SEC Filing | Dish

Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)
Registration No. 333-257117

PROSPECTUS

DISH DBS CORPORATION

Offer to Exchange up to $1,500,000,000 aggregate principal amount of new
5.125% Senior Notes due 2029
which have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933,
for any and all of its outstanding 5.125% Senior Notes due 2029
Subject to the Terms and Conditions described in this Prospectus
The Exchange Offer will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time,
on August 30, 2021, unless extended

We are offering to exchange, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this prospectus and the accompanying letter of transmittal, our new 5.125% Senior Notes due 2029 for all of our outstanding 5.125% Senior Notes due 2029. We refer to our outstanding 5.125% Senior Notes due 2029 as the “Old Notes” and the new 5.125% Senior Notes due 2029 issued in this offer as the “Notes.” The Notes are substantially identical to the Old Notes that we issued on May 24, 2021, except for certain transfer restrictions and registration rights provisions relating to the Old Notes. The CUSIP numbers for the Old Notes are 25470X BC8 and U25486 AP3.

MATERIAL TERMS OF THE EXCHANGE OFFER

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You will receive an equal principal amount of Notes for all Old Notes that you validly tender and do not validly withdraw.

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The exchange should not be a taxable exchange for United States federal income tax purposes.

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There has been no public market for the Old Notes and we cannot assure you that any public market for the Notes will develop. We do not intend to list the Notes on any securities exchange or to arrange for them to be quoted on any automated quotation system.

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The terms of the Notes are substantially identical to those of the Old Notes, except for certain transfer restrictions and registration rights relating to the Old Notes.

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If you fail to tender your Old Notes for the Notes, you will continue to hold unregistered securities and it may be difficult for you to transfer them.

Investing in the Notes involves risks. Consider carefully the “Risk Factors” beginning on page 12 of this prospectus.

We are not making this exchange offer in any state where it is not permitted.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined that this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The date of this prospectus is August 2, 2021.

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WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a registration statement on Form S-4 under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) that registers the Notes that will be offered in exchange for the Old Notes. The registration statement, including the attached exhibits and schedules, contains additional relevant information about us and the Notes. The rules and regulations of the SEC allow us to omit from this document certain information included in the registration statement.

This prospectus incorporates by reference business and financial information about us that is not included in or delivered with this prospectus. This information is available without charge upon written or oral request directed to: Investor Relations, DISH DBS Corporation, 9601 South Meridian Boulevard, Englewood, Colorado 80112; telephone number: (303) 723-1000. To obtain timely delivery, you must request the information no later than August 23, 2021.

Additionally, this prospectus contains summaries and other information that we believe are accurate as of the date hereof with respect to the terms of specific documents, but we refer to the actual documents for complete information with respect to those documents, copies of which will be made available without charge to you upon request, for complete information with respect to those documents. Statements contained in this prospectus as to the contents of any contract or other documents referred to in this prospectus do not purport to be complete. Where reference is made to the particular provisions of a contract or other document, the provisions are qualified in all respects by reference to all of the provisions of the contract or other document. Industry and company data are approximate and reflect rounding in certain cases.

We and our parent company, DISH Network Corporation (“DISH Network”), each file reports, proxy statements (in the case of DISH Network) and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains a website that contains reports and other information that we file electronically with the SEC. The address of that website is http://www.sec.gov. Our filings with the SEC and those of DISH Network are also accessible free of charge at our website, the address of which is http://www.dish.com.

The Class A common stock of our parent company, DISH Network, is traded under the symbol “DISH” on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. DISH Network has not guaranteed and is not otherwise responsible for the Notes.

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DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

We make “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 throughout this prospectus (including the documents incorporated herein by reference), including, in particular, statements about our plans, objectives and strategies, growth opportunities in our industries and businesses, our expectations regarding future results, financial condition, liquidity and capital requirements, our estimates regarding the impact of regulatory developments and legal proceedings, and other trends and projections. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as “future,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “seek,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “predict,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “can,” “may,” and similar terms. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this prospectus (or, in the case of a document incorporated herein by reference, the date of such document) and represent management’s views and assumptions as of such respective date. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. Accordingly, actual performance, events or results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the following:

COVID-19 Pandemic

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The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economic environment generally, and on us specifically, have adversely impacted our business. Furthermore, any continuation or worsening of the pandemic and economic environment could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Competition and Economic Risks

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We face intense and increasing competition from providers of video, broadband and/or wireless services, which may require us to further increase subscriber acquisition and retention spending or accept lower subscriber activations and higher subscriber churn.

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Changing consumer behavior and new technologies in our Pay-TV business may reduce our subscriber activations and may cause our subscribers to purchase fewer services from us or to cancel our services altogether, resulting in less revenue to us.

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Our pay-TV competitors may be able to leverage their relationships with programmers to reduce their programming costs and/or offer exclusive content that will place them at a competitive advantage to us.

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Changes in how network operators handle and charge for access to data that travels across their networks could adversely impact our Pay-TV business.

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Economic weakness and uncertainty may adversely affect our ability to grow or maintain our business.

Operational and Service Delivery Risks

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Any deterioration in our operational performance and subscriber satisfaction could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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If our subscriber activations decrease, or if our subscriber churn rate, subscriber acquisition costs or retention costs increase, our financial performance will be adversely affected.

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With respect to our Pay-TV business, programming expenses are increasing, which may adversely affect our future financial condition and results of operations.

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We depend on others to provide the programming that we offer to our Pay-TV subscribers and, if we fail to obtain or lose access to certain programming, our Pay-TV subscriber activations and our subscriber churn rate may be negatively impacted.

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We may not be able to obtain necessary retransmission consent agreements at acceptable rates, or at all, from local network stations.

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Any failure or inadequacy of our information technology infrastructure and communications systems or those of third parties that we use in our operations, including, without limitation, those caused by cyber-attacks or other malicious activities, could disrupt or harm our business.

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We currently depend on DISH Network to provide the vast majority of our satellite transponder capacity and other related services to us. Our business would be adversely affected if DISH Network ceases to provide these services to us and we are unable to obtain suitable replacement services from third parties.

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Our failure to effectively invest in, introduce, and implement new competitive products and services could cause our products and services to become obsolete and could negatively impact our business.

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We rely on a single vendor or a limited number of vendors to provide certain key products or services to us, and the inability of these key vendors to meet our needs could have a material adverse effect on our business.

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We depend on independent third parties to solicit orders for our services that represent a meaningful percentage of our total gross new subscriber activations.

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We have limited satellite capacity and failures or reduced capacity could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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We may have potential conflicts of interest with EchoStar Corporation (“EchoStar”) due to our and DISH Network’s common ownership and management.

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We rely on highly skilled personnel for our business, and any inability to hire and retain key personnel or hire qualified personnel may negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Acquisition and Capital Structure Risks

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Our parent, DISH Network, has made substantial investments to acquire certain wireless spectrum licenses and other related assets and we may make cash distributions in connection with the development of DISH Network’s wireless business.

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Our parent, DISH Network, has made substantial non-controlling investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities related to AWS-3 wireless spectrum licenses and we have made and may make additional cash distributions to DISH Network so that DISH Network may fund the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities.

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We may pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions to complement or expand our business that may not be successful, and we may lose up to the entire value of our investment in these acquisitions and transactions.

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We have substantial debt outstanding and may incur additional debt.

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We may need additional capital, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to continue investing in our business and to finance acquisitions and other strategic transactions.

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Our parent, DISH Network, is controlled by one principal stockholder who is also our Chairman.

Legal and Regulatory Risks

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Our business depends on certain intellectual property rights and on not infringing the intellectual property rights of others.

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We are, and may become, party to various lawsuits which, if adversely decided, could have a significant adverse impact on our business, particularly lawsuits regarding intellectual property.

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Our services depend on Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) licenses that can expire or be revoked or modified and applications for FCC licenses that may not be granted.

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If our internal controls are not effective, our business, DISH Network’s stock price and investor confidence in our financial results may be adversely affected.

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We may face other risks described from time to time in periodic and current reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Other factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in this prospectus, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on March 24, 2021 (the “Annual Report”), Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on May 4, 2021 (the “Quarterly Report”) and other SEC filings. See “Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference.” All cautionary statements made or referred to herein should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements wherever they appear. You should consider the risks and uncertainties described or referred to herein and should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we expressly disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

You should read carefully the section of this prospectus under the heading “Risk Factors” beginning on page 12.

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SUMMARY

In this prospectus, the words “we,” “our,” “us,” “DDBS”, “DISH DBS” and the “Company” refer to DISH DBS Corporation and its subsidiaries, unless otherwise stated or required by the context. “DISH Network” refers to DISH Network Corporation, our ultimate parent company, and its subsidiaries, including us, unless otherwise stated or required by the context. “EchoStar” refers to EchoStar Corporation and its subsidiaries, unless otherwise stated or required by the context. This summary highlights selected information contained in greater detail elsewhere in this prospectus or incorporated by reference herein. This summary may not contain all of the information that you should consider before investing in the Notes. You should carefully read the entire prospectus, including the sections under the headings “Risk Factors” and “Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” and the documents incorporated by reference herein.

DISH DBS Corporation

DISH DBS Corporation is a holding company and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network. DISH DBS was formed under Colorado law in January 1996 and all its capital stock is held by DISH Orbital Corporation (“DOC”), a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network. Our subsidiaries operate one business segment.

We offer pay-TV services under the DISH® brand and the SLING® brand (collectively “Pay-TV” services). The DISH branded pay-TV service consists of, among other things, FCC licenses authorizing us to use direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) and Fixed Satellite Service (“FSS”) spectrum, our owned and leased satellites, receiver systems, broadcast operations, a leased fiber optic network, in-home service and call center operations, and certain other assets utilized in our operations (“DISH TV”). We also design, develop and distribute receiver systems and provide digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and other services to third-party pay-TV providers. The SLING branded pay-TV services consist of, among other things, multichannel, live-linear streaming over-the-top (“OTT”) Internet-based domestic, international and Latino video programming services (“SLING TV”). As of March 31, 2021, we had 11.060 million Pay-TV subscribers in the United States, including 8.686 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.374 million SLING TV subscribers.

Our business strategy is to be the best provider of video services in the United States by providing products with the best technology, outstanding customer service, and great value. We promote our Pay-TV services as providing our subscribers with a better “price-to-value” relationship than those available from other subscription television service providers. We market our SLING TV services to consumers who do not subscribe to traditional satellite and cable pay-TV services, as well as to current and recent traditional pay-TV subscribers who desire a lower cost alternative.

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Products with the Best Technology. We offer a wide selection of local and national HD programming and are a technology leader in our industry, offering award-winning DVRs (including our Hopper® whole-home HD DVR), multiple tuner receivers, 1080p video on demand, and external hard drives. We offer several Sling TV services, including Sling Orange (our single-stream Sling domestic service), Sling Blue (our multi-stream Sling domestic service), Sling International, Sling Latino, among others, as well as add-on extras, pay-per-view events and a cloud based DVR service.

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Outstanding Customer Service. We strive to provide outstanding customer service by improving the quality of the initial installation of subscriber equipment, improving the reliability of our equipment, better educating our customers about our products and services, and resolving customer problems promptly and effectively when they arise.

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Great Value. We have historically been viewed as the low-cost provider in the pay-TV industry in the United States. However, today with DISH TV, we are focused on our brand promise “Tuned into You” and a message of Service, Value and Technology. For example, for certain new and qualifying customers we guarantee our pricing for certain programming packages and equipment for a two-year commitment period. We also offer a differentiated customer experience with our award winning Hopper Platform that integrates voice control powered by Google Assistant, access to apps including Netflix, Prime Video and You Tube, and the ability to watch live, recorded and On Demand content anywhere with the DISH Anywhere mobile application. As another example, our Sling

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Orange service and our Sling Blue service are two of the lowest priced live-linear online streaming services in the industry.

Our revenue is primarily derived from Pay-TV programming services that we provide to our subscribers. We also generate revenue from equipment rental fees and other hardware related fees, including DVRs and fees from subscribers with multiple receivers; advertising services; fees earned from our in-home service operations; warranty services; sales of digital receivers and related equipment to third-party pay-TV providers; satellite uplink and telemetry, tracking and control (“TT&C”) services; and revenue from in-home services. Our most significant expenses are subscriber-related expenses, which are primarily related to programming.

On January 1, 2008, our parent company, DISH Network, completed the distribution of its technology and set-top box business and certain infrastructure assets (the “Spin-off”) into a separate publicly-traded company, EchoStar. DISH Network and EchoStar operate as separate publicly-traded companies and neither entity has any ownership interest in the other. However, a substantial majority of the voting power of the shares of both DISH Network and EchoStar is owned beneficially by Charles W. Ergen, our Chairman, and by certain entities established by Mr. Ergen for the benefit of his family. As a result, EchoStar provided the vast majority of our satellite transponder capacity until September 10, 2019 and was a key supplier of other related services to us. Furthermore, we have an authorized representative arrangement with Hughes, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EchoStar, which offers satellite broadband Internet services to customers. See “Risk Factors.”

On February 28, 2017, DISH Network and EchoStar and certain of their respective subsidiaries completed the transactions contemplated by the Share Exchange Agreement (the “Share Exchange Agreement”) that was previously entered into on January 31, 2017 (the “Share Exchange”). Pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreement, among other things, EchoStar transferred to DISH Network certain assets and liabilities of the EchoStar technologies and EchoStar broadcasting businesses, consisting primarily of the businesses that design, develop and distribute digital set-top boxes, provide satellite uplink services and develop and support streaming video technology, as well as certain investments in joint ventures, spectrum licenses, real estate properties and EchoStar’s ten percent non-voting interest in Sling TV Holding L.L.C., and in exchange, DISH Network transferred to EchoStar the 6,290,499 shares of preferred tracking stock issued by EchoStar and 81.128 shares of preferred tracking stock issued by Hughes Satellite Systems Corporation, a subsidiary of EchoStar, that tracked the residential retail satellite broadband business of Hughes Network Systems, L.L.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hughes.

On May 19, 2019, DISH Network entered into a Master Transaction Agreement with EchoStar (the “Master Transaction Agreement”) and effective September 10, 2019, certain satellites and real estate assets leased from EchoStar were transferred to DISH Network and DISH Network issued additional shares of its Class A common stock that were distributed to EchoStar shareholders. As a result of the Master Transaction Agreement, DISH Network is now a supplier of the vast majority of our transponder capacity.

On July 26, 2019, DISH Network entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “APA”) with T-Mobile US, Inc. (“T-Mobile”) and Sprint Corporation (“Sprint” and together with T-Mobile, the “Sellers” and given the consummation of the Sprint-T-Mobile merger, sometimes referred to as “NTM”) to acquire from NTM certain assets and liabilities associated with Sprint’s Boost Mobile and Sprint-branded prepaid mobile services businesses for an aggregate purchase price of $1.4 billion as adjusted for specific categories of net working capital on the closing date (the “Boost Mobile Acquisition”). Effective July 1, 2020, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the APA, DISH Network and T Mobile completed the Boost Mobile Acquisition.

In connection with the closing of the Boost Mobile Acquisition, DISH Network and T-Mobile entered into a transition services agreement under which DISH Network will receive certain transitional services, a master network services agreement for the provision of network services by T-Mobile to DISH Network, an option agreement entitling DISH Network to acquire certain decommissioned cell sites and retail stores of T-Mobile and an agreement under which DISH Network would purchase all of Sprint’s 800 MHz spectrum licenses, totaling approximately 13.5 MHz of nationwide wireless spectrum for an additional approximately $3.59 billion.

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COVID-19 Update

A novel strain of coronavirus which causes the disease COVID-19 has resulted in a worldwide pandemic. COVID-19 has surfaced in nearly all regions around the world and resulted in global travel restrictions and business slowdowns or shutdowns. The COVID-19 pandemic has also created unanticipated circumstances and uncertainty, disruption, and significant volatility in the economic environment generally, which have adversely affected, and may continue to adversely affect, our business operations and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many of our subscribers are impacted by recommendations and/or mandates from federal, state, and local authorities to practice social distancing, to refrain from gathering in groups and, in some areas, to refrain from non-essential movements outside of their homes. While certain government regulations and/or mandates have eased, or are expected to ease in 2021 and COVID-19 vaccines have become more available in certain areas, governmental authorities are continuing to take various actions in an effort to slow the spread of COVID‑19. COVID-19 continues to impact our business during 2021, in particular in the following areas:

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In response to the outbreak and business disruption, first and foremost, we have prioritized the health and safety of our employees. We have implemented increased health and safety practices including, increased use of personal protective equipment for employees to protect them and our subscribers, and temperature checks at certain locations.

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Our commercial business is impacted as many bars, restaurants, and other commercial establishments have been and continue to be recommended and/or mandated to operate at reduced capacity. In addition, airlines and hotels have reduced operations as a result of government actions and/or related lower consumer demand.

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Beginning in the second half of March 2020, COVID-19 and the related governmental recommendations and/or mandates created reduced in person selling opportunities, and a reduction in subscribers’ willingness to open direct mail marketing and allow in-home technicians into their homes. As a result, we reduced our marketing expenditures and our gross new DISH TV subscribers began to decrease.

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Our DISH Smart Home Services brand was impacted as in home installation and support has been impacted by government actions and/or related lower consumer demand for these services.

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Our supply chain has been impacted by COVID-19, and there have been and could be additional significant and unanticipated interruptions and/or delays in the supply of materials and/or equipment across our supply chain, due to, among other things, surges in COVID-19. Moreover, the recent surges in COVID-19 cases in areas outside the United States and the stringent lockdowns implemented in response to such surges are causing interruptions and/or delays that are adversely impacting our business. In addition, during 2021 there have been worldwide interruptions and delays in the supply of electronic components including semi-conductors, which may significantly impact our ability to obtain set-top boxes. Furthermore, we may not be able to diversify sources of supply in a timely manner to mitigate these interruptions and/or delays. These interruptions and/or delays in our supply chain could have a material adverse effect on our business.

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Due to the economic climate, combined with changing needs of our subscribers and how we can best serve them, during the second quarter of 2020, we made the decision to reevaluate our organization. This included a focused set of staffing reductions to align our workforce to best serve our subscribers.

We continue to monitor the rapidly evolving situation and guidance from international and domestic authorities, including federal, state and local public health agencies and may take additional actions based on their recommendations. In these circumstances, there may be developments beyond our control requiring us to adjust our operating plan. As such, given the dynamic nature of this situation, we cannot reasonably estimate the impacts of COVID-19 on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows in the future.

Our principal executive offices are located at 9601 South Meridian Boulevard, Englewood, Colorado 80112, and our telephone number is (303) 723-1000. Our filings with the SEC and those of DISH

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The Exchange Offer

The exchange offer relates to the exchange of up to $1,500,000,000 aggregate principal amount of outstanding 5.125% Senior Notes due 2029, for an equal aggregate principal amount of the Notes. The form and terms of the Notes are identical in all material respects to the form and terms of the outstanding Old Notes, except that the Notes will be registered under the Securities Act, and therefore they will not bear legends restricting their transfer.

The Exchange Offer

We are offering to exchange $1,000 principal amount of our Notes that we have registered under the Securities Act for each $1,000 principal amount of outstanding Old Notes. Old Notes tendered in the exchange offer must be in minimum denominations of $2,000 principal amount and any integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof. In order for us to exchange your Old Notes, you must validly tender them to us and we must accept them. We will exchange all outstanding Old Notes that are validly tendered and not validly withdrawn.

Resale of the Notes

Based on interpretations by the staff of the SEC set forth in no-action letters issued to other parties, we believe that you may offer for resale, resell and otherwise transfer your Notes without compliance with the registration and prospectus delivery provisions of the Securities Act if you are not our affiliate and you acquire the Notes issued in the exchange offer in the ordinary course.

