Dish's Positive Earnings Overshadowed by Likely Disruptions With $3.3 Bn Auction Discount Repayment

The pay-TV subscriber base continued to shrink, but growth in ARPU translated into higher pay-TV revenues for the satellite company. Arguably the most important piece of information came during the earnings call when CEO Charlie Ergen conceded that Dish's future plans might be severely affected if the FCC cancels the $3.3 billion discount the company received in the AWS-3 spectrum auction. An additional liability of that magnitude could stall future M&A activity and cripple Dish's plans to bid f...