessWeek doesn't like the merger much, I believe. I agree. A very slanted article. I wonder if Rage is a staff writer for them. :)

[Richard King]

BusinessWeek Online
Charlie Ergen Goes for Broke
Wednesday October 2, 7:53 am ET

By Ron Grover

"Indeed, he has made litigation something of an art form, suing everyone from the major TV networks to the insurance carrier for a satellite that exploded upon liftoff in 1998."

Gee, I wonder how Charlie kept the fact of this explosion from everyone, including shareholders. So much for BW's research and credibility. Obviously the are referring to the problems with Echostar IV's solar arrays, hardly an "explosion upon liftoff". Do you think I should inform "Ron" of the error of his ways? Nah, if he didn't learn anything in Journalism School, I suspect he wouldn't even listen. :rolleyes:

[Richard King]

I couldn't resist. I sent the following e-mail to Ron....

If the "quality" of your opinion is on a par with the "quality" of your research, I would expect that the merger you refer to in the above article is now a sure thing. To quote your "article":

"Indeed, he has made litigation something of an art form, suing everyone from the major TV networks to the insurance carrier for a satellite that exploded upon liftoff in 1998."

Now, for the truth. Echostar has NEVER lost a satellite due to an "explosion upon liftoff". Echostar has a problem with Echostar IV due to solar arrays not fully deploying, but the satellite is still being partially used to this day. Echostar is suing the insurance companies for partial loss of the satellite and it's expected shorter life span. Anyone who did ANY minor research on the subject or history of the company would be aware of this. This one statement invalidates the total of the article.

Richard D. King

[JBKing]

RKing, let us know if he responds.

I went on a similar email craze a year or two ago, when all the PVR articles mentioned Tivo and Replay, but never mentioned the DishPlayer. I got a lot of "I'll have to check into that" responses.

[DmitriA]

Originally posted by markh
It would be a horrible irony if it falls apart and the money E* pays Hughes would allow GM to sell Hughes to Murdoch cheaper than before. DOH!

Even if the deal is dead, it's going to be years before GM sees a penny of that money since Charlie is going to fight them tooth and nail in every court in the country

[Mike123abc]

While in the past I have stated my objections to the merger, now I hope that it indeed goes through. But, not for the reason one might think. I want it to go through so the DBS market can get moving again. After a year of limbo I am getting impatient. If the merger is denied I think that it will be years before the DBS industry recovers from the event. E* will find a way to keep D* tied up forever, and with the two companies battling it will be a morass.

I do not think that pricing will get out of control for a few years at least.  Charlie does a good job keeping prices under control, and he knows the feds will be watching him like a hawk.  Maybe by the time E* gets going full steam, a real competetor will emerge with new technology to keep ED* on its toes.

[Richard King]

Just thought I would let everyone know, that I have had no response from my E-mail yet, not that I expect one.