You must also represent to us that you are not participating, do not intend to participate and have no arrangement or understanding with any person to participate in the distribution of the Notes we issue to you in the exchange offer.

Each broker-dealer that receives Notes in the exchange offer for its own account in exchange for Old Notes that it acquired as a result of market-making or other trading activities must acknowledge that it will deliver a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act in connection with any resale of the Notes issued in the exchange offer. You may not participate in the exchange offer if you are a broker-dealer who purchased such outstanding Old Notes directly from us for resale pursuant to Rule 144A or any other available exemption under the Securities Act.

Expiration date

The exchange offer will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 30, 2021, unless we decide to extend the expiration date. We may extend the expiration date for any reason. If we fail to consummate the exchange offer, you will have certain rights against us under the registration rights agreement we entered into as part of the offering of the Old Notes.

Special procedures for beneficial owners

If you are the beneficial owner of Old Notes and you registered your Old Notes in the name of a broker or other institution, and you wish to participate in the exchange, you should promptly contact the person in whose name you registered your Old Notes and instruct that person to

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tender the Old Notes on your behalf. If you wish to tender on your own behalf, you must, prior to completing and executing the letter of transmittal and delivering your outstanding Old Notes, either make appropriate arrangements to register ownership of the outstanding Old Notes in your name or obtain a properly completed bond power from the registered holder. The transfer of record ownership may take considerable time.

Guaranteed delivery
procedures

If you wish to tender your Old Notes and time will not permit your required documents to reach the exchange agent by the expiration date, or you cannot complete the procedure for book-entry transfer on time or you cannot deliver your certificates for registered Old Notes on time, you may tender your Old Notes pursuant to the procedures described in this prospectus under the heading “The Exchange Offer — How to use the guaranteed delivery procedures if you will not have enough time to send all documents to us.”

Withdrawal rights

You may withdraw the tender of your Old Notes at any time prior to the expiration date.

Tax consequences

An exchange of Old Notes for Notes should not be subject to United States federal income tax. See “United States Federal Income Tax Considerations of the Exchange Offer” below.

Use of proceeds

We will not receive any proceeds from the issuance of Notes pursuant to the exchange offer. Old Notes that are validly tendered and exchanged will be retired and canceled.

Exchange Agent

You can reach the Exchange Agent, U.S. Bank National Association at 60 Livingston Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55107 (Attention: Specialized Finance). For more information with respect to the exchange offer, you may call the Exchange Agent at (800) 934-6802; the fax number for the Exchange Agent is (651) 466-7372 (Attention: Specialized Finance).

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The Notes

The exchange offer applies to $1,500,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 5.125% Senior Notes due 2029. The form and terms of the Notes are identical in all material respects to the form and terms of the outstanding Old Notes, except that the Notes will be registered under the Securities Act, and therefore they will not bear legends restricting their transfer. The Notes will be entitled to the benefits of the indenture governing the Notes (the “Indenture”). See “Description of the Notes.” As used in this summary of the Notes, “subsidiaries” refers to our direct and indirect subsidiaries.

Issuer

DISH DBS Corporation, a Colorado corporation.

Notes Offered

$1,500,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 5.125% Senior Notes due 2029.

Maturity Date

June 1, 2029.

Interest Payment Dates

Semi-annually, on June 1 and December 1 of each year, starting on December 1, 2021.

Interest will accrue from the most recent date through which interest has been paid, or if no interest has been paid, from the date of original issuance of the Old Notes.

Ranking

The Notes will be our unsecured senior obligations and will rank equally with all of our current and future unsecured senior debt, including the DDBS Notes, and senior to all of our future subordinated debt. The Notes will effectively rank junior to any of our existing and future secured obligations to the extent of the value of the assets securing such obligations. As of March 31, 2021, after giving effect to the issuance of the Notes, the Notes would have ranked equally with approximately $10.3 billion of our other unsecured debt.

Guarantees by Our Subsidiaries

The Notes will be guaranteed by our principal operating subsidiaries on a senior basis. The guarantees will be unsecured senior obligations of the guarantors and will rank equally with all of the current and future unsecured senior debt of the guarantors and senior to all existing and future subordinated debt of the guarantors. The guarantees will effectively rank junior to any existing and future secured obligations of the guarantors to the extent of the value of the assets securing such obligations. Neither DISH Network nor any of its subsidiaries, other than us and our principal operating subsidiaries, will be obligated under the Notes or any guarantee of the Notes. See “Description of the Notes — Brief Description of the Notes — The Guarantees.”

Redemption

The Notes will be redeemable, in whole or in part, at any time at a redemption price equal to 100% of their principal amount plus a “make-whole” premium, together with accrued and unpaid interest to the redemption date.

We may also redeem up to 35% of the Notes, at any time prior to June 1, 2024, at a redemption price equal to 105.125% of the principal amount of the Notes redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of redemption with the net cash proceeds from certain equity

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offerings or capital contributions. See “Description of the Notes — Optional Redemption.”

Change of Control

If a Change of Control Event occurs, as that term is defined in “Description of the Notes — Certain Definitions,” holders of Notes will have the right, subject to certain conditions, to require us to repurchase their Notes at a purchase price equal to 101% of the aggregate principal amount of Notes repurchased plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of repurchase. See “Description of the Notes — Change of Control Offer” for further information regarding the conditions that would apply if we must offer holders this repurchase right.

Certain Covenants

The Indenture contains covenants limiting our and our restricted subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things:

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incur additional debt;

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pay dividends or make distributions on our capital stock or repurchase our capital stock;

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make certain investments;

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create liens or enter into sale and leaseback transactions;

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enter into transactions with affiliates;

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merge or consolidate with another company; and

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transfer and sell assets.

These covenants are subject to a number of important limitations and exceptions and in many circumstances may not meaningfully restrict our ability to take any of the actions described above. For more details, see “Description of the Notes — Certain Covenants.” If the Notes receive an Investment Grade rating, certain of the covenants in the Indenture will be subject to suspension or termination. See “Description of the Notes — Certain Covenants — Investment Grade Rating.”

Registration Rights

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement between us and the initial purchasers, we agreed:

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to file an exchange offer registration statement within 180 days of May 24, 2021;

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to use our reasonable best efforts to cause the exchange offer registration statement to be declared effective by the SEC within 270 days of May 24, 2021; and

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to use our reasonable best efforts to cause the exchange offer to be consummated within 315 days of May 24, 2021.

We intend the registration statement relating to this prospectus to satisfy these obligations. In certain circumstances, we will be required to file a shelf registration statement to cover resales of the Notes. If we do not comply with our obligations under the registration rights

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Summary Historical Consolidated Financial Data

We derived the following summary historical consolidated financial data for the five years ended December 31, 2020 from our audited consolidated financial statements. The following tables also present summary unaudited consolidated financial data as indicated below, which is derived from our interim unaudited consolidated financial statements. In our opinion, the interim data presented below reflects all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary to fairly present the data for such interim periods. Operating results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for a full year.

You should read this data in conjunction with, and it is qualified by reference to, the sections entitled “Management’s Narrative Analysis of Results of Operations,” our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto, and the other financial information in this prospectus and in our Annual Report and Quarterly Report, which are incorporated by reference herein.

	For the Years Ended December 31,															For the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2016			2017			2018			2019			2020			2020			2021
	(dollars in millions)															(unaudited)
Statements of Operations Data:
Total revenue		$	14,756		$	14,008		$	13,362		$	12,623		$	12,728		$	3,168		$	3,163
Operating income			2,309			1,610			2,067			1,821			2,762			507			740
Net income attributable to DDBS			965			724			971			828			1,584			244			425

	As of March 31, 2021
	(dollars in millions) (unaudited)
Balance Sheet Data:
Cash, cash equivalents and current marketable investment securities		$	1,665
Total assets			5,517
Long-term debt and finance lease obligations (including current portion) (1)			10,454
Total stockholder’s equity (deficit)		$	(8,888)

	As of or for the Years Ended December 31,															As of or for the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2016			2017			2018			2019			2020			2020			2021
	(dollars in millions)															(unaudited)
Other Data:
Pay-TV subscribers (000’s) (unaudited)			13,671			13,242			12,322			11,986			11,290			11,323			11,060
EBITDA (unaudited)(2)		$	3,174		$	2,438		$	2,734		$	2,406		$	3,268		$	643		$	853
Net cash flows from:
Operating activities		$	1,834		$	1,287		$	1,197		$	1,385		$	1,879		$	535		$	563
Investing activities			(393)			(578)			(282)			(166)			(422)			(134)			36
Financing activities			(1,084)			(1,122)			(1,150)			(1,271)			(239)			(94)			(221)

(1)

Net of unamortized deferred financing costs and debt discounts of $11 million.

(2)

EBITDA is defined as net income (loss) plus net interest expense, taxes and depreciation and amortization.

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The following table reconciles EBITDA to net income:

	For the Years Ended December 31,															For the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2016			2017			2018			2019			2020			2020			2021
	(dollars in millions)															(unaudited)
Net income		$	965		$	724		$	971		$	828		$	1,584		$	244		$	425
Inerest expense, net			819			855			784			726			679			181			173
Income tax provision, net			558			117			318			275			500			83			140
Depreciation and amortization			832			742			661			577			505			135			115
EBITDA (unaudited)		$	3,174		$	2,438		$	2,734		$	2,406		$	3,268		$	643		$	853

EBITDA is not a measure determined in accordance with GAAP, and should not be considered a substitute for operating income, net income or any other measure determined in accordance with GAAP. EBITDA is used as a measurement of operating efficiency and overall financial performance and we believe it is a helpful measure for those evaluating operating performance in relation to our competitors. Conceptually, EBITDA measures the amount of income generated each period that could be used to service debt, pay taxes and fund capital expenditures. EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in the Notes involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors and all other information contained and incorporated by reference in this prospectus before deciding whether to exchange your Old Notes for the Notes. The risks and uncertainties described or incorporated by reference below are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe to be immaterial, also may become important factors that affect us.

If any of the following events occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In that case, the value of the Notes could decline and you may lose some or all of your investment.

COVID-19 Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many of our subscribers are impacted by recommendations and/or mandates from federal, state, and local authorities to practice social distancing, to refrain from gathering in groups and, in some areas, to refrain from non-essential movements outside of their homes. While certain government regulations and/or mandates have eased, or are expected to ease in 2021 and COVID-19 vaccines have become more available in certain areas, governmental authorities are continuing to take various actions in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 continues to impact our business during 2021, in particular in the following areas:

•

Our DISH Smart Home Services brand was impacted as in home installation and support has been impacted by government actions and/or related lower consumer demand for these services.

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manner to mitigate these interruptions and/or delays. These interruptions and/or delays in our supply chain could have a material adverse effect on our business.

•

Competition and Economic Risks

Our Pay-TV business faces substantial competition from established pay-TV providers and broadband service providers and increasing competition from companies providing/facilitating the delivery of video content via the Internet to computers, televisions, and other streaming and mobile devices, including wireless service providers. In recent years, the traditional pay-TV industry has matured, and industry consolidation and convergence has created competitors with greater scale and multiple product/service offerings. Some of these services charge nominal or no fees for access to their content, which could adversely affect demand for our Pay-TV services. Moreover, new technologies have been, and will likely continue to be, developed that further increase the number of competitors we face with respect to video services, including competition from piracy-based video offerings. These developments, among others, have contributed to intense and increasing competition, which we expect to continue.

We face increasing competition from content providers and other companies who distribute video directly to consumers over the Internet. These content providers and other companies, as well as traditional satellite television providers, cable companies and large telecommunication companies, are rapidly increasing their Internet-based video offerings. See “Item 7. Management’s Narrative Analysis of Results of Operations — Trends” in our Annual Report, which is incorporated by reference into this prospectus, for further information.

Mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances among cable television providers, telecommunications companies, programming providers and others may result in, among other things, greater scale and financial leverage and increase the availability of offerings from providers capable of bundling video, broadband and/or wireless services in competition with our services, and may exacerbate the risks described herein. Such providers may be able to, among other things, utilize their increased leverage over third-party content owners and programmers to withhold online rights from us and reduce the price they pay for programming at the expense of other MVPDs, including us; underutilize key orbital spectrum resources that could be more efficiently used by us; foreclose or degrade our online video offerings at various points in the broadband pipe; and impose data caps on consumers who access our online video offerings. See “Item 7. Management’s Narrative Analysis of Results of Operations — Trends — Programming” in our Annual Report, which is incorporated by reference into this prospectus, for further information.

We believe that the availability and extent of programming, including unique programming services such as foreign language, sports programming and original content, and other value-added services such as access to video via mobile devices, continue to be significant factors in consumers’ choice among pay-TV providers. Other pay-TV providers may have more successfully marketed and promoted their programming packages and value-added services and may also be better equipped and have greater resources to increase their programming offerings and value-added services to respond to increasing consumer demand. We may be required to make substantial additional investments in infrastructure to respond to competitive pressure to deliver enhanced programming, and other value-added services, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to compete effectively with offerings from other pay-TV providers.

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Furthermore, this increasingly competitive environment may require us to increase subscriber acquisition and retention spending or accept lower subscriber activations and higher subscriber churn. Increasingly, we must seek to attract a greater proportion of new subscribers from our competitors’ existing subscriber bases rather than from first-time purchasers of pay-TV services. In addition, because other pay-TV providers may be seeking to attract a greater proportion of their new subscribers from our existing subscriber base, we may be required to increase retention spending and/or provide greater discounts or credits to acquire and retain subscribers who may spend less on our services. Our SLING TV subscribers on average purchase lower priced programming services than DISH TV subscribers. Accordingly, an increase in SLING TV subscribers has a negative impact on our Pay-TV average monthly revenue per subscriber (“Pay-TV ARPU”). If our Pay-TV ARPU decreases or does not increase commensurate with increases in programming or other costs, our margins may be reduced and the long-term value of a subscriber would then decrease.

In addition, as a result of this increased competitive environment and the maturation of the pay-TV industry, future growth opportunities of our DISH TV business may be limited and our margins may be reduced, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow. Our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations continue to be negatively impacted by stricter subscriber acquisition policies (including a focus on attaining higher quality subscribers) and increased competitive pressures, including aggressive marketing, more aggressive retention efforts, bundled discount offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers. There can be no assurance that our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, net DISH TV subscriber additions, and DISH TV churn rate will not continue to be negatively impacted and that the pace of such negative impact will not accelerate. In the event that our DISH TV subscriber base continues to decline, it could have a material adverse long-term effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.

New technologies, products and services are driving rapid changes in consumer behavior as consumers seek more control over when, where and how they consume content and access communications services. In particular, through technological advancements and with the large increase in the number of consumers with broadband service, a significant amount of video content has become available through online content providers for users to stream and view on their personal computers, televisions, phones, tablets, videogame consoles, and other devices, in some cases without a fee required to access the content. While our subscribers can use their traditional video subscription to access mobile programming, an increasing number of subscribers are also using mobile devices as the sole means of viewing video, and an increasing number of non-traditional video providers are developing content and technologies to satisfy that demand. For example, these technological advancements, changes in consumer behavior, and the increasing number of choices available to consumers with regard to the means by which consumers obtain video content may cause DISH TV subscribers to disconnect our services (“cord cutting”), downgrade to smaller, less expensive programming packages (“cord shaving”) or elect to purchase through online content providers a certain portion of the services that they would have historically purchased from us, such as pay per view movies. These technological advancements and changes in consumer behavior and/or our failure to effectively anticipate or adapt to such changes, could reduce our gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations and increase our subscriber churn rate, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.

New technologies could also create new competitors for us. For instance, we face increasing consumer demand for the delivery of digital video services via the Internet. We expect to continue to face increased competition from companies who use the Internet to deliver digital video services as the speed and quality of broadband and wireless networks continues to improve.

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The cost of programming represents the largest percentage of our overall Pay-TV costs. Certain of our competitors own directly or are affiliated with companies that own programming content that may enable them to obtain lower programming costs or offer exclusive programming that may be attractive to prospective subscribers. Unlike our larger cable and satellite competitors, some of which also provide IPTV services, we have not made significant investments in programming providers. As a result, it may more difficult for us to obtain access to such programming networks on nondiscriminatory and fair terms, or at all.

Changes in how network operators handle and charge for access to data that travels across their networks could adversely impact our Pay-TV business.

With respect to our Pay-TV business, we rely upon the ability of consumers to access our SLING TV services and certain DISH TV functionality through the Internet. If network operators block, restrict or otherwise impair access to our services over their networks, our business could be negatively affected. To the extent that network operators implement usage-based pricing, including meaningful bandwidth caps, or otherwise try to monetize access to their networks by data providers, we could incur greater operating expenses and our SLING TV subscriber count could be negatively impacted. Furthermore, to the extent network operators create tiers of Internet access service and either charge us for or prohibit us from being available through these tiers, our SLING TV business could be negatively impacted.

In addition, many network operators that provide consumers with broadband service also provide these consumers with video programming, and these network operators may have an incentive to use their network infrastructure in a manner adverse to our continued growth and success. These risks may be exacerbated to the extent network operators are able to provide preferential treatment to their data, including, for example, by offering wireless subscribers access to owned video content over the Internet without counting against a subscriber’s monthly data caps (“zero rating”), which may give an unfair advantage to the network operator’s own video content.

We cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our business that may result from changes in how network operators handle and charge for access to data that travels across their networks.

Economic weakness and uncertainty may adversely affect our ability to grow or maintain our business.

Our ability to grow or maintain our business may be adversely affected by economic weakness and uncertainty, which could result in the following:

•

Fewer subscriber activations and increased subscriber churn rate. We could face fewer subscriber activations and increased subscriber churn rate due to, among other things: (i) certain economic factors that impact consumers, including, among others, rising interest rates, a potential downturn in the housing market in the United States (including a decline in housing starts) and higher unemployment, which could lead to a lack of consumer confidence and lower discretionary spending; (ii) increased price competition for our products and services; and (iii) the potential loss of independent third-party retailers, who generate a meaningful percentage of our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, because many of them are small businesses that are more susceptible to the negative effects of economic weakness. In particular, our DISH TV churn rate may increase with respect to subscribers who purchase our lower tier programming packages and who may be more sensitive to economic weakness, including, among others, our pay-in-advance subscribers.

•

Higher subscriber acquisition and retention costs. Our profits may be adversely affected by increased subscriber acquisition and retention costs necessary to attract and retain subscribers during a period of economic weakness.

Operational and Service Delivery Risks

Any deterioration in our operational performance and subscriber satisfaction could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If our operational performance and subscriber satisfaction were to deteriorate, we may experience a decrease in subscriber activations and an increase in our subscriber churn rate, which could have a material

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adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. To improve our operational performance, we continue to make investments in staffing, training, information systems, and other initiatives, primarily in our call center and in-home service operations. These investments are intended to help combat inefficiencies introduced by the increasing complexity of our business, improve subscriber satisfaction, reduce subscriber churn, increase productivity, and allow us to scale better over the long run. We cannot, however, be certain that our spending will ultimately be successful in improving our operational performance, and if unsuccessful, we may have to incur higher costs to improve our operational performance. While we believe that such costs will be outweighed by longer-term benefits, there can be no

assurance when or if we will realize these benefits at all.

If our subscriber activations decrease, or if our subscriber churn rate, subscriber acquisition costs or retention costs increase, our financial performance will be adversely affected.

We may incur increased costs to acquire new subscribers and retain existing subscribers. For example, with respect to our Pay-TV business, our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, net DISH TV subscriber additions, and DISH TV churn rate continue to be negatively impacted by stricter subscriber acquisition and retention policies for our DISH TV subscribers, including an emphasis on acquiring and retaining higher quality subscribers. In addition, our subscriber acquisition costs could increase as a result of increased spending for advertising and, with respect to our DISH TV services, the installation of more DVR receivers, which are generally more expensive than other receivers. Retention costs with respect to our DISH TV services may be driven higher by increased upgrades of existing subscribers’ equipment to DVR receivers.

Although we expect to continue to incur expenses, such as providing retention credits and other subscriber acquisition and retention expenses, to attract and retain subscribers, there can be no assurance that our efforts will generate new subscribers or result in a lower churn rate. Additionally, certain of our promotions, including, among others, pay-in-advance, continue to allow consumers with relatively lower credit scores to become subscribers. These subscribers typically churn at a higher rate.

Our subscriber acquisition costs and our subscriber retention costs can vary significantly from period to period and can cause material variability to our net income (loss) and free cash flow. Any material increase in subscriber acquisition or retention costs from current levels could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

With respect to our Pay-TV business, programming expenses are increasing, which may adversely affect our future financial condition and results of operations.

Our programming costs represent a significant component of our total expense and we expect these costs to continue to increase on a per subscriber basis. The pay-TV industry has continued to experience an increase in the cost of programming, especially local broadcast channels and sports programming. In addition, certain programming costs are rising at a much faster rate than wages or inflation. These factors may be exacerbated by the increasing trend of consolidation in the media industry, which may further increase our programming expenses. Our ability to compete successfully will depend, among other things, on our ability to continue to obtain desirable programming and deliver it to our subscribers at competitive prices.

When offering new programming, or upon expiration of existing contracts, programming suppliers have historically attempted to increase the rates that they charge us for programming. We expect this practice to continue, which, if successful, would increase our programming costs. In addition, our programming expenses may also increase as we add programming to our video services or distribute existing programming to our subscribers through additional delivery services, such as SLING TV. As a result, our margins may face further pressure if we are unable to renew our long-term programming contracts on acceptable pricing and other economic terms. Alternatively, to attempt to mitigate the effect of price increases or for other reasons, we may elect not to carry or may be unable to carry certain channels, which could adversely affect our net Pay-TV subscriber additions.

In addition, increases in programming costs cause us to increase the rates that we charge our Pay-TV subscribers, which could in turn cause our existing Pay-TV subscribers to disconnect our service or cause potential new Pay-TV subscribers to choose not to subscribe to our service. Therefore, we may be unable to

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pass increased programming costs on to our subscribers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on third parties to provide us with programming services. Our programming agreements have remaining terms ranging from less than one to up to several years and contain various renewal, expiration and/or termination provisions. We may not be able to renew these agreements on acceptable terms or at all, and these agreements may be terminated prior to expiration of their original term. In recent years, negotiations over programming carriage contracts generally remain contentious, and certain programmers have, in the past, limited our access to their programming in connection with those negotiations and the scheduled expiration of their programming carriage contracts with us. In recent years, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions have been negatively impacted as a result of programming interruptions and threatened programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of programming carriage contracts with content providers. We cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate resulting from programming interruptions or threatened programming interruptions that may occur in the future. As a result, we may at times suffer from periods of lower net Pay-TV subscriber additions or higher net Pay-TV subscriber losses.

We typically have a few programming contracts with major content providers up for renewal each year and if we are unable to renew any of these agreements or the other parties terminate the agreements, there can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain substitute programming, or that such substitute programming would be comparable in quality or cost to our existing programming. In addition, failure to obtain access to certain programming or loss of access to programming, particularly programming provided by major content providers and/or programming popular with our subscribers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including, among other things, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions.

Our programming signals in our Pay-TV business are subject to theft, and we are vulnerable to other forms of fraud that could require significant expenditures to remedy. Increases in theft of our signal or our competitors’ signals could, in addition to reducing gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, also cause our DISH TV churn rate to increase.

We may not be able to obtain necessary retransmission consent agreements at acceptable rates, or at all, from local network stations.

The Copyright Act generally gives satellite companies a statutory copyright license to retransmit local broadcast channels by satellite back into the market from which they originated, subject to obtaining the retransmission consent of local network stations that do not elect “must carry” status, as required by the Communications Act. If we fail to reach retransmission consent agreements with such broadcasters, we cannot carry their signals. This could have an adverse effect on our strategy to compete with cable and other satellite companies that provide local signals. While we have been able to reach retransmission consent agreements with most of these local network stations, from time to time there are stations with which we have not been able to reach an agreement, resulting in the removal of their channels primarily from our DISH TV lineup. There can be no assurance that we will secure these agreements or that we will secure new agreements on acceptable terms, or at all, upon the expiration of our current retransmission consent agreements, some of which are short-term.

In recent years, national broadcasters have used their ownership of certain local broadcast stations to require us to carry additional cable programming in exchange for retransmission consent of their local broadcast stations. These requirements may place constraints on available capacity on our satellites for other programming. Furthermore, the rates we are charged for retransmitting local channels have been increasing substantially and may exceed our ability to increase our prices to our subscribers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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The capacity, reliability and security of our information technology hardware and software infrastructure (including our billing systems) and communications systems, or those of third parties that we use in our operations, are important to the operation of our business, which would suffer in the event of system failures or cyber-attacks. Likewise, our ability to expand and update our information technology infrastructure in response to our growth and changing needs is important to the continued implementation of our new service offering initiatives. Our inability to expand or upgrade our technology infrastructure could have adverse consequences, which could include, among other things, the delayed implementation of new service offerings, service or billing interruptions, and the diversion of development resources. We rely on third parties for developing key components of our information technology and communications systems and ongoing service, all of which affect our Pay-TV services. Some of our key systems and operations, including those supplied by third-party providers, are not fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities. Interruption and/or failure of any of these systems could disrupt our operations, interrupt our services, result in significant financial expenditures and damage our reputation, thus adversely impacting our ability to provide our services, retain our current subscribers and attract new Pay-TV subscribers.

In addition, although we take protective measures designed to secure our information technology systems and endeavor to modify such protective measures as circumstances warrant, our information technology hardware and software infrastructure and communications systems, or those of third parties that we use in our operations, may be vulnerable to a variety of interruptions, including, without limitation, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, telecommunications failures, cyber-attacks and other malicious activities such as unauthorized access, physical or electronic break-ins, misuse, computer viruses or other malicious code, computer denial of service attacks and other events that could disrupt or harm our business. These protective measures may not be sufficient for all eventualities and may themselves be vulnerable to hacking, malfeasance, system error or other irregularities. For example, certain parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or subscribers into disclosing usernames, passwords or other sensitive information, which may in turn be used to access our information technology systems.

In addition, third-party providers of some of our key systems may also experience interruptions to their information technology hardware and software infrastructure and communications systems that could adversely impact us and over which we may have limited or no control. We may obtain certain confidential, proprietary and personal information about our subscribers, personnel and vendors, and may provide this information to third parties in connection with our business. If one or more of such interruptions or failures occur to us or our third-party providers, it potentially could jeopardize such information and other information processed and stored in, and transmitted through, our or our third-party providers’ information technology hardware and software infrastructure and communications systems, or otherwise cause interruptions or malfunctions in our operations, which could result in lawsuits, government claims, investigations or proceedings, significant losses or reputational damage. Due to the fast-moving pace of technology, it may be difficult to detect, contain and remediate every such event. We may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify our protective measures or to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures, and we may be subject to financial losses. Furthermore, the amount and scope of insurance we maintain may not cover all expenses related to such activities or all types of claims that may arise.

As a result of the increasing awareness concerning the importance of safeguarding personal information, the potential misuse of such information and legislation that has been adopted or is being considered regarding the protection, privacy and security of personal information, the potential liability associated with information-related risks is increasing, particularly for businesses like ours that handle personal subscriber data. The occurrence of any network or information system related events or security breaches could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. Significant incidents could result in a disruption of our operations, subscriber dissatisfaction, damage to our reputation or a loss of subscribers and revenues.

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We lease the vast majority of our satellite transponder capacity from DISH Network and DISH Network is a key supplier of other related services to us. Satellite transponder leasing costs may increase beyond our current expectations. Our inability to obtain satellite transponder capacity and other related services from DISH Network or third parties could adversely affect our subscriber activations and subscriber churn rate and cause related revenue to decline. See Note 17 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report for further information on our Related Party Transactions with DISH Network.

Our failure to effectively invest in, introduce, and implement new competitive products and services could cause our products and services to become obsolete and could negatively impact our business.

Technology in the pay-TV industry changes rapidly as new technologies are developed, which could cause our products and services to become obsolete. We and our suppliers may not be able to keep pace with technological developments. Our operating results are dependent to a significant extent upon our ability to continue to introduce new products and services, to upgrade existing products and services on a timely basis, and to reduce costs of our existing products and services. We may not be able to successfully identify new product or service opportunities or develop and market these opportunities in a timely or cost-effective manner. The research and development of new, technologically advanced products is a complex and uncertain process requiring high levels of innovation and investment. The success of new product and service development depends on many factors, including among others, the following:

•

difficulties and delays in the development, production, timely completion, testing and marketing of products and services;

•

the cost of the products and services;

•

proper identification of subscriber need and subscriber acceptance of products and services;

•

the development of, approval of and compliance with industry standards;

•

the amount of resources we must devote to the development of new technologies; and

•

the ability to differentiate our products and services and compete with other companies in the same markets.

If the new technologies on which we focus our research and development investments fail to achieve acceptance in the marketplace, our competitive position could be negatively impacted, causing a reduction in our revenues and earnings. For example, our competitors could use proprietary technologies that are perceived by the market as being superior. In addition, delays in the delivery of components or other unforeseen problems associated with our technology may occur that could materially and adversely affect our ability to generate revenue, offer new products and services and remain competitive. Further, after we have incurred substantial costs, one or more of the products or services under our development, or under development by one or more of our strategic partners, could become obsolete prior to it being widely adopted.

If our products and services are not competitive, our business could suffer and our financial performance could be negatively impacted. Our products and services may also experience quality problems, including outages and service slowdowns, from time to time. If the quality of our products and services do not meet our subscribers’ expectations, then our business, and ultimately our reputation, could be negatively impacted.

Historically, we have contracted with and rely on a single vendor or a limited number of vendors to provide certain key products or services to us such as information technology support, billing systems, security access devices, and many components that we provide to subscribers in order to deliver our Pay-TV services. If these vendors are unable to meet our needs because they fail to perform adequately, are no

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longer in business, are experiencing shortages or discontinue a certain product or service we need, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. We have experienced in the past and may continue to experience shortages driven by raw material availability (which may be negatively impacted by, among other things, trade protection policies such as tariffs and or/escalating trade tensions, particularly with countries in Asia), manufacturing capacity, labor shortages, industry allocations, natural disasters, logistical delays and significant changes in the financial or business conditions of its suppliers that negatively impact our operations.

While alternative sources for these products and services exist, we may not be able to develop these alternative sources quickly and cost-effectively, which could materially impair our ability to timely deliver our products to our subscribers or operate our business. Furthermore, our vendors may request changes in pricing, payment terms or other contractual obligations between the parties, which could require us to make substantial additional investments.

We depend on independent third parties to solicit orders for our services that represent a meaningful percentage of our total gross new subscriber activations.

While we offer products and services through direct sales channels, a meaningful percentage of our total gross new subscriber activations are generated through independent third parties such as small retailers, direct marketing groups, local and regional consumer electronics stores, nationwide retailers, and telecommunications companies. Most of our independent third-party retailers are not exclusive to us and some of our independent third-party retailers may favor our competitors’ products and services over ours based on the relative financial arrangements associated with marketing our products and services and those of our competitors. Furthermore, most of these independent third-party retailers are significantly smaller than we are and may be more susceptible to economic weaknesses that make it more difficult for them to operate profitably. Because our independent third-party retailers receive most of their incentive value at activation and not over an extended period of time, our interests may not always be aligned with our independent third-party retailers. It may be difficult to better align our interests with our independent third-party retailers because of their capital and liquidity constraints. Loss of these relationships could have an adverse effect on our subscriber base and certain of our other key operating metrics because we may not be able to develop comparable alternative distribution channels.

We have limited satellite capacity and failures or reduced capacity could adversely affect our business financial condition and results of operations.

Operation of our DISH TV services requires that we have adequate satellite transmission capacity for the programming we offer. While we generally have had in-orbit satellite capacity sufficient to transmit our existing channels and some backup capacity to recover the transmission of certain critical programming, our backup capacity is limited.

Our ability to earn revenue from our DISH TV services depends on the usefulness of our owned and leased satellites, each of which has a limited useful life. A number of factors affect the useful lives of the satellites, including, among other things, the quality of their construction, the durability of their component parts, the ability to continue to maintain proper orbit and control over the satellite’s functions, the efficiency of the launch vehicle used, and the remaining on-board fuel following orbit insertion. Generally, the minimum design life of each of our owned and leased satellites ranges from 12 to 15 years. We can provide no assurance, however, as to the actual useful lives of any of these satellites. Our operating results could be adversely affected if the useful life of any of our owned or leased satellites were significantly shorter than the minimum design life.

Satellites are subject to significant operational risks while in orbit. These risks include malfunctions, commonly referred to as anomalies, which have occurred in our satellites and the satellites of other operators as a result of various factors, such as manufacturing defects, problems with the power systems or control systems of the satellites and general failures resulting from operating satellites in the harsh environment of space. In the event of a failure or loss of any of our owned or leased satellites, we may need to acquire or lease additional satellite capacity or relocate one of our other owned or leased satellites and use it as a replacement for the failed or lost satellite, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Such a failure could result in a prolonged loss of critical programming.

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A relocation would require FCC approval and, we cannot be certain that we could obtain such FCC approval. If we choose to use a satellite in this manner, such use could adversely affect our ability to satisfy certain operational conditions associated with our authorizations and could result in the loss of such authorizations, which would have an adverse effect on our ability to generate revenues.

From time to time, new satellites need to be built and launched. Satellite construction and launch is subject to significant risks, including construction and launch delays, launch failure and incorrect orbital placement.

Other than in certain limited circumstances, we do not carry commercial in-orbit insurance on any of the satellites we own, and generally do not use commercial insurance to mitigate the potential financial impact of in-orbit failures because we believe that the cost of insurance premiums is uneconomical relative to the risk of such failures. If one or more of our owned in-orbit satellites fail, we could be required to record significant impairment charges.

We may have potential conflicts of interest with EchoStar due to our and DISH Network’s common ownership and management.

Questions relating to conflicts of interest may arise between EchoStar and us in a number of areas relating to our past and ongoing relationships between DISH Network and EchoStar. Areas in which conflicts of interest between EchoStar and us, as a result of our relationship with DISH Network, could arise include, but are not limited to, the following:

•

Cross officerships, directorships and stock ownership. We and DISH Network have certain overlap in directors and executive officers with EchoStar. These individuals may have actual or apparent conflicts of interest with respect to matters involving or affecting each company. Currently, our and DISH Network’s Board of Directors and executive officers includes Charles W. Ergen, who serves as the Chairman of EchoStar and DISH Network and our Chairman. Mr. Ergen also has fiduciary duties to EchoStar’s shareholders. For example, there is the potential for a conflict of interest when DISH Network and/or us, on the one hand, or EchoStar, on the other hand, look at acquisitions and other business opportunities that may be suitable for both companies. In addition, certain of DISH Network’s and our directors and officers own EchoStar stock. Mr. Ergen beneficially owns approximately 54.2% of EchoStar’s total equity securities (assuming conversion of all Class B common stock into Class A common stock) and controls approximately 91.8% of the voting power of EchoStar. These ownership interests could create actual, apparent or potential conflicts of interest when these individuals are faced with decisions that could have different implications for DISH Network and/or us, on the one hand, and EchoStar, on the other hand. Furthermore, Mr. Ergen is employed by both us and EchoStar.

•

Intercompany agreements with EchoStar. In connection with and following the Spin-off, Share Exchange Agreement and Master Transaction Agreement (as defined in Note 17 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report), we, DISH Network and EchoStar have entered into certain agreements pursuant to which DISH Network and we obtain certain products, services and rights from EchoStar, EchoStar obtains certain products, services and rights from DISH Network and us, and DISH Network and EchoStar have indemnified each other against certain liabilities arising from our respective businesses. See Note 17 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report for further information on our Related Party Transactions with EchoStar. The terms of certain of these agreements were established while EchoStar was a wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network and us and were not the result of arm’s length negotiations. The allocation of assets, liabilities, rights, indemnifications and other obligations between EchoStar and DISH Network under the separation and other intercompany agreements DISH Network entered into with EchoStar, in connection with the Spin-off, may have been different if agreed to by two unaffiliated parties. Had these agreements been negotiated with unaffiliated third parties, their terms may have been more favorable, or less favorable, to DISH Network. In addition, conflicts could arise between DISH Network and/or us, on the one hand, and EchoStar, on the other hand, in the interpretation or any extension or renegotiation of these existing agreements.

•

Additional intercompany transactions. EchoStar and its subsidiaries have and may continue to enter into transactions with DISH Network and its subsidiaries. Although the terms of any such

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transactions will be established based upon negotiations between EchoStar and DISH Network and, when appropriate, subject to the approval of a committee of the non-interlocking directors or in certain instances non-interlocking management, there can be no assurance that the terms of any such transactions will be as favorable to DISH Network or its subsidiaries or affiliates as may otherwise be obtained between unaffiliated parties.

•

Business opportunities. DISH Network has historically retained, and in the future may acquire, interests in various companies that have subsidiaries or controlled affiliates that own or operate domestic or foreign services that may compete with services offered by EchoStar. DISH Network and we may also compete with EchoStar for orbital slots for our satellites.

Neither we nor DISH Network may be able to resolve any potential conflicts of interest with EchoStar, and, even if either we or DISH Network do so, the resolution may be less favorable than if either we or DISH Network were dealing with an unaffiliated party. DISH Network does not have agreements with EchoStar that would prevent either company from competing with the other.

We believe that our future success will depend to a significant extent upon the performance of Charles W. Ergen, our Chairman, and certain other executives. The loss of Mr. Ergen or of certain other key executives could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Although all of our executives have executed agreements with certain non-competition restrictions that apply if they leave us, we do not have employment agreements with any of them. Mr. Ergen also serves as the Chairman of EchoStar. To the extent our officers are performing services for EchoStar, this may divert their time and attention away from our business and may therefore adversely affect our business.

In addition, technological innovation is important to our success and depends, to a significant degree, on the work of technically skilled employees. If we are unable to attract and retain appropriately technically skilled employees, our competitive position could be materially and adversely affected.

Acquisition and Capital Structure Risks

DISH Network has directly invested over $12 billion to acquire certain wireless spectrum licenses and related assets. See Note 2 in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in DISH Network’s Quarterly Report for the three months ended March 31, 2021 for detailed information regarding these licenses, including certain interim and final build-out requirements, as well as certain renewal requirements.

DISH Network will need to make significant additional investments or partner with others to, among other things, complete its 5G Network Deployment and further commercialize, build-out and integrate these licenses and related assets and any additional acquired licenses and related assets, as well as to comply with regulations applicable to such licenses. Depending on the nature and scope of such activities, any such investments or partnerships could vary significantly. In addition, as DISH Network completes its 5G Network Deployment, DISH Network will incur significant additional expenses and will have to make significant investments related to, among other things, research and development, wireless testing and wireless network infrastructure. DISH Network may also determine that additional wireless spectrum licenses may be required to complete its 5G Network Deployment and to compete with other wireless service providers.

In connection with the development of DISH Network’s wireless business, including, without limitation, the efforts described above, we have made cash distributions to partially finance these efforts to date and may make additional cash distributions to finance, in whole or in part, DISH Network’s future efforts. There can be no assurance that DISH Network will be able to develop and implement a business model that will realize a return on these wireless spectrum licenses or that DISH Network will be able to profitably deploy the assets represented by these wireless spectrum licenses.

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During 2015, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries American AWS-3 Wireless II L.L.C. (“American II”) and American AWS-3 Wireless III L.L.C. (“American III”), DISH Network initially made over $10 billion in certain non-controlling investments in Northstar Spectrum, LLC (“Northstar Spectrum”), the parent company of Northstar Wireless, LLC (“Northstar Wireless,” and collectively with Northstar Spectrum, the “Northstar Entities”), and in SNR Wireless HoldCo, LLC (“SNR HoldCo”), the parent company of SNR Wireless LicenseCo, LLC (“SNR Wireless,” and collectively with SNR HoldCo, the “SNR Entities”), respectively. On October 27, 2015, the FCC granted certain AWS-3 wireless spectrum licenses (the “AWS-3 Licenses”) to Northstar Wireless (the “Northstar Licenses”) and to SNR Wireless (the “SNR Licenses”), respectively. The Northstar Entities and/or the SNR Entities may need to raise significant additional capital in the future, which may be obtained from third party sources or from DISH Network, so that the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities may commercialize, build-out and integrate these AWS-3 Licenses, comply with regulations applicable to such AWS-3 Licenses, and make any potential payments related to the re-auction of AWS-3 licenses retained by the FCC. Depending upon the nature and scope of such commercialization, build-out, integration efforts, regulatory compliance, and potential re-auction payments, any such loans, equity contributions or partnerships could vary significantly. For further information regarding the potential re-auction of AWS-3 licenses retained by the FCC, see Note 12 “Commitments and Contingencies — Commitments — DISH Network Non-Controlling Investments in the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities Related to AWS-3 Wireless Spectrum Licenses” in the Notes to DISH Network’s Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2020.

In connection with certain funding obligations related to the investments by American II and American III discussed above, in February 2015, we paid a dividend of $8.250 billion to DOC for, among other things, general corporate purposes, which included such funding obligations, and to fund other DISH Network cash needs. We may make additional cash distributions to DISH Network so that DISH Network may fund the Northstar Entities and the SNR Entities related to DISH Network’s non-controlling investments in these entities. We may need to raise significant additional capital in the future, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to among other things, continue investing in our business and to pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions.

Our future success may depend on opportunities to buy other businesses or technologies that could complement, enhance or expand our current business or products or that might otherwise offer us growth opportunities. To pursue this strategy successfully, we must identify attractive acquisition or investment opportunities and successfully complete transactions, some of which may be large and complex. We may not be able to identify or complete attractive acquisition or investment opportunities due to, among other things, the intense competition for these transactions. If we are not able to identify and complete such acquisition or investment opportunities, our future results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

We may be unable to obtain in the anticipated timeframe, or at all, any regulatory approvals required to complete proposed acquisitions and other strategic transactions. Furthermore, the conditions imposed for obtaining any necessary approvals could delay the completion of such transactions for a significant period of time or prevent them from occurring at all. We may not be able to complete such transactions and such transactions, if executed, pose significant risks and could have a negative effect on our operations. Any transactions that we are able to identify and complete may involve a number of risks, including:

•

the diversion of our management’s attention from our existing business to integrate the operations and personnel of the acquired or combined business or joint venture;

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possible adverse effects on our operating results during the integration process;

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•

a high degree of risk inherent in these transactions, which could become substantial over time, and higher exposure to significant financial losses if the underlying ventures are not successful;

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our possible inability to achieve the intended objectives of the transaction; and

•

the risks associated with complying with contractual provisions and regulations applicable to the acquired business, which may cause us to incur substantial expenses.

In addition, we may not be able to successfully or profitably integrate, operate, maintain and manage our newly acquired operations or employees. We may not be able to maintain uniform standards, controls, procedures and policies, and this may lead to operational inefficiencies. In addition, the integration process may strain our financial and managerial controls and reporting systems and procedures.

New acquisitions, joint ventures and other transactions may require the commitment of significant capital that would otherwise be directed to investments in our existing business. To pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions, we may need to raise additional capital in the future, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all. In addition, we make cash distributions to DISH Network to finance acquisitions or investments that will not be part of our business.

In addition to committing capital to complete the acquisitions, substantial capital may be required to operate the acquired businesses following their acquisition. These acquisitions may result in significant financial losses if the intended objectives of the transactions are not achieved. Some of the businesses acquired by DISH Network have experienced significant operating and financial challenges in their recent history, which in some cases resulted in these businesses commencing bankruptcy proceedings prior to DISH Network’s acquisition. DISH Network may acquire similar businesses in the future. There is no assurance that DISH Network will be able to successfully address the challenges and risks encountered by these businesses following their acquisition. If DISH Network is unable to successfully address these challenges and risks, our business, financial condition and/or results of operations may suffer.

We have substantial debt outstanding and may incur additional debt.

As of March 31, 2021, our total long-term debt and finance lease obligations, including the debt of our subsidiaries, was $10.454 billion. Our debt levels could have significant consequences, including:

•

making it more difficult to satisfy our obligations;

•

a dilutive effect on our future earnings;

•

increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic conditions, including changes in interest rates;

•

requiring us to devote a substantial portion of our cash to make interest and principal payments on our debt, thereby reducing the amount of cash available for other purposes. As a result, we would have limited financial and operating flexibility in responding to changing economic and competitive conditions;

•

limiting our ability to raise additional debt because it may be more difficult for us to obtain debt financing on attractive terms; and

•

placing us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors that are less leveraged.

In addition, we may incur substantial additional debt in the future. The terms of the indentures relating to our senior notes permit us to incur additional debt. If new debt is added to our current debt levels, the risks we now face could intensify.

We may need additional capital, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to continue investing in our business and to finance acquisitions and other strategic transactions.

We may need to raise significant additional capital in the future, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to among other things, continue investing in our business, pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions. Adverse changes in the credit markets, including rising interest rates, could increase our borrowing costs and/or make it more difficult for us to obtain financing for our operations or

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refinance existing indebtedness. In addition, economic weakness or weak results of operations may limit our ability to generate sufficient internal cash to fund investments, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other strategic transactions, as well as to fund ongoing operations and service our debt. We may be unable to generate cash flows from operating activities sufficient to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our debt and other obligations. If we are unable to service our debt and other obligations from cash flows from operating activities, we may need to refinance or restructure all or a portion of such obligations prior to maturity. Any refinancing or restructuring could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and/or financial condition. In addition, we cannot guarantee that any refinancing or restructuring would sufficiently meet any debt or other obligations then due. Furthermore, our borrowing costs can be affected by short and long-term debt ratings assigned by independent rating agencies, which are based, in significant part, on our performance as measured by their credit metrics. A decrease in these ratings would likely increase our cost of borrowing and/or make it more difficult for us to obtain financing. A severe disruption in the global financial markets could impact some of the financial institutions with which we do business, and such instability could also affect our access to financing. As a result, these conditions make it difficult for us to accurately forecast and plan future business activities because we may not have access to funding sources necessary for us to pursue organic and strategic business development opportunities.

Our parent, DISH Network, is controlled by one principal stockholder who is also our Chairman.

Charles W. Ergen, DISH Network’s Chairman, beneficially owns approximately 51.9% of DISH Network’s total equity securities (assuming conversion of all Class B common stock into Class A common stock) and controls approximately 90.4% of the total voting power. Through his voting power, Mr. Ergen has the ability to elect a majority of DISH Network’s directors and to control all other matters requiring the approval of DISH Network’s stockholders. As a result, DISH Network is a “controlled company” as defined in the Nasdaq listing rules and is, therefore, not subject to Nasdaq requirements that would otherwise require DISH Network to have: (i) a majority of independent directors; (ii) a nominating committee composed solely of independent directors; (iii) compensation of our executive officers determined by a majority of the independent directors or a compensation committee composed solely of independent directors; and (iv) director nominees selected, or recommended for the Board’s selection, either by a majority of the independent directors or a nominating committee composed solely of independent directors. Mr. Ergen is also the principal stockholder and Chairman of EchoStar.

Legal and Regulatory Risks

Our business depends on certain intellectual property rights and on not infringing the intellectual property rights of others.

We rely on our patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, as well as licenses and other agreements with our vendors and other parties, to use our technologies, conduct our operations and sell our products and services. Legal challenges to our intellectual property rights and claims of intellectual property infringement by third parties could require that we enter into royalty or licensing agreements on unfavorable terms, incur substantial monetary liability or be enjoined preliminarily or permanently from further use of the intellectual property in question or from the continuation of our business as currently conducted, which could require us to change our business practices or limit our ability to compete effectively or could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Even if we believe any such challenges or claims are without merit, they can be time-consuming and costly to defend and divert management’s attention and resources away from our business. Moreover, because of the rapid pace of technological change, we rely on technologies developed or licensed by third parties, and if we are unable to obtain or continue to obtain licenses from these third parties on reasonable terms, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

In addition, we work with third parties such as vendors, contractors and suppliers for the development and manufacture of components that are integrated into our products and services, and our products and services may contain technologies provided to us by these third parties or other third parties. We may have little or no ability to determine in advance whether any such technology infringes the intellectual property rights of others. Our vendors, contractors and suppliers may not be required to indemnify us if a claim of

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infringement is asserted against us, or they may be required to indemnify us only up to a maximum amount, above which we would be responsible for any further costs or damages. Legal challenges to these intellectual property rights may impair our ability to use the products, services and technologies that we need in order to operate our business and may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, our digital content offerings depend in part on effective digital rights management technology to control access to digital content. If the digital rights management technology that we use is compromised or otherwise malfunctions, content providers may be unwilling to provide access to their content. Changes in the copyright laws or how such laws may be interpreted could impact our ability to deliver content and provide certain features and functionality, particularly over the Internet.

We are, and may become, party to various lawsuits which, if adversely decided, could have a significant adverse impact on our business, particularly lawsuits regarding intellectual property.

We are, and may become, subject to various legal proceedings and claims which arise in the ordinary course of business, including among other things, intellectual property disputes.

Many entities, including some of our competitors, have or may in the future obtain patents and other intellectual property rights that may cover or affect products or services related to those that we offer. In general, if a court determines that one or more of our products or services infringes on intellectual property held by others, we may be required to cease developing or marketing those products or services, to obtain licenses from the holders of the intellectual property at a material cost, or to redesign those products or services in such a way as to avoid infringing the intellectual property. If those intellectual property rights are held by a competitor, we may be unable to obtain the intellectual property at any price, which could adversely affect our competitive position.

We may not be aware of all intellectual property rights that our services or the products used in connection with our services may potentially infringe. In addition, patent applications in the United States are confidential until the Patent and Trademark Office either publishes the application or issues a patent (whichever arises first). Therefore, it is difficult to evaluate the extent to which our services or the products used in connection with our services may infringe claims contained in pending patent applications. Further, it is sometimes not possible to determine definitively whether a claim of infringement is valid.

Our services depend on FCC licenses that can expire or be revoked or modified and applications for FCC licenses that may not be granted.

If the FCC were to cancel, revoke, suspend, restrict, significantly condition, or fail to renew any of our licenses or authorizations, or fail to grant our applications for FCC licenses that we may file from time to time, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. As an example, a loss of a frequency authorization would reduce the amount of spectrum available to us, potentially reducing the amount of DISH TV services available to our DISH TV subscribers. The materiality of such a loss of authorizations would vary based upon, among other things, the location of the frequency used or the availability of replacement spectrum. In addition, Congress often considers and enacts legislation that affects us and FCC proceedings to implement the Communications Act and enforce its regulations are ongoing. We cannot predict the outcomes of these legislative or regulatory proceedings or their effect on our business.

If our internal controls are not effective, our business, DISH Network’s stock price and investor confidence in our financial results may be adversely affected.

We periodically evaluate and test our internal control over financial reporting to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2020. If in the future we are unable to report that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, investors, subscribers and business partners could lose confidence in the accuracy of our financial reports, which could in turn have a material adverse effect on our business, investor confidence in our financial results may weaken, and DISH Network’s stock price may suffer.

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We may face other risks described from time to time in periodic and current reports we file with the SEC.

Risks Related to the Notes and the Exchange Offer

We have substantial debt outstanding and may incur additional debt.

As of March 31, 2021, our total long-term debt and finance lease obligations (including current portion), including the debt of our subsidiaries, outstanding was approximately $10.5 billion and, when giving effect to the issuance of the Notes, we would have approximately $11.9 billion in total debt outstanding. Our debt levels could have significant consequences, including:

•

making it more difficult to satisfy our obligations;

•

a dilutive effect on our future earnings;

•

increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic conditions, including changes in interest rates;

•

limiting our ability to raise additional debt because it may be more difficult for us to obtain debt financing on attractive terms; and

•

placing us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors that are less leveraged.

In addition, we may incur substantial additional debt in the future. The terms of the indentures relating to our outstanding senior notes and the Indenture governing the Notes permit us to incur substantial additional debt. If new debt is added to our current debt levels, the risks we now face could intensify.

We may be required to raise and refinance indebtedness during unfavorable market conditions.

Our business plans may require that we raise additional debt to capitalize on our business opportunities. Developments in the financial markets have in the past made, and may from time to time in the future make, it more difficult for issuers of high yield indebtedness such as us to access capital markets at reasonable rates. Although we have not been materially impacted by events in the current credit market, we cannot predict with any certainty whether or not we will be impacted in the future by developments in the financial markets that may adversely affect our ability to secure additional financing to support our growth initiatives.

We depend upon our subsidiaries’ earnings to make payments on our indebtedness.

We have substantial debt service requirements that make us vulnerable to changes in general economic conditions. Our existing indentures (including the Indenture) restrict our and certain of our subsidiaries’ ability to incur additional debt. It may therefore be difficult for us to obtain additional debt if required or desired in order to implement our business strategy.

Since we conduct substantial operations through subsidiaries, our ability to service our debt obligations may depend upon the earnings of our subsidiaries and the payment of funds by our subsidiaries to us in the form of loans, dividends or other payments. We have few assets of significance other than the capital stock of our subsidiaries. Our subsidiaries are separate legal entities. Furthermore, our subsidiaries are not obligated to make funds available to us, and creditors of our subsidiaries will have a superior claim to certain of our subsidiaries’ assets. In addition, our subsidiaries’ ability to make any payments to us will depend on their earnings, the terms of their indebtedness, business and tax considerations and legal restrictions. We cannot assure you that our subsidiaries will be able to pay dividends or that DISH Network or our subsidiaries will be able to otherwise contribute or distribute funds to us in an amount sufficient to pay the principal of or interest on the indebtedness owed by us.

The Notes are unsecured, and the Notes will be effectively subordinated to any future secured debt.

The Notes are unsecured and will rank equal in right of payment with our existing and future unsecured and unsubordinated senior debt. Our existing indentures (including the Indenture) permit us to incur

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significant secured indebtedness and other obligations. The Notes will be effectively subordinated to any future secured obligations to the extent of the value of the assets that secure such obligations. In the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization or upon acceleration of the Notes, payment on the Notes could be less, ratably, than on any secured indebtedness. We may not have sufficient assets remaining after payment to our secured creditors to pay amounts due on any or all of the Notes then outstanding.

The guarantees of the Notes by our subsidiaries may be subject to challenge.

Our obligations under the Notes will be guaranteed jointly and severally by our principal operating subsidiaries. It is possible that if the creditors of the subsidiary guarantors challenge the subsidiary guarantees as a fraudulent conveyance under relevant federal and state statutes, under certain circumstances (including a finding that a subsidiary guarantor was insolvent at the time its guarantee of the Notes was issued), a court could hold that the obligations of a subsidiary guarantor under a subsidiary guarantee may be voided or are subordinate to other obligations of a subsidiary guarantor. In addition, it is possible that the amount for which a subsidiary guarantor is liable under a subsidiary guarantee may be limited. The measure of insolvency for purposes of the foregoing may vary depending on the law of the jurisdiction that is being applied. Generally, however, a company would be considered insolvent if the sum of its debts is greater than all of its property at a fair valuation or if the present fair saleable value of its assets is less than the amount that will be required to pay its probable liability on its existing debts as they become absolute and mature. The Indenture provides that the obligations of the subsidiary guarantors under the subsidiary guarantees will be limited to amounts that will not result in the subsidiary guarantees being a fraudulent conveyance under applicable law. See “Description of the Notes — Guarantees.”

The covenants in the Indenture will not necessarily restrict our ability to take actions that may impair our ability to repay the Notes.

Although the Indenture governing the Notes includes covenants that restrict us from taking certain actions, these covenants include important exceptions which you should review carefully before investing in the Notes. Notwithstanding the covenants in the Indenture, we expect that we will continue to be able to incur substantial additional indebtedness and to make significant investments, distributions and other restricted payments without significant restrictions under the Indenture, including actions that may adversely affect our ability to perform our obligations under the Indenture. We are able to incur additional indebtedness based on a multiple of our Consolidated Cash Flow for the most recent four fiscal quarters, and we are able to make restricted payments (including investments) in an amount that is based in part upon our cumulative Consolidated Cash Flow since January 1, 2002. We analyze our available funds and the use of funds from time to time, including the payment of dividends to our parent. We have from time to time paid dividends to our parent, in certain cases in significant amounts. For example, in February 2015, we paid a dividend of $8.250 billion in connection with certain funding obligations related to the investments by American II and American III discussed above as well as to fund other DISH Network cash needs. In connection with the further development of DISH Network’s wireless business or other funding needs, we may make additional cash distributions. Our use of funds, including any payment of dividends to our parent, may change in the future depending on, among other things, our expectations as to future cash needs as well as our operations, earnings and general financial condition, as well as other internal and external factors that we may deem relevant. See “Description of the Notes―Certain Covenants.”

We may be unable to repay or repurchase the Notes upon a change of control.

There is no sinking fund with respect to the Notes, and the entire outstanding principal amount of the Notes will become due and payable on the maturity date. If we experience a Change of Control Event, as defined in the Indenture, you may require us to repurchase all or a portion of your Notes prior to maturity. See “Description of the Notes — Change of Control Offer.” We may not have sufficient funds or be able to arrange for additional financing to repay the Notes at maturity or to repurchase Notes tendered to us following a change of control.

The terms of our existing senior notes may require us to offer to repurchase those securities upon a change of control of DISH Network, limiting the amount of funds available to us, if any, to repurchase the Notes. If we have insufficient funds to redeem all Notes that holders tender for purchase upon the

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occurrence of a change of control, and we are unable to raise additional capital, an event of default could occur under the Indenture. An event of default could cause any other debt that we have to become automatically due, further exacerbating our financial condition and diminishing the value and liquidity of the Notes. We cannot assure you that additional capital would be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all.

There may be no public market for the Notes.

The Notes will be a new issue of securities with no established trading market. Although the initial purchasers have advised us that they currently intend to make a market in the Notes, they have no obligation to do so and may discontinue any market making at any time without notice. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that any market for the Notes will develop or, if it does develop, that it will be maintained. If a trading market is established, various factors could have a material adverse effect on the trading of the Notes, including fluctuations in the prevailing interest rates. We do not intend to apply for a listing of the Notes on any securities exchange.

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BUSINESS

Brief Description of our Business

DISH DBS is a holding company and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of DISH Network, a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. DISH DBS was formed under Colorado law in January 1996. Our principal executive offices are located at 9601 South Meridian Boulevard, Englewood, Colorado 80112 and our telephone number is (303) 723-1000. We refer readers of this prospectus to DISH Network’s Annual Report. Our subsidiaries operate one business segment.

Pay-TV

We offer pay-TV services under the DISH® brand and the SLING® brand (collectively “Pay-TV” services). The DISH branded pay-TV service consists of, among other things, FCC licenses authorizing us to use direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) and Fixed Satellite Service (“FSS”) spectrum, our owned and leased satellites, receiver systems, broadcast operations, customer service facilities, a leased fiber optic network, in-home service and call center operations, and certain other assets utilized in our operations (“DISH TV”). We also design, develop and distribute receiver systems and provide digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and other services to third-party pay-TV providers. The SLING branded pay-TV services consist of, among other things, multichannel, live-linear streaming over-the-top (“OTT”) Internet-based domestic, international and Latino video programming services (“SLING TV”). As of March 31, 2021, we had 11.060 million Pay-TV subscribers in the United States, including 8.686 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.374 million SLING TV subscribers.

Business Strategy

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Products with the Best Technology. We offer a wide selection of local and national HD programming and are a technology leader in our industry, offering award-winning DVRs (including our Hopper® whole-home HD DVR), multiple tuner receivers, 1080p and 4K video on demand and external hard drives. We offer several Sling TV services, including Sling Orange (our single-stream Sling domestic service), Sling Blue (our multi-stream Sling domestic service), Sling International, Sling Latino, among others, as well as add-on extras, pay-per-view events and a cloud based DVR service.

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Great Value. We have historically been viewed as the low-cost provider in the pay-TV industry in the United States. With our DISH TV services, we are currently focused on our brand promise “Tuned into You” and a message of Service, Value and Technology. For example, for certain new and qualifying customers, we guarantee our pricing for certain programming packages and equipment for a two-year commitment period. We also offer a differentiated customer experience with our award winning Hopper Platform that integrates voice control powered by Google Assistant, access to apps including Netflix, Prime Video and You Tube, and the ability to watch live, recorded and On Demand content anywhere with the DISH Anywhere mobile application. As another example, our Sling Orange service and our Sling Blue service are two of the lowest priced live-linear online streaming services in the industry.

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Properties

The following table sets forth certain information concerning our principal properties as of December 31, 2020.

Description/Use/Location

Leased From

Owned

EchoStar

DISH

Other
Third
Party

Corporate headquarters, Englewood, Colorado (1)

General offices, Littleton, Colorado(2)

Customer call center, warehouse, service, and remanufacturing center, El Paso, Texas

Data Center, Cheyenne, Wyoming(2)

Digital broadcast operations center, Cheyenne, Wyoming(3)

Digital broadcast operations center, Gilbert, Arizona(3)

Engineering offices and service center, Englewood, Colorado(3)

Service and remanufacturing center, Spartanburg, South Carolina

Warehouse and distribution center, Denver, Colorado

Warehouse and distribution center, Atlanta, Georgia

Warehouse, Denver, Colorado

(1)

See Note 17 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for further information on our Related Party Transactions with EchoStar.

(2)

These properties were transferred to DISH Network in connection with the completion of the Master Transaction Agreement. See Note 17 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for further information on our Related Party Transactions with DISH Network.

(3)

These properties were transferred to us in connection with the completion of the Share Exchange.

In addition to the principal properties listed above, we operate numerous facilities for, among other things, our in-home service operations, customer call centers and digital broadcast operations centers strategically located in regions throughout the United States. Furthermore, we own or lease capacity on 11 satellites, which are a major component of our DISH TV services. See further information under Note 6 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

Litigation

We are involved in a number of legal proceedings concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of our business activities. See “Risk Factors — Legal and Regulatory Risks” and Note 12 “Commitments and Contingencies — Contingencies — Litigation” in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for information regarding certain legal proceedings in which we are involved.

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MANAGEMENT’S NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following narrative analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with the condensed consolidated financial statements and notes to our financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.. This management’s narrative analysis is intended to help provide an understanding of our financial condition, changes in financial condition and results of our operations and contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections about our industry, business and future financial results. Our actual results could differ materially from the results contemplated by these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in this prospectus under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Disclosure Regarding Forward Looking Statements” and in our Annual Report and our Quarterly Report under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” Furthermore, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this prospectus, and we expressly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Overview

We currently operate one business segment.

Our Pay-TV business strategy is to be the best provider of video services in the United States by providing products with the best technology, outstanding customer service, and great value. We offer pay-TV services under the DISH® brand and the SLING® brand (collectively “Pay-TV” services). The DISH branded pay-TV service consists of, among other things, FCC licenses authorizing us to use direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) and Fixed Satellite Service (“FSS”) spectrum, our owned and leased satellites, receiver systems, broadcast operations, a leased fiber optic network, in-home service and call center operations, and certain other assets utilized in our operations (“DISH TV”). We also design, develop and distribute receiver systems and provide digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and other services to third-party pay-TV providers. The SLING branded pay-TV services consist of, among other things, multichannel, live-linear streaming over-the-top (“OTT”) Internet-based domestic, international and Latino video programming services (“SLING TV”). We promote our Pay-TV services as providing our subscribers with a better “price-to-value” relationship than those available from other subscription television service providers. We market our SLING TV services to consumers who do not subscribe to traditional satellite and cable pay-TV services, as well as to current and recent traditional pay-TV subscribers who desire a lower cost alternative.

Recent Developments

COVID-19 Update

A novel strain of coronavirus which causes the disease COVID-19 has resulted in a worldwide pandemic. COVID-19 has surfaced in nearly all regions around the world and resulted in global travel restrictions and business slowdowns or shutdowns. The COVID-19 pandemic has also created unanticipated circumstances and uncertainty, disruption, and significant volatility in the economic environment generally, which have adversely affected, and may continue to adversely affect, our business operations and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many of our subscribers are impacted by recommendations and/or mandates from federal, state, and local authorities to practice social distancing, to refrain from gathering in groups and, in some areas, to refrain from non-essential movements outside of their homes. While certain government regulations and/or mandates have eased, or are expected to ease in 2021 and COVID-19 vaccines have become more available in certain areas, governmental authorities are continuing to take various actions in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 continues to impact our business during 2021, in particular in the following areas:

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Our DISH Smart Home Services brand was impacted as in home installation and support has been impacted by government actions and/or related lower consumer demand for these services.

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Pay-TV

We offer Pay-TV services under the DISH® brand and the SLING® brand. As of March 31, 2021, we had 11.060 million Pay-TV subscribers in the United States, including 8.686 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.374 million SLING TV subscribers. We promote our Pay-TV services as providing our subscribers with better service, technology and value than those available from other subscription television service providers. We offer a wide selection of video services under the DISH TV brand, with access to hundreds of channels depending on the level of subscription. Our standard programming packages generally include programming provided by national and regional cable networks. We also offer programming packages that include local broadcast networks, specialty sports channels, premium movie channels and Latino and international programming. We market our SLING TV services to consumers who do not subscribe to traditional satellite and cable pay-TV services, as well as to current and recent traditional pay-TV subscribers who desire a lower cost alternative. Our SLING TV services require an Internet connection and are available on multiple streaming-capable devices including streaming media devices, TVs, tablets, computers, game consoles and phones. We offer SLING domestic, SLING International, and SLING Latino video programming services.

Trends

Competition

Competition has intensified in recent years as the pay-TV industry has matured. We and our competitors increasingly must seek to attract a greater proportion of new subscribers from each other’s existing subscriber bases rather than from first-time purchasers of pay-TV services. We face substantial competition from

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established pay-TV providers and broadband service providers and increasing competition from companies providing/facilitating the delivery of video content via the Internet to computers, televisions, and other streaming and mobile devices, including wireless service providers. In recent years, industry consolidation and convergence has created competitors with greater scale and multiple product/service offerings. These developments, among others, have contributed to intense and increasing competition, and we expect such competition to continue. We incur significant costs to retain our existing DISH TV subscribers, mostly as a result of upgrading their equipment to next generation receivers, primarily including our Hopper receivers, and by providing retention credits. Our DISH TV subscriber retention costs may vary significantly from period to period.

Many of our competitors have been especially aggressive by offering discounted programming and services for both new and existing subscribers, including bundled offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other promotional offers. Certain competitors have been able to subsidize the price of video services with the price of broadband and/or wireless services.

Our Pay-TV services also face increased competition from programmers and other companies who distribute video directly to consumers over the Internet, as well as traditional satellite television providers, cable companies and large telecommunications companies that are increasing their Internet-based video offerings. We also face competition from providers of video content, many of which are providers of our programming content, that distribute content over the Internet including services with live-linear television programming, as well as single programmer offerings and offerings of large libraries of on-demand content, including in certain cases original content. These providers include, among others, Netflix, Hulu, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Disney, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, ViacomCBS, STARZ, Peacock, Fubo and Philo.

Significant changes in consumer behavior with regard to the means by which consumers obtain video entertainment and information in response to digital media competition could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or otherwise disrupt our business. In particular, consumers have shown increased interest in viewing certain video programming in any place, at any time and/or on any broadband-connected device they choose. Online content providers may cause our subscribers to disconnect our DISH TV services (“cord cutting”), downgrade to smaller, less expensive programming packages (“cord shaving”) or elect to purchase through these online content providers a certain portion of the services that they would have historically purchased from us, such as pay per view movies.

Our Pay-TV subscriber base has been declining due to, among other things, the factors described above. There can be no assurance that our Pay-TV subscriber base will not continue to decline and that the pace of such decline will not accelerate. As our Pay-TV subscriber base continues to decline, it could have a material adverse long-term effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.

Programming

Our ability to compete successfully will depend, among other things, on our ability to continue to obtain desirable programming and deliver it to our subscribers at competitive prices. Programming costs represent a large percentage of our “Cost of services” and the largest component of our total expense. We expect these costs to continue to increase due to contractual price increases and the renewal of long-term programming contracts on less favorable pricing terms and certain programming costs are rising at a much faster rate than wages or inflation. In particular, the rates we are charged for retransmitting local broadcast channels have been increasing substantially and may exceed our ability to increase our prices to our subscribers. Going forward, our margins may face pressure if we are unable to renew our long-term programming contracts on acceptable pricing and other economic terms or if we are unable to pass these increased programming costs on to our subscribers.

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Increases in programming costs have caused us to increase the rates that we charge to our subscribers, which could in turn cause our existing Pay-TV subscribers to disconnect our service or cause potential new Pay-TV subscribers to choose not to subscribe to our service. Additionally, even if our subscribers do not disconnect our services, they may purchase through new and existing online content providers a certain portion of the services that they would have historically purchased from us, such as pay-per-view movies.

Furthermore, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate may be negatively impacted if we are unable to renew our long-term programming carriage contracts before they expire. In the past, our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate have been negatively impacted as a result of programming interruptions and threatened programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of programming carriage contracts with content providers. There can be no assurance that channel removals will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or otherwise disrupt our business.

We cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV churn rate resulting from additional programming interruptions or threatened programming interruptions that may occur in the future. As a result, we may at times suffer from periods of lower net Pay-TV subscriber additions or higher net Pay-TV subscriber losses.

Operational Liquidity

We make general investments in property such as satellites, set-top boxes, information technology and facilities that support our Pay-TV business. Moreover, since we are a subscriber-based company, we also make subscriber-specific investments to acquire new subscribers and retain existing subscribers. While the general investments may be deferred without impacting the business in the short-term, the subscriber-specific investments are less discretionary. Our overall objective is to generate sufficient cash flow over the life of each subscriber to provide an adequate return against the upfront investment. Once the upfront investment has been made for each subscriber, the subsequent cash flow is generally positive, but there can be no assurances that over time we will recoup or earn a return on the upfront investment.

There are a number of factors that impact our future cash flow compared to the cash flow we generate at a given point in time. The first factor is our churn rate and how successful we are at retaining our current subscribers. To the extent we lose subscribers from our existing base, the positive cash flow from that base is correspondingly reduced. The second factor is how successful we are at maintaining our service margins. To the extent our “Cost of services” grow faster than our “Service revenue,” the amount of cash flow that is generated per existing subscriber is reduced. Our Pay-TV service margins have been reduced by, among other things, a shift to lower priced Pay-TV programming packages and higher programming costs. The third factor is the rate at which we acquire new subscribers. The faster we acquire new subscribers, the more our positive ongoing cash flow from existing subscribers is offset by the negative upfront cash flow associated with acquiring new subscribers. Conversely, the slower we acquire subscribers, the more our operating cash flow is enhanced in that period. Finally, our future cash flow is impacted by the rate at which we make general investments, incur litigation expense, and any cash flow from financing activities. Declines in our Pay-TV subscriber base and subscriber-related margins continue to negatively impact our cash flow, and there can be no assurances that these declines will not continue.

Availability of Credit and Effect on Liquidity

The ability to raise capital has generally existed for us despite economic weakness and uncertainty. While modest fluctuations in the cost of capital will not likely impact our current operational plans, significant fluctuations could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Debt Issuances and Maturity

During the three months ended March 31, 2021, we repurchased $205 million of our 6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021 in open market trades. The remaining balance of $1.795 billion matures on June 1, 2021.

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We expect to fund this obligation from cash and marketable investment securities balances at that time. However, depending on market conditions, we may refinance this obligation in whole or in part.

Future Liquidity

We have made cash distributions to partially finance the development of DISH Network’s 5G Network Deployment and retail wireless business to date and may make additional cash distributions to finance, in whole or in part, DISH Network’s future efforts. We may need to raise significant additional capital in the future, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, to among other things, make additional cash distributions to DISH Network, continue investing in our business and to pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions. See Note 9 in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements in our Quarterly Report for further information.

Covenants and Restrictions Related to our Long-Term Debt

We are subject to the covenants and restrictions set forth in the indentures related to our long-term debt. In particular, the indentures related to our outstanding senior notes contain restrictive covenants that, among other things, impose limitations on our ability to: (i) incur additional indebtedness; (ii) enter into sale and leaseback transactions; (iii) pay dividends or make distributions on our capital stock or repurchase our capital stock; (iv) make certain investments; (v) create liens; (vi) enter into certain transactions with affiliates; (vii) merge or consolidate with another company; and (viii) transfer or sell assets. Should we fail to comply with these covenants, all or a portion of the debt under the senior notes could become immediately payable. The senior notes also provide that the debt may be required to be prepaid if certain change-in-control events occur. As of the date of filing of this prospectus, we were in compliance with the covenants and restrictions related to our respective long-term debt.

EXPLANATION OF KEY METRICS AND OTHER ITEMS

Service revenue. “Service revenue” consists principally of Pay-TV subscriber revenue. Certain of the amounts included in “Service revenue” are not recurring on a monthly basis.

Equipment sales and other revenue. “Equipment sales and other revenue” principally includes the non-subsidized sales of Pay-TV equipment.

Cost of services. “Cost of services” principally include Pay-TV programming expenses and other operating costs related to our Pay-TV services.

Cost of sales — equipment and other. “Cost of sales — equipment and other” principally includes the cost of the non-subsidized sales of Pay-TV equipment. Costs are generally recognized as products are delivered to customers and the related revenue is recognized.

Selling, general and administrative expenses. “Selling, general and administrative expenses” consists primarily of direct sales costs, advertising, third-party commissions related to the acquisition of subscribers, costs related to the installation of our new Pay-TV subscribers, the cost of subsidized sales of Pay-TV equipment for new subscribers and employee-related costs associated with administrative services such as legal, information systems, and accounting and finance.

Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized. “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized” primarily includes interest expense associated with our long-term debt (net of capitalized interest), prepayment premiums, amortization of debt discounts and debt issuance costs associated with our long-term debt, and interest expense associated with our finance lease obligations.

Other, net. The main components of “Other, net” are gains and losses realized on the sale of investments, impairment of marketable and non-marketable investment securities, unrealized gains and losses from changes in fair value of certain marketable investment securities and equity in earnings and losses of our affiliates.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”). EBITDA is defined as “Net income (loss)” plus “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized” net of “Interest income,” “Income

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tax (provision) benefit, net” and “Depreciation and amortization.” This “non-GAAP measure” is reconciled to “Net income (loss)” in our discussion of “Results of Operations” below.

Operating income before depreciation and amortization (“OIBDA”). OIBDA is defined as “Operating income (loss)” plus “Depreciation and amortization.” This “non-GAAP measure” is reconciled to “Operating income (loss)” in our discussion of “Results of Operations” below.

DISH TV subscribers. We include customers obtained through direct sales, independent third-party retailers and other independent third-party distribution relationships in our DISH TV subscriber count. We also provide DISH TV services to hotels, motels and other commercial accounts. For certain of these commercial accounts, we divide our total revenue for these commercial accounts by $34.99, and include the resulting number, which is substantially smaller than the actual number of commercial units served, in our DISH TV subscriber count.

SLING TV subscribers. We include customers obtained through direct sales and third-party marketing agreements in our SLING TV subscriber count. SLING TV subscribers are recorded net of disconnects. SLING TV customers receiving service for no charge, under certain new subscriber promotions, are excluded from our SLING TV subscriber count. For customers who subscribe to multiple SLING TV packages, each customer is only counted as one SLING TV subscriber.

Pay-TV subscribers. Our Pay-TV subscriber count includes all DISH TV and SLING TV subscribers discussed above. For customers who subscribe to both our DISH TV services and our SLING TV services, each subscription is counted as a separate Pay-TV subscriber.

Pay-TV average monthly revenue per subscriber (“Pay-TV ARPU”). We are not aware of any uniform standards for calculating ARPU and believe presentations of ARPU may not be calculated consistently by other companies in the same or similar businesses. We calculate Pay-TV average monthly revenue per Pay-TV subscriber, or Pay-TV ARPU, by dividing average monthly Pay-TV “Service revenue,” for the period by our average number of Pay-TV subscribers for the period. The average number of Pay-TV subscribers is calculated for the period by adding the average number of Pay-TV subscribers for each month and dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of Pay-TV subscribers for each month is calculated by adding the beginning and ending Pay-TV subscribers for the month and dividing by two. SLING TV subscribers on average purchase lower priced programming services than DISH TV subscribers, and therefore, as SLING TV subscribers increase, it has had a negative impact on Pay-TV ARPU.

DISH TV average monthly subscriber churn rate (“DISH TV churn rate”). We are not aware of any uniform standards for calculating subscriber churn rate and believe presentations of subscriber churn rates may not be calculated consistently by different companies in the same or similar businesses. We calculate DISH TV churn rate for any period by dividing the number of DISH TV subscribers who terminated service during the period by the average number of DISH TV subscribers for the same period, and further dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of DISH TV subscribers is calculated for the period by adding the average number of DISH TV subscribers for each month and dividing by the number of months in the period. The average number of DISH TV subscribers for each month is calculated by adding the beginning and ending DISH TV subscribers for the month and dividing by two.

DISH TV SAC. Subscriber acquisition cost measures are commonly used by those evaluating traditional companies in the pay-TV industry. We are not aware of any uniform standards for calculating the “average subscriber acquisition costs per new DISH TV subscriber activation,” or DISH TV SAC, and we believe presentations of pay-TV SAC may not be calculated consistently by different companies in the same or similar businesses. Our DISH TV SAC is calculated using all of costs of acquiring DISH TV subscribers (e.g., subsidized equipment, advertising, installation, commissions and direct sales, etc.) which are included in “Selling, general and administrative expenses,” plus capitalized payments made under certain sales incentive programs and the value of equipment capitalized under our lease program for new DISH TV subscribers, divided by gross new DISH TV subscriber activations. We include all new DISH TV subscribers in our calculation, including DISH TV subscribers added with little or no subscriber acquisition costs.

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Results of Operations

Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 Compared to the Three Months Ended March 31, 2020.

Statements of Operations Data	For the Three Months Ended March 31,						Variance
Statements of Operations Data	2021			2020			Amount			%
	(In thousands)
Revenue:
Service revenue		$	3,137,387		$	3,130,900		$	6,487		0.2
Equipment sales and other revenue			25,532			36,882			(11,350)		(30.8)
Total revenue			3,162,919			3,167,782			(4,863)		(0.2)
Costs and Expenses:
Cost of services			1,958,699			2,072,432			(113,733)		(5.5)
% of Service revenue			62.4%			66.2%
Cost of sales – equipment and other			16,275			30,814			(14,539)		(47.2)
Selling, general and administrative expenses			333,074			422,249			(89,175)		(21.1)
% of Total revenue			10.5%			13.3%
Depreciation and amortization			115,242			135,085			(19,843)		(14.7)
Total costs and expenses			2,423,290			2,660,580			(237,290)		(8.9)
Operating income (loss)			739,629			507,202			232,427		45.8
Other Income (Expense):
Interest income			806			850			(44)		(5.2)
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized			(173,976)			(182,340)			8,364		4.6
Other, net			(1,508)			945			(2,453)		*
Total other income (expense)			(174,678)			(180,545)			5,867		3.2
Income (loss) before income taxes			564,951			326,657			238,294		72.9
Income tax (provision) benefit, net			(140,424)			(82,504)			(57,920)		(70.2)
Effective tax rate			24.9%			25.3%
Net income (loss)		$	424,527		$	244,153		$	180,374		73.9
Other Data:
Pay-TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)**			11.060			11.323			(0.263)		(2.3)
DISH TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)**			8.686			9.012			(0.326)		(3.6)
SLING TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)			2.374			2.311			0.063		2.7
Pay-TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)**			(0.230)			(0.413)			0.183		44.3
DISH TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)**			(0.130)			(0.132)			0.002		1.5
SLING TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions) . .			(0.100)			(0.281)			0.181		64.4
Pay-TV ARPU		$	93.63		$	88.76		$	4.87		5.5
DISH TV subscriber additions, gross (in millions) . .			0.210			0.299			(0.089)		(29.8)
DISH TV churn rate			1.30%			1.54%			(0.24)%		(15.6)
DISH TV SAC .		$	790		$	861		$	(71)		(8.2)
EBITDA		$	853,363		$	643,232		$	210,131		32.7
OIBDA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		$	854,871		$	642,287		$	212,584		33.1

Percentage is not meaningful.

During the first quarter 2020, we removed approximately 250,000 subscribers representing commercial accounts impacted by COVID-19 from our ending Pay-TV subscriber count. During the year ended December, 31, 2020, 80,000 of these subscribers came off pause or had temporary rate relief end and are included in our ending Pay-TV subscriber count and 69,000 of these subscribers disconnected. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the remaining commercial accounts representing 101,000 subscribers disconnected. The effect of the removal of the 250,000 subscribers, the addition of these 80,000 subscribers and disconnect of 170,000 subscribers was excluded from the calculation of our gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations, net Pay-TV subscriber additions/losses and Pay-TV churn rate. See “Results of Operations — Pay-TV subscribers” for further information.

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Pay-TV subscribers

DISH TV subscribers. We lost approximately 130,000 net DISH TV subscribers during the three months ended March 31, 2021 compared to the loss of approximately 132,000 net DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2020. This decrease in net DISH TV subscriber losses primarily resulted from lower gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, offset by a lower DISH TV churn rate.

SLING TV subscribers. We lost approximately 100,000 net SLING TV subscribers during the three months ended March 31, 2021 compared to the loss of approximately 281,000 net SLING TV subscribers during the same period in 2020. The decrease in net SLING TV subscriber losses was primarily related to lower subscriber disconnects resulting from our emphasis on acquiring and retaining higher quality subscribers, partially offset by lower SLING TV subscriber activations. We continue to experience increased competition, including competition from other subscription video on-demand and live-linear OTT service providers. The three months ended March 31, 2020 was negatively impacted by delays and cancellations of sporting events as a result of COVID-19.

DISH TV subscribers, gross. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, we activated approximately 210,000 gross new DISH TV subscribers compared to approximately 299,000 gross new DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2020, a decrease of 29.8%. This decrease in our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations was primarily related to the impact of COVID-19. Beginning in the second half of March 2020, COVID-19 and the related governmental recommendations and/or mandates created reduced in person selling opportunities, and a reduction in customers’ willingness to open direct mail marketing and allow in-home technicians into their homes. As a result, beginning in the first quarter 2020, we reduced our marketing expenditures and our gross new DISH TV subscribers began to decrease. We continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 and cannot predict with certainty the impact to our gross new DISH TV subscribers as a result of, among other things, lower discretionary spending and reduced ability to perform our in-home service operations due to the impact of social distancing. In addition, our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations continue to be negatively impacted by stricter customer acquisition policies for our DISH TV subscribers, including an emphasis on acquiring higher quality subscribers, and by increased competitive pressures, including aggressive short term introductory pricing and bundled offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers, and channel removals.

DISH TV churn rate. Our DISH TV churn rate for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was 1.30% compared to 1.54% for the same period in 2020. This decrease primarily resulted from the impact of COVID-19, including, among other things, the recommendations and/or mandates from federal, state, and local authorities that customers refrain from non-essential movements outside of their homes and the resulting increased consumption of our Pay-TV services. In addition, COVID-19 had an impact on competitive pressures due to, among other things, a reduction in customers’ willingness to allow competitors’ technicians into their homes. We continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 and cannot predict with certainty the impact to our DISH TV churn rate as a result of, among other things, lower discretionary spending and reduced ability to perform our in-home service operations due to the impact of social distancing. In addition, this decrease also resulted from our emphasis on acquiring and retaining higher quality subscribers. Our DISH TV churn rate continues to be adversely impacted by external factors, such as, among other things, increased competitive pressures, including aggressive marketing, bundled discount offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers, as well as cord cutting. Our DISH TV churn rate is also impacted by internal factors, such as, among other things, our ability to consistently provide outstanding customer service, price increases, programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of certain programming carriage contracts, our ability to control piracy and other forms of fraud and the level of our retention efforts.

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were or are no longer open to the public, we paused service or provided temporary rate relief for certain of those commercial accounts. For certain commercial accounts, each subscription is counted as one Pay-TV subscriber. For other commercial accounts, as discussed above, we divide our total revenue for these commercial accounts by $34.99, and include the resulting number, which is substantially smaller than the actual number of commercial units served, in our Pay-TV subscriber count. During the first quarter 2020, we removed 250,000 subscribers from our ending Pay-TV subscriber count for commercial accounts we placed on pause, or received reduced revenue, or for which we anticipate the account to disconnect due to COVID-19. During the year ended December 31, 2020, 80,000 of these subscribers came off pause or had temporary rate relief end and 69,000 of these subscribers disconnected. We did not incur any significant expenses in connection with the return of the 80,000 commercial accounts and accordingly, those commercial accounts were added to our ending subscriber count during the periods they returned in 2020 and were not recorded as gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations. During the first quarter of 2021, the remaining commercial accounts representing 101,000 subscribers disconnected.

We cannot predict with any certainty the impact to our net Pay-TV subscriber additions, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and DISH TV subscriber churn rate resulting from programming interruptions or threatened programming interruptions that may occur in the future. As a result, we may at times suffer from periods of lower net Pay-TV subscriber additions or higher net Pay-TV subscriber losses.

We have not always met our own standards for performing high-quality installations, effectively resolving subscriber issues when they arise, answering subscriber calls in an acceptable timeframe, effectively communicating with our subscriber base, reducing calls driven by the complexity of our business, improving the reliability of certain systems and subscriber equipment and aligning the interests of certain independent third-party retailers and installers to provide high-quality service. Most of these factors have affected both gross new DISH TV subscriber activations as well as DISH TV subscriber churn rate. Our future gross new DISH TV subscriber activations and our DISH TV subscriber churn rate may be negatively impacted by these factors, which could in turn adversely affect our revenue.

Service revenue. “Service revenue” totaled $3.137 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2021, an increase of $6 million or 0.2% compared to the same period in 2020. The increase in “Service revenue” compared to the same period in 2020 was primarily related to an increase in Pay-TV ARPU, discussed below, offset by a lower average Pay-TV subscriber base.

Pay-TV ARPU. Pay-TV ARPU was $93.63 during the three months ended March 31, 2021versus $88.76 during the same period in 2020. The $4.87 or 5.5% increase in Pay-TV ARPU was primarily attributable to the DISH TV programming package price increases in the first quarter 2021 and 2020, the SLING TV programming package price increases in the first quarter 2021 and 2020 and higher ad sales revenue, partially offset by an increase in SLING TV subscribers as a percentage of our total Pay-TV subscriber base. SLING TV subscribers on average purchase lower priced programming services than DISH TV subscribers, and therefore, the increase in SLING TV subscribers as a percentage of our total Pay-TV subscriber base had a negative impact on Pay-TV ARPU.

Cost of services. “Cost of services” totaled $1.959 billion during the three months ended March 31, 2021, a decrease of $114 million or 5.5% compared to the same period in 2020. The decrease in “Cost of services” was primarily attributable to a lower average Pay-TV subscriber base and a decrease in variable and retention costs per subscriber, partially offset by higher programming costs per subscriber. Variable and retention costs per subscriber decreased due to, among other things, increased operational efficiencies, including a focused set of staffing reductions in 2020. Programming costs per subscriber increased during the three months ended March 31, 2021 due to rate increases in certain of our programming contracts, including the renewal of certain contracts at higher rates, particularly for local broadcast channels. “Cost of services” represented 62.4% and 66.2% of “Service revenue” during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

In the normal course of business, we enter into contracts to purchase programming content in which our payment obligations are generally contingent on the number of Pay-TV subscribers to whom we provide the respective content. Our “Cost of services” have and will continue to face further upward pressure from price increases and the renewal of long-term programming contracts on less favorable pricing terms. In addition, our programming expenses will increase to the extent we are successful in growing our Pay-TV subscriber base.

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Selling, general and administrative expenses. “Selling, general and administrative expenses” totaled $333 million during the three months ended March 31, 2021, an $89 million or 21.1% decrease compared to the same period in 2020. This change was primarily driven by a decrease in subscriber acquisition costs resulting from reduced marketing expenditures and fewer gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, and by cost cutting initiatives including a focused set of staffing reductions in 2020.

DISH TV SAC. DISH TV SAC was $790 during the three months ended March 31, 2021 compared to $861 during the same period in 2020, a decrease of $71 or 8.2%. This change was primarily attributable to a decrease in advertising costs per subscriber and higher commercial additions compared to the same period in 2020. Commercial activations historically have lower DISH TV SAC than residential activations, and therefore the increase in commercial activations had a positive impact on DISH TV SAC. Beginning in the first quarter 2020, as a result of COVID-19 and the related governmental recommendations and/or mandates, our in person selling opportunities and our customers’ willingness to open direct mail marketing and allow in-home technicians into their homes were reduced. Accordingly, we reduced our marketing expenditures starting in the first quarter 2020 and therefore our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations decreased.

During the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, the amount of equipment capitalized under our lease program for new DISH TV subscribers totaled $22 million and $35 million, respectively. This decrease in capital expenditures primarily resulted from a decrease in gross new DISH TV subscriber activations.

To remain competitive, we upgrade or replace subscriber equipment periodically as technology changes, and the costs associated with these upgrades may be substantial. To the extent technological changes render a portion of our existing equipment obsolete, we would be unable to redeploy all returned equipment and consequently would realize less benefit from the DISH TV SAC reduction associated with redeployment of that returned lease equipment.

Our “DISH TV SAC” may materially increase in the future to the extent that we, among other things, transition to newer technologies, introduce more aggressive promotions, or provide greater equipment subsidies.

Income tax (provision) benefit, net. Our income tax provision was $140 million during the three months ended March 31, 2021, an increase of $58 million compared to the same period in 2020. The increase in the provision was primarily related to an increase in “Income (loss) before income taxes.”

Non-GAAP Performance Measures and Reconciliation

It is management’s intent to provide non-GAAP financial information to enhance the understanding of our GAAP financial information, and it should be considered by the reader in addition to, but not instead of, the financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Each non-GAAP financial measure is presented along with the corresponding GAAP measure so as not to imply that more emphasis should be placed on the non-GAAP measure. We believe that providing these non-GAAP measures in addition to the GAAP measures allows management, investors and other users of our financial information to more fully and accurately assess both consolidated and segment performance. The non-GAAP financial information presented may be determined or calculated differently by other companies and may not be directly comparable to that of other companies.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA is not a measure determined in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered a substitute for operating income, net income or any other measure determined in accordance with GAAP. EBITDA is used as a measurement of operating efficiency and overall financial performance and we believe it is a helpful measure for those evaluating operating performance in relation to our competitors. Conceptually, EBITDA measures the amount of income generated each period that could be used to service debt, pay taxes and fund capital expenditures. EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

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	For the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2021			2020
	(In thousands)
Net income (loss)		$	424,527		$	244,153
Inerest, net			173,170			181,490
Income tax provision (benefit), net			140,424			82,504
Depreciation and amortization			115,242			135,085
EBITDA		$	853,363		$	643,232

The changes in EBITDA during the three months ended March 31, 2021, compared to the same period in 2020, were primarily a result of the factors described in connection with operating revenues and operating expenses.

Operating income before depreciation and amortization. OIBDA, which is presented below, is a non-GAAP measure and does not purport to be an alternative to operating income (loss) as a measure of operating performance. We believe this measure is useful to management, investors and other users of our financial information in evaluating operating profitability of our business on a more variable cost basis as it excludes the depreciation and amortization expenses related primarily to capital expenditures and acquisitions, as well as in evaluating operating performance in relation to our competitors. OIBDA is calculated by adding back depreciation and amortization expense to operating income (loss).

	For the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2021			2020
	(In thousands)
Operating income (loss)		$	739,629		$	507,202
Depreciation and amortization			115,242			135,085
OIBDA		$	854,871		$	642,287

The changes in OIBDA during the three months ended March 31, 2021, compared to the same period in 2020, were primarily a result of the factors described in connection with operating revenues and operating expenses.

Year Ended December 31, 2020 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2019.

Statements of Operations Data	For the Years Ended December 31,						Variance
Statements of Operations Data	2020			2019			Amount			%
	(In thousands)
Revenue:
Service revenue		$	12,576,470		$	12,436,637		$	139,833		1.1
Equipment sales and other revenue			151,159			186,256			(35,097)		(18.8)
Total revenue			12,727,629			12,622,893			104,736		0.8
Costs and Expenses:
Cost of services			7,916,036			8,384,473			(468,437)		(5.6)
% of Service revenue			62.9%			67.4%
Cost of sales – equipment and other			104,470			172,700			(68,230)		(39.5)
Selling, general and administrative expenses			1,440,553			1,667,174			(226,621)		(13.6)
% of Total revenue			11.3%			13.2%
Depreciation and amortization			504,638			577,348			(72,710)		(12.6)
Total costs and expenses			9,965,697			10,801,695			(835,998)		(7.7)
Operating income (loss)			2,761,932			1,821,198			940,734		51.7
Other Income (Expense):
Interest income			3,548			30,041			(26,493)		(88.2)
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized			(682,506)			(756,690)			74,184		9.8

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Statements of Operations Data	For the Years Ended December 31,						Variance
Statements of Operations Data	2020			2019			Amount			%
	(In thousands)
Other, net			1,686			7,609			(5,923)		(77.8)
Total other income (expense)			(677,272)			(719,040)			41,768		5.8
Income (loss) before income taxes			2,084,660			1,102,158			982,502		89.1
Income tax (provision) benefit, net			(500,358)			(274,751)			(225,607)		(82.1)
Effective tax rate			24.0%			24.9%
Net income (loss)			1,584,302			827,407			756,895		91.5
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests, net of tax			—			(124)			124		*
Net income (loss) attributable to DISH DBS		$	1,584,302		$	827,531		$	756,771		91.4
Other Data:
Pay-TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)**			11.290			11.986			(0.696)		(5.8)
DISH TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)**			8.816			9.394			(0.578)		(6.2)
SLING TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)			2.474			2.592			(0.118)		(4.6)
Pay-TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)			(0.526)			(0.336)			(0.190)		(56.5)
DISH TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)			(0.408)			(0.511)			0.103		20.2
SLING TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)			(0.118)			0.175			(0.293)		*
Pay-TV ARPU		$	91.77		$	85.92		$	5.85		6.8
DISH TV subscriber additions, gross (in millions)			1.094			1.348			(0.254)		(18.8)
DISH TV churn rate			1.38%			1.62%			(0.24)%		(14.8)
DISH TV SAC		$	851		$	822		$	29		3.5
EBITDA		$	3,268,256		$	2,406,279		$	861,977		35.8
OIBDA		$	3,266,570		$	2,398,546		$	868,024		36.2

Percentage is not meaningful.

During the first quarter 2020, we removed approximately 250,000 subscribers representing commercial accounts impacted by COVID-19 from our ending Pay-TV subscriber count. During the year ended December, 31, 2020, 80,000 of these subscribers came off pause or had temporary rate relief end and are included in our ending Pay-TV subscriber count as of December 31, 2020. The effect of the removal of these 250,000 subscribers as of March 31, 2020 and the addition of these 80,000 subscribers as of December 31, 2020 was excluded from the calculation of our gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations, net Pay-TV subscriber additions/losses and Pay-TV churn rate for the year ended December 31, 2020. See “Results of Operations — Pay-TV subscribers” for further information.

Pay-TV subscribers

DISH TV subscribers. We lost approximately 408,000 net DISH TV subscribers during the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the loss of approximately 511,000 net DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2019. This decrease in net DISH TV subscriber losses primarily resulted from a lower DISH TV churn rate, partially offset by lower gross new DISH TV subscriber activations.

SLING TV subscribers. We lost approximately 118,000 net SLING TV subscribers during the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the addition of approximately 175,000 net SLING TV subscribers during the same period in 2019. This decrease in net SLING TV subscriber additions was primarily related to lower SLING TV subscriber activations, increased competition, including competition from other subscription video on-demand and live-linear OTT service providers, and delays and cancellations of sporting events as a result of COVID-19.

DISH TV subscribers, gross. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we activated approximately 1.094 million gross new DISH TV subscribers compared to approximately 1.348 million gross new DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2019, a decrease of 18.8%. This decrease in our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations was primarily related to the impact of COVID-19. Beginning in the second half of March 2020, COVID-19 and the related governmental recommendations and/or mandates created reduced

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in person selling opportunities, and a reduction in customers’ willingness to open direct mail marketing and allow in-home technicians into their homes as well as delays and cancellations of sporting events. As a result, beginning in the first quarter 2020, we reduced our marketing expenditures and our gross new DISH TV subscribers began to decrease. We continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 and cannot predict with certainty the impact to our gross new DISH TV subscribers as a result of, among other things, higher unemployment and lower discretionary spending and reduced ability to perform our in-home service operations due to the impact of social distancing. In addition, our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations continue to be negatively impacted by stricter customer acquisition policies for our DISH TV subscribers, including an emphasis on acquiring higher quality subscribers, and by increased competitive pressures, including aggressive short term introductory pricing and bundled offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers, and channel removals.

DISH TV churn rate. Our DISH TV churn rate for the year ended December 31, 2020 was 1.38% compared to 1.62% for the same period in 2019. This decrease primarily resulted from the impact of COVID-19, including, among other things, the recommendations and/or mandates from federal, state, and local authorities that customers refrain from non-essential movements outside of their homes and the resulting increased consumption of our Pay-TV services. In addition, COVID-19 had an impact on competitive pressures due to, among other things, a reduction in customers’ willingness to allow competitors’ technicians into their homes and delays and cancellations of sporting events that reduced the attractiveness of competitors’ promotional offers and services. Furthermore, our DISH TV churn rate for the year ended December 31, 2019 was negatively impacted by Univision’s removal of certain of their channels from our programming lineup. We continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 and cannot predict with certainty the impact to our DISH TV churn rate as a result of, among other things, higher unemployment and lower discretionary spending and reduced ability to perform our in-home service operations due to the impact of social distancing. In addition, this decrease also resulted from our emphasis on acquiring and retaining higher quality subscribers. Our DISH TV churn rate continues to be adversely impacted by external factors, such as, among other things, increased competitive pressures, including aggressive marketing, bundled discount offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers, as well as cord cutting. Our DISH TV churn rate is also impacted by internal factors, such as, among other things, our ability to consistently provide outstanding customer service, price increases, programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of certain programming carriage contracts, our ability to control piracy and other forms of fraud and the level of our retention efforts.

Beginning in March 2020, several federal, state, and local government agencies implemented recommendations, guidelines, and orders regarding “social distancing” in an attempt to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19. As a result of these actions, many bars, restaurants, and other commercial establishments have been and continue to be recommended and/or ordered to suspend all non-essential “in-person” business operations and/or operate at reduced capacity. In addition, airlines and hotels significantly reduced operations as a result of government actions and/or related lower consumer demand. In an effort to avoid charging commercial customers for services in their establishments which are no longer open to the public, we have paused service or provided temporary rate relief for certain of those commercial accounts. For certain commercial accounts, each subscription is counted as one Pay-TV subscriber. For other commercial accounts, as discussed above, we divide our total revenue for these commercial accounts by $34.99, and include the resulting number, which is substantially smaller than the actual number of commercial units served, in our Pay-TV subscriber count. During the first quarter 2020, we removed 250,000 subscribers from our ending Pay-TV subscriber count for commercial accounts we placed on pause, or received reduced revenue, or for which we anticipate the account to disconnect due to COVID-19. During the year ended December 31, 2020, 80,000 of these subscribers came off pause or had temporary rate relief end and 69,000 of these subscribers disconnected.

We have not incurred and do not expect to incur any significant expenses in connection with the return of these commercial accounts and accordingly, these commercial accounts were added to our ending subscriber count and were not recorded as gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations. We cannot predict when the remaining commercial accounts will be able to fully reopen, how many will return or when they may return to active subscriber status, and there can be no assurance that they will return. We continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 and cannot predict with certainty the impact to our subscriber base, gross new DISH TV subscribers and our DISH TV churn rate as a result of, among other things, higher unemployment

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and lower discretionary spending and our reduced ability to perform our in-home service operations due to the impact of social distancing. As such, given the dynamic nature of this situation, we cannot reasonably estimate the impacts of COVID-19 on our financial condition and results of operations.

We have not always met our own standards for performing high-quality installations, effectively resolving subscriber issues when they arise, answering subscriber calls in an acceptable timeframe, effectively communicating with our subscriber base, reducing calls driven by the complexity of our business, improving the reliability of certain systems and subscriber equipment, and aligning the interests of certain independent third-party retailers and installers to provide high-quality service. Most of these factors have affected both gross new DISH TV subscriber activations as well as DISH TV subscriber churn rate. Our future gross new DISH TV subscriber activations and our DISH TV subscriber churn rate may be negatively impacted by these factors, which could in turn adversely affect our revenue.

Service revenue. “Service revenue” totaled $12.576 billion for the year ended December 31, 2020, an increase of $140 million or 1.1% compared to the same period in 2019. The increase in “Service revenue” compared to the same period in 2019 was primarily related to an increase in Pay-TV ARPU discussed below, partially offset by a lower average Pay-TV subscriber base.

Pay-TV ARPU. Pay-TV ARPU was $91.77 during the year ended December 31, 2020 versus $85.92 during the same period in 2019. The $5.85 or 6.8% increase in Pay-TV ARPU was primarily attributable to the DISH TV programming package price increases in the first quarter 2020 and 2019, the SLING TV programming package price increases in the first quarter 2020 and fourth quarter 2019, higher ad sales revenue and fewer commercial accounts compared to the same period in 2019, which have lower Pay-TV ARPU than residential subscribers.

Cost of services. “Cost of services” totaled $7.916 billion during the year ended December 31, 2020, a decrease of $468 million or 5.6% compared to the same period in 2019. The decrease in “Cost of services” was primarily attributable to a lower average Pay-TV subscriber base and the reduction of expense associated with the satellite lease for EchoStar XVIII and Nimiq 5, partially offset by increases in programming costs per subscriber. The reduction in satellite lease expense relates to our lease of EchoStar XVIII from DISH Network which ended in May 2019 as a result of an agreement to sell our interests in the Local Multipoint Distribution Service (“LMDS”) and multichannel video distribution and data service (“MVDDS”) licenses in exchange for the EchoStar XVIII satellite. During September 2019 pursuant to the Master Transaction Agreement, we began accounting for our Nimiq 5 satellite lease as a finance lease. Accordingly, expenses related to this lease are no longer recorded in “Cost of services,” but rather in “Depreciation and amortization” and “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized” on our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). Programming costs per subscriber increased during the year ended December 31, 2020 due to rate increases in certain of our programming contracts, including the renewal of certain contracts at higher rates, particularly for local broadcast channels. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in programming costs per subscriber due to, among others, Sinclair RSN’s removal of certain of their channels from our programming lineup in July 2019 and multiple one-time programming adjustments in the third quarter 2020. “Cost of services” represented 62.9% and 67.4% of “Service revenue” during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. See Note 17 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on the Master Transaction Agreement.

Selling, general and administrative expenses. “Selling, general and administrative expenses” totaled $1.441 billion during the year ended December 31, 2020, a $227 million or 13.6% decrease compared to the

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same period in 2019. This change was primarily driven by a decrease in subscriber acquisition costs resulting from fewer gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, a $70 million reduction to litigation expense as a result of the Telemarketing Litigation settlement and cost cutting initiatives, including a focused set of staffing reductions. See Note 12 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on the Telemarketing Litigation.

DISH TV SAC. DISH TV SAC was $851 during the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to $822 during the same period in 2019, an increase of $29 or 3.5%. This change was primarily attributable to fewer commercial additions compared to the same period in 2019 and an increase in advertising costs per subscriber. Commercial activations historically have lower DISH TV SAC than residential activations, and therefore the decrease in commercial activations had a negative impact on DISH TV SAC. Beginning in the first quarter 2020, as a result of COVID-19 and the related governmental recommendations and/or mandates, our in person selling opportunities and our customers’ willingness to open direct mail marketing and allow in-home technicians into their homes were reduced. Accordingly, we reduced our marketing expenditures and our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations began to decrease. Although we reduced our marketing expenditures, gross new DISH TV subscriber activations decreased at a higher rate, resulting in an increase in advertising costs per subscriber during 2020 compared to 2019.

During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, the amount of equipment capitalized under our lease program for new DISH TV subscribers totaled $151 million and $191 million, respectively. This decrease in capital expenditures primarily resulted from a decrease in gross new DISH TV subscriber activations.

Depreciation and amortization. “Depreciation and amortization” expense totaled $505 million during the year ended December 31, 2020, a $73 million or 12.6% decrease compared to the same period in 2019. This change was primarily driven by a decrease in depreciation expense from equipment leased to new and existing DISH TV subscribers, partially offset by an increase in depreciation expense as a result of our Nimiq 5 satellite lease being accounted for as a finance lease beginning in September 2019 and depreciation associated with EchoStar XVIII, discussed above.

Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized. “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized” totaled $683 million during the year ended December 31, 2020, a decrease of $74 million or 9.8% compared to the same period in 2019. This decrease was primarily related to a reduction in interest expense resulting from debt redemptions during 2020 and 2019, partially offset by an increase in interest expense as a result of the issuance of our 7 3/8% Senior Notes due 2028 on July 1, 2020.

Income tax (provision) benefit, net. Our income tax provision was $500 million during the year ended December 31, 2020, an increase of $226 million compared to the same period in 2019. The increase in the provision was primarily related to an increase in “Income (loss) before income taxes.”

For discussion of the Pay-TV results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018, see “Results of Operations — Year Ended December 31, 2019 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2018” in our 2019 Annual Report.

Non-GAAP Performance Measures and Reconciliation

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placed on the non-GAAP measure. We believe that providing these non-GAAP measures in addition to the GAAP measures allows management, investors and other users of our financial information to more fully and accurately assess both consolidated and segment performance. The non-GAAP financial information presented may be determined or calculated differently by other companies and may not be directly comparable to that of other companies.

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2021			2020
	(In thousands)
Net income (loss) attributable to DISH DBS		$	1,584,302		$	827,531
Inerest, net			678,958			726,649
Income tax provision (benefit), net			500,358			274,751
Depreciation and amortization			504,638			577,348
EBITDA		$	3,268,256		$	2,406,279

The changes in EBITDA during the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, were primarily a result of the factors described in connection with operating revenues and operating expenses.

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2020			2019
	(In thousands)
Operating income (loss)		$	2,761,932		$	1,821,198
Depreciation and amortization			504,638			577,348
OIBDA		$	3,266,570		$	2,398,546

The changes in OIBDA during the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, were primarily a result of the factors described in connection with operating revenues and operating expenses.

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Year Ended December 31, 2019 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2018.

Statements of Operations Data	For the Years Ended December 31,						Variance
Statements of Operations Data	2019			2018			Amount			%
	(In thousands)
Revenue:
Subscriber-related revenue		$	12,436,637		$	13,197,994		$	(761,357)		(5.8)
Equipment sales and other revenue			186,256			164,145			22,111		13.5
Total revenue			12,622,893			13,362,139			(739,246)		(5.5)
Costs and Expenses:
Subscriber-related expenses			7,768,732			8,392,150			(623,418)		(7.4)
% of Subscriber-related revenue			62.5%			63.6%
Satellite and transmission expenses			555,803			637,160			(81,357)		(12.8)
% of Subscriber-related revenue			4.5%			4.8%
Cost of sales – equipment and other			172,700			143,671			29,029		20.2
Subscriber acquisition costs			994,523			769,307			225,216		29.3
General and administrative expenses			732,589			692,881			39,708		5.7
% of Total revenue			5.8%			5.2%
Depreciation and amortization			577,348			660,460			(83,112)		(12.6)
Total costs and expenses			10,801,695			11,295,629			(493,934)		(4.4)
Operating income (loss)			1,821,198			2,066,510			(245,312)		(11.9)
Other Income (Expense):
Interest income			30,041			8,923			21,118		*
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized			(756,690)			(792,436)			35,746		4.5
Other, net			7,609			8,994			(1,385)		(15.4)
Total other income (expense)			(719,040)			(774,519)			55,479		7.2
Income (loss) before income taxes			1,102,158			1,291,991			(189,833)		(14.7)
Income tax (provision) benefit, net			(274,751)			(318,305)			43,554		13.7
Effective tax rate			24.9%			24.6%
Net income (loss)			827,407			973,686			(146,279)		(15.0)
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests, net of tax			(124)			2,399			(2,523)		*
Net income (loss) attributable to DISH DBS		$	827,531		$	971,287		$	(143,756)		(14.8)
Other Data:
Pay-TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)			11.986			12.322			(0.336)		(2.7)
DISH TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)			9.394			9.905			(0.511)		(5.2)
Sling TV subscribers, as of period end (in millions)			2.592			2.417			0.175		7.2
Pay-TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)			(0.336)			(0.920)			0.584		63.5
DISH TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)			(0.511)			(1.125)			0.614		54.6
Sling TV subscriber additions (losses), net (in millions)			0.175			0.205			(0.030)		(14.6)
Pay-TV ARPU		$	85.92		$	85.46		$	0.46		0.5
DISH TV subscriber additions, gross (in millions)			1.348			1.114			0.234		21.0
DISH TV churn rate			1.62%			1.78%			(0.16)%		(9.0)
DISH TV SAC		$	822		$	759		$	63		8.3
EBITDA		$	2,406,279		$	2,733,565		$	(327,286)		(12.0)

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Percentage is not meaningful.

Pay-TV subscribers. We lost approximately 336,000 net Pay-TV subscribers during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the loss of approximately 920,000 net Pay-TV subscribers during the same period in 2018. The decrease in net Pay-TV subscriber losses during the year ended December 31, 2019 resulted from fewer net DISH TV subscriber losses, partially offset by fewer net Sling TV subscriber additions. Our net Pay-TV subscriber losses during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 were negatively impacted by Univision, AT&T and Fox RSNs’ removal of certain of their channels from our DISH TV and Sling TV programming lineup. On March 26, 2019, we and Univision signed a new programming carriage contract which restored certain Univision channels to our DISH TV programming lineup. In August 2019, Sinclair Broadcast Group acquired the Fox RSNs. We lost approximately 511,000 net DISH TV subscribers during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the loss of approximately 1.125 million net DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2018. This decrease in net DISH TV subscriber losses primarily resulted from a lower DISH TV churn rate and higher gross new DISH TV subscriber activations. We added approximately 175,000 net Sling TV subscribers during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the addition of approximately 205,000 net Sling TV subscribers during the same period in 2018. This decrease in net Sling TV subscriber additions is primarily related to increased competition, including competition from other OTT service providers, and to a higher number of customer disconnects on a larger Sling TV subscriber base, including the impact from Univision, AT&T and Fox RSNs’ removal of certain of their channels from our programming lineup, discussed above.

Our DISH TV churn rate for the year ended December 31, 2019 was 1.62% compared to 1.78% for the same period in 2018. This decrease primarily resulted from our emphasis on acquiring and retaining higher quality subscribers. Our DISH TV churn rate for the year ended December 31, 2019 was negatively impacted by various channel removals from our programming lineup. For example, our DISH TV churn rate for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 was negatively impacted by Univision, AT&T and Fox RSNs’ removal of certain of their channels from our programming lineup. Our DISH TV churn rate continues to be adversely impacted by external factors, such as, among other things, increased competitive pressures, including aggressive marketing, bundled discount offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers, as well as cord cutting. Our DISH TV churn rate is also impacted by internal factors, such as, among other things, our ability to consistently provide outstanding customer service, price increases, programming interruptions in connection with the scheduled expiration of certain programming carriage contracts, our ability to control piracy and other forms of fraud and the level of our retention efforts.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, we activated approximately 1.348 million gross new DISH TV subscribers compared to approximately 1.114 million gross new DISH TV subscribers during the same period in 2018, an increase of 21.0%. The increase in gross new DISH TV subscribers resulted from the effectiveness of our promotions and product offers. Although our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations increased, our gross new DISH TV subscriber activations continue to be negatively impacted by stricter customer acquisition policies for our DISH TV subscribers, including an emphasis on acquiring higher quality subscribers, and by increased competitive pressures, including aggressive short term introductory pricing and bundled offers combining broadband, video and/or wireless services and other discounted promotional offers; and channel removals.

During September 2017, Hurricane Maria caused extraordinary damage in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, resulting in a widespread loss of power and infrastructure. Given the devastation and loss of power, substantially all customers in those areas were unable to receive our service as of September 30, 2017. In an effort to ensure customers would not be charged for services they were unable to receive, we proactively paused service for those customers. Accordingly, we removed approximately 145,000 subscribers, representing all of our subscribers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, from our ending Pay-TV subscriber count as of September 30, 2017. During the fourth quarter 2017, 75,000 of these customers reactivated. During the year ended December 31, 2018, 31,000 of these customers reactivated. We incurred certain costs in connection with the re-activation of these returning subscribers, and accordingly, these returning customers were recorded as gross new DISH TV subscriber activations with the corresponding

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costs recorded in “Subscriber acquisition costs” on our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) and/or in “Purchases of property and equipment” on our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

We have not always met our own standards for performing high-quality installations, effectively resolving subscriber issues when they arise, answering subscriber calls in an acceptable timeframe, effectively communicating with our subscriber base, reducing calls driven by the complexity of our business, improving the reliability of certain systems and subscriber equipment, and aligning the interests of certain independent third-party retailers and installers to provide high-quality service. Most of these factors have affected both gross new DISH TV subscriber activations as well as DISH TV subscriber churn rate. Our future gross new DISH TV subscriber activations and our DISH TV subscriber churn rate may be negatively impacted by these factors, which could in turn adversely affect our revenue.

Subscriber-related revenue. “Subscriber-related revenue” totaled $12.437 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019, a decrease of $761 million or 5.8% compared to the same period in 2018. The decrease in “Subscriber-related revenue” compared to the same period in 2018 was primarily related to a lower average Pay-TV subscriber base, partially offset by an increase in Pay-TV ARPU discussed below. We expect these trends in “Subscriber-related revenue” to continue.

Pay-TV ARPU. Pay-TV ARPU was $85.92 during the year ended December 31, 2019 versus $85.46 during the same period in 2018. The $0.46 or 0.5% increase in Pay-TV ARPU was primarily attributable to the DISH TV programming package price increases in the first quarter 2019 and 2018 and Sling TV programming package price increases in the third quarter 2018. The increases were partially offset by an increase in Sling TV subscribers as a percentage of our total Pay-TV subscriber base and a decrease in revenue related to premium channels. Sling TV subscribers on average purchase lower priced programming services than DISH TV subscribers, and therefore, the increase in Sling TV subscribers had a negative impact on Pay-TV ARPU. We expect this trend to continue.

Subscriber-related expenses. “Subscriber-related expenses” totaled $7.769 billion during the year ended December 31, 2019, a decrease of $623 million or 7.4% compared to the same period in 2018. The decrease in “Subscriber-related expenses” was primarily attributable to a lower average Pay-TV subscriber base and lower programming costs per subscriber. Programming costs per subscriber during the year ended December 31, 2019 decreased due to AT&T and Fox RSN’s removal of certain of their channels from our programming lineup. This decrease was partially offset by rate increases in certain of our programming contracts, including the renewal of certain contracts at higher rates, particularly for local broadcast channels. “Subscriber-related expenses” represented 62.5% and 63.6% of “Subscriber-related revenue” during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

In the normal course of business, we enter into contracts to purchase programming content in which our payment obligations are generally contingent on the number of Pay-TV subscribers to whom we provide the respective content. Our “Subscriber-related expenses” have and will continue to face further upward pressure from price increases and the renewal of long-term programming contracts on less favorable pricing terms. In addition, our programming expenses will increase to the extent we are successful in growing our Pay-TV subscriber base.

Satellite and transmission expenses. “Satellite and transmission expenses” totaled $556 million during the year ended December 31, 2019, a decrease of $81 million or 12.8% compared to the same period in 2018. This decrease resulted from the reduction of expense associated with the EchoStar VII and EchoStar XVIII satellite leases. The EchoStar VII lease expired June 30, 2018 and in May 2019, our lease of EchoStar XVIII ended as a result of an agreement to sell our interests in the LMDS and MVDDS licenses in exchange for the EchoStar XVIII satellite.

Subscriber acquisition costs. “Subscriber acquisition costs” totaled $995 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, an increase of $225 million or 29.3% compared to the same period in 2018. This change

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was primarily attributable to higher gross new DISH TV subscriber activations and the increase in DISH TV SAC, discussed below.

DISH TV SAC. DISH TV SAC was $822 during the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to $759 during the same period in 2018, an increase of $63 or 8.3%. This change was primarily attributable to an increase in hardware, advertising and installation costs per activation. The increase in hardware and installation costs resulted from our emphasis on acquiring higher quality subscribers who activate with higher priced receivers, such as the Hopper 3, and a lower percentage of remanufactured receivers being activated on new subscriber accounts. In addition, the year ended December 31, 2018 were positively impacted by the reactivation of certain subscribers in Puerto Rico related to Hurricane Maria. The expenses we incurred for these reactivations were lower on a per subscriber basis than those incurred for the remaining gross new DISH TV subscriber activations during the year ended December 31, 2019.

During the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, the amount of equipment capitalized under our lease program for new DISH TV subscribers totaled $191 million and $120 million, respectively. This increase in capital expenditures resulted from higher gross new DISH TV subscriber activations, discussed above, and our emphasis on acquiring higher quality subscribers who activate with higher priced receivers, such as the Hopper 3, and a lower percentage of remanufactured receivers being activated on new subscriber accounts.

Our “Subscriber acquisition costs” and “DISH TV SAC” may materially increase in the future to the extent that we, among other things, transition to newer technologies, introduce more aggressive promotions, or provide greater equipment subsidies.

General and administrative expenses. “General and administrative expenses” totaled $733 million during the year ended December 31, 2019, a $40 million or 5.7% increase compared to the same period in 2018. This increase was primarily driven by an increase in legal fees. The year ended December 31, 2018 was positively impacted by the reimbursement of legal fees during 2018.

Depreciation and amortization. “Depreciation and amortization” expense totaled $577 million during the year ended December 31, 2019, an $83 million or 12.6% decrease compared to the same period in 2018.

This change was primarily driven by a decrease in depreciation expense from equipment leased to new and existing DISH TV subscribers.

Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized. “Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized” totaled $757 million during the year ended December 31, 2019, a decrease of $36 million or 4.5% compared to the same period in 2018. This decrease was primarily related to a reduction in interest expense resulting from debt redemptions during 2019 and 2018.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA was $2.406 billion during the year ended December 31, 2019, a decrease of $327 million or 12.0% compared to the same period in 2018. The decrease in EBITDA was primarily attributable to the changes in operating income discussed above, excluding the change in “Depreciation and amortization.” The following table reconciles EBITDA to the accompanying financial statements.

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	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2019			2018
	(In thousands)
Net income (loss) attributable to DISH DBS		$	827,531		$	971,287
Inerest, net			726,649			783,513
Income tax provision (benefit), net			274,751			318,305
Depreciation and amortization			577,348			660,460
EBITDA		$	2,406,279		$	2,733,565

EBITDA is not a measure determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) and should not be considered a substitute for operating income, net income or any other measure determined in accordance with GAAP. EBITDA is used as a measurement of operating efficiency and overall financial performance and we believe it to be a helpful measure for those evaluating companies in the pay-TV industry. Conceptually, EBITDA measures the amount of income generated each period that could be used to service debt, pay taxes and fund capital expenditures. EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Income tax (provision) benefit, net. Our income tax provision was $275 million during the year ended December 31, 2019, a decrease of $44 million compared to the same period in 2018. The decrease in the provision was primarily related to a decrease in “Income (loss) before income taxes.”

Guarantors of Guaranteed Securities

Our senior notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally on a senior unsecured basis by certain of our wholly owned subsidiaries (the “Guarantors”).

The Notes will be, and our 7.375% Senior Notes due 2028 are, guaranteed by our current principal operating subsidiaries. Our 6.75% Senior Notes due 2021, 5.875% Senior Notes due 2022, 5% Senior Notes due 2023, 5.875% Senior Notes due 2024 and 7.75% Senior Notes due 2026, are guaranteed by our current principal operating subsidiaries other than Sling TV Holding L.L.C. (“Sling TV”). However, Sling TV, including all of its assets and operations, is a wholly owned subsidiary of DISH Network L.L.C., which is a Guarantor on all of our outstanding senior notes. Certain of our wholly owned subsidiaries are designated as “Unrestricted Subsidiaries” and do not guarantee any of our senior notes. These Unrestricted Subsidiaries are non-operating entities that hold minimal or no assets.

We and our subsidiaries participate with our parent company, DISH Network Corporation, in a centralized system for the management of our cash and marketable investment securities. Please see Note 3 in the Notes to our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2021 for further information.

The assets, liabilities and results of operations of the combined issuer and guarantors (excluding Unrestricted Subsidiaries) of the guaranteed securities are not materially different than corresponding amounts presented in the condensed consolidated financial statements of the parent company issuer. Therefore, summarized financial information of the issuer and the guarantor subsidiaries is not required.

The below descriptions apply to the Notes and to all of our existing senior notes — there are no material differences between our senior notes (including the Notes) guaranteed by all of our current principal operating subsidiaries and our senior notes guaranteed by our current principal operating subsidiaries other than Sling TV, a wholly owned subsidiary of DISH Network L.L.C., which is a Guarantor on all of our outstanding senior notes.

The guarantee of a Guarantor will be deemed automatically discharged and released in accordance with the terms of the applicable indenture (i) in connection with any direct or indirect sale, conveyance or other disposition of all of the capital stock or all or substantially all of the assets of that Guarantor (including by way of merger or consolidation), if such sale or disposition is made in compliance with the applicable

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provisions of the indenture; (ii) if such Guarantor is dissolved or liquidated in accordance with the provisions of the indenture; (iii) if we designate any such Guarantor as an “Unrestricted Subsidiary” in compliance with the terms of the indenture; or (iv) with respect to a Guarantor which constitutes a Non-Core Asset (as such term is defined in the applicable indenture), upon the sale or other disposition of certain equity interests of such Guarantor, if such sale or disposition is made in compliance with the applicable provisions of the indenture. There are no restrictions on our ability to obtain cash dividends or other distributions of funds from the Guarantors, except those imposed by applicable law.

The rights of holders of the senior notes against the Guarantors may be limited under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or state fraudulent transfer or conveyance law. Under certain circumstances (including a finding that a Guarantor was insolvent at the time its guarantee of the senior notes was issued), a court could hold that the obligations of a Guarantor under a guarantee may be voided or are subordinate to other obligations of the Guarantor. Each guarantee contains a provision intended to limit the Guarantor’s liability to the maximum amount that it could incur without causing the incurrence of obligations under its guarantee to be a fraudulent conveyance or transfer under U.S. federal or state law.

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Market Risks Associated with Financial Instruments

Our investments and debt are exposed to market risks, discussed below.

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Current Marketable Investment Securities

As of March 31, 2021, our cash, cash equivalents and current marketable investment securities had a fair value of $1.665 billion. Of that amount, a total of $1.665 billion was invested in: (a) cash; (b) money market funds; (c) debt instruments of the United States Government and its agencies; (d) commercial paper and corporate notes with an overall average maturity of less than one year and rated in one of the four highest rating categories by at least two nationally recognized statistical rating organizations; and/or (e) instruments with similar risk, duration and credit quality characteristics to the commercial paper and corporate obligations described above. The primary purpose of these investing activities has been to preserve principal until the cash is required to, among other things, continue investing in our business, pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions, fund ongoing operations, repay debt obligations, expand our business and pay dividends from time to time. Consequently, the size of this portfolio can fluctuate significantly as cash is received and used in our business for these or other purposes. The value of this portfolio is negatively impacted by credit losses; however, this risk is mitigated through diversification that limits our exposure to any one issuer.

Interest Rate Risk

A change in interest rates would affect the fair value of our cash, cash equivalents and current marketable investment securities portfolio; however, we normally hold these investments to maturity. Based on our March 31, 2021 current non-strategic investment portfolio of $1.665 billion, a hypothetical 10% change in average interest rates would not have a material impact on the fair value due to the limited duration of our investments.

Our cash, cash equivalents and current marketable investment securities had an average annual rate of return for the year ended March 31, 2021 of 0.2%. A change in interest rates would affect our future annual interest income from this portfolio, since funds would be re-invested at different rates as the instruments mature. A hypothetical 10% decrease in average interest rates during 2021 would result in a decrease of approximately less than $1 million in annual interest income.

Restricted Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Investment Securities

As of March 31, 2021, we had $58 million of restricted cash and marketable investment securities invested in: (a) cash; (b) money market funds; (c) debt instruments of the United States Government and its agencies; and/or (d) instruments with similar risk, duration and credit quality characteristics to commercial

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paper. Based on our March 31, 2021 investment portfolio, a hypothetical 10% increase in average interest rates would not have a material impact on the fair value of our restricted cash and marketable investment securities.

Long-Term Debt

As of March 31, 2021, we had long-term debt of $10.318 billion, excluding finance lease obligations and unamortized deferred financing costs and debt discounts, on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. We estimated the fair value of this debt to be approximately $10.848 billion using quoted market prices. The fair value of our debt is affected by fluctuations in interest rates. A hypothetical 10% decrease in assumed interest rates would increase the fair value of our debt by approximately $137 million. To the extent interest rates increase, our future costs of financing would increase at the time of any future financings. As of March 31, 2021, all of our long-term debt consisted of fixed rate indebtedness.

Derivative Financial Instruments

From time to time, we invest in speculative financial instruments, including derivatives. As of March 31, 2021, we did not hold any derivative financial instruments.

THE EXCHANGE OFFER

Purpose of the exchange offer

The sole purpose of the exchange offer is to fulfill our obligations with respect to the registration of the Old Notes. We originally issued and sold the Old Notes on May 24, 2021. We did not register those sales under the Securities Act, in reliance upon the exemption provided in section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and Rule 144A and Regulation S promulgated under the Securities Act. In connection with the sale of the Old Notes, we agreed to file with the SEC an exchange offer registration statement relating to the exchange offer. Under the exchange offer registration statement that this prospectus is a part of, we are registering the offering of the Notes, in exchange for the Old Notes.

How to determine if you are eligible to participate in the exchange offer

We hereby offer to exchange, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this prospectus and in the letter of transmittal accompanying it, $1,000 in principal amount of Notes for each $1,000 in principal amount of the Old Notes that you hold. You may only tender Old Notes in minimum denominations of $2,000 principal amount and any integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof. The terms of the Notes are substantially identical to the terms of the Old Notes, that you may exchange pursuant to this exchange offer, except that, generally, you may freely transfer the Notes, and you will not be entitled to certain registration rights and certain other provisions which are applicable to the Old Notes under the registration rights agreement. The Notes will be entitled to the benefits of the Indenture. See “Description of the Notes.”

We are not making the exchange offer to, nor will we accept surrenders for exchange from, holders of outstanding Old Notes in any jurisdiction in which this exchange offer or the acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities or blue sky laws of such jurisdiction.

We are not making the exchange offer conditional upon the holders tendering, or us accepting, any minimum aggregate principal amount of Old Notes.

Under existing SEC interpretations, the Notes would generally be freely transferable after the exchange offer without further registration under the Securities Act, except that broker-dealers receiving the Notes in the exchange offer will be subject to a prospectus delivery requirement with respect to their resale. This view is based on interpretations by the staff of the SEC in no-action letters issued to other issuers in exchange offers like this one. We have not, however, asked the SEC to consider this particular exchange offer in the context of a no-action letter. Therefore, the SEC might not treat it in the same way it has treated other exchange offers in the past. You will be relying on the no-action letters that the SEC has issued to third parties in circumstances that we believe are similar to ours. Based on these no-action letters, the following conditions must be met:

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you must not be a broker-dealer that acquired the Old Notes from us or in market-making transactions;

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you must acquire the Notes in the ordinary course of your business;

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you must have no arrangements or understandings with any person to participate in the distribution of the Notes within the meaning of the Securities Act; and

•

you must not be an affiliate of ours, as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

If you wish to exchange Old Notes for Notes in the exchange offer you must represent to us that you satisfy all of the above listed conditions. If you do not satisfy all of the above listed conditions:

•

you cannot rely on the position of the SEC set forth in the no-action letters referred to above; and

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you must comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act in connection with a resale of the new Notes.

The SEC considers broker-dealers that acquired Old Notes directly from us, but not as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities, to be making a distribution of the Notes if they participate in the exchange offer. Consequently, these broker-dealers must comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act in connection with a resale of the Notes.

A broker-dealer that has bought Old Notes for market-making or other trading activities must deliver a prospectus in order to resell any Notes it receives for its own account in the exchange offer. The SEC has taken the position that broker-dealers may fulfill their prospectus delivery requirements with respect to the Notes by delivering the prospectus contained in the registration statement for the exchange offer. Each broker-dealer that receives Notes for its own account pursuant to this exchange offer must acknowledge that it will deliver a prospectus in connection with any resale of such Notes. The letter of transmittal states that by so acknowledging and by delivering a prospectus, a broker-dealer will not be deemed to admit that it is an “underwriter” within the meaning of the Securities Act. This prospectus, as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, may be used by a broker-dealer in connection with resales of Notes received in exchange for Old Notes where such Old Notes were acquired by such broker-dealer as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities. We have agreed that, for a period of one year after we consummate the exchange offer, we will make this prospectus available to any broker-dealer for use in connection with any such resale.

By tendering Old Notes for exchange, you will exchange, assign and transfer the Old Notes to us and irrevocably appoint the exchange agent as your agent and attorney-in-fact to assign, transfer and exchange the Old Notes. You will also represent and warrant that you have full power and authority to tender, exchange, assign and transfer the Old Notes and to acquire Notes issuable upon the exchange of such tendered Old Notes. The letter of transmittal requires you to agree that, when we accept your Old Notes for exchange, we will acquire good, marketable and unencumbered title to them, free and clear of all security interests, liens, restrictions, charges and encumbrances and that they are not subject to any adverse claim.

You will also warrant that you will, upon our request, execute and deliver any additional documents that we believe are necessary or desirable to complete the exchange, assignment and transfer of your tendered Old Notes. You must further agree that our acceptance of any tendered Old Notes and the issuance of Notes in exchange for them will constitute performance in full by us of our obligations under the registration rights agreement and that we will have no further obligations or liabilities under that agreement, except in certain limited circumstances. All authority conferred by you will survive your death, incapacity, liquidation, dissolution, winding up or any other event relating to you, and every obligation of you shall be binding upon your heirs, personal representatives, successors, assigns, executors and administrators.

If you are tendering Old Notes, we will not require you to pay brokerage commissions or fees or, subject to the instructions in the letter of transmittal, transfer taxes with respect to the exchange of the Old Notes pursuant to the exchange offer. Each of the Notes will bear interest from the most recent date through which interest has been paid on the Old Notes for which they were exchanged. If we accept your Old Notes for exchange, you will waive the right to have interest accrue, or to receive any payment in respect to interest, on the Old Notes from the most recent interest payment date to the date of the issuance of the

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Notes. Interest on the Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year, commencing December 1, 2021.

Information about the expiration date of the exchange offer and changes to it

The exchange offer expires on the expiration date, which is 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on August 30, 2021, unless we, in our sole discretion, extend the period during which the exchange offer is open. If we extend the expiration date for the exchange offer, the term “expiration date” means the latest time and date on which the exchange offer, as so extended, expires. We reserve the right to extend the exchange offer at any time and from time to time prior to the expiration date by giving written notice to U.S. Bank National Association, which is the exchange agent, and by timely public announcement communicated by no later than 5:00 p.m. New York City time on the next business day following the expiration date, unless applicable law or regulation requires otherwise, by making a release to the Dow Jones News Service. During any extension of the exchange offer, all Old Notes previously tendered pursuant to the exchange offer will remain subject to the exchange offer.

The initial exchange date will be the first business day following the expiration date (or following the expiration of the applicable time period for guaranteed delivery, if any Old Notes are tendered pursuant to the guaranteed delivery procedures described below). We expressly reserve the right to terminate the exchange offer and not accept for exchange any Old Notes for any reason, including if any of the events set forth below under “We may modify or terminate the exchange offer under some circumstances” have occurred and we have not waived them. We also reserve the right to amend the terms of the exchange offer in any manner, whether before or after any tender of the Old Notes. If we terminate or amend the exchange offer, we will notify the exchange agent in writing and will either issue a press release or give written notice to you as a holder of the Old Notes as promptly as practicable. Unless we terminate the exchange offer prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the expiration date, we will exchange the Notes for Old Notes on the exchange date.

We will deliver this prospectus and the related letter of transmittal and other relevant materials to you as a record holder of Old Notes and we will furnish these items to brokers, banks and similar persons whose names, or the names of whose nominees, appear on the lists of holders for subsequent transmittal to beneficial owners of Old Notes.

How to tender your Old Notes

If you tender to us any of your Old Notes pursuant to one of the procedures set forth below, that tender will constitute an agreement between you and us in accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions that we describe below and in the letter of transmittal for the exchange offer.

You may tender Old Notes by properly completing and signing the letter of transmittal or a facsimile of it. All references in this prospectus to the “letter of transmittal” include a facsimile of the letter. You must deliver it, together with the certificate or certificates representing the Old Notes that you are tendering and any required signature guarantees, or a timely confirmation of a book-entry transfer pursuant to the procedure that we describe below, to the exchange agent at its address set forth on the back cover of this prospectus on or prior to the expiration date. You may also tender Old Notes by complying with the guaranteed delivery procedures that we describe below.

Your signature does not need to be guaranteed if you registered your Old Notes in your name, you will register the Notes in your name and you sign the letter of transmittal. In any other case, the registered holder of your notes must endorse them or send them with duly executed written instruments of transfer in the form satisfactory to us. Also, an “eligible institution,” such as a bank, broker, dealer, credit union, savings association, clearing agency or other institution that is a member of a recognized signature guarantee medallion program within the meaning of Rule 17Ad-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) must guarantee the signature on the endorsement or instrument of transfer. If you want us to deliver the Notes or non-exchanged Old Notes to an address other than that of the registered holder appearing on the note register for the Old Notes, an “eligible institution” must guarantee the signature on the letter of transmittal.

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If your Old Notes are registered in the name of a broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee and you wish to tender Old Notes, you should contact the registered holder promptly and instruct the holder to tender Old Notes on your behalf. If you wish to tender your Old Notes yourself, you must, prior to completing and executing the letter of transmittal and delivering your Old Notes, either make appropriate arrangements to register ownership of the Old Notes in your name or follow the procedures described in the immediately preceding paragraph. Transferring record ownership from someone else’s name to your name may take considerable time.

How to tender if you hold your Old Notes through a broker or other institution and you do not have the actual Old Notes

Any financial institution that is a participant in The Depository Trust Company’s (“DTC”) systems may make book-entry delivery of your Old Notes by causing DTC to transfer your Old Notes into the exchange agent’s account at DTC in accordance with DTC’s procedures for transfer. Although you may deliver your Old Notes through book-entry transfer at DTC, you still must send the letter of transmittal, with any required signature guarantees and any other required documents, to the exchange agent at the address specified on the back cover of this prospectus on or prior to the expiration date and the exchange agent must receive these documents on time. If you will not be able to send all the documents on time, you can still tender your Old Notes by using the guaranteed delivery procedures described below.

You assume the risk of choosing the method of delivery of Old Notes and all other documents. If you send your Old Notes and your documents by mail, we recommend that you use registered mail, return receipt requested, you obtain proper insurance, and you mail these items sufficiently in advance of the expiration date to permit delivery to the exchange agent on or before the expiration date.

How to use the guaranteed delivery procedures if you will not have enough time to send all documents to us

If you desire to accept the exchange offer, and time will not permit a letter of transmittal or Old Notes to reach the exchange agent before the expiration date, you may tender your Old Notes if the exchange agent has received at its office listed on the letter of transmittal on or prior to the expiration date a letter, telegram or facsimile transmission from an eligible institution setting forth your name and address, the principal amount of the Old Notes that you are tendering, the names in which you registered the Old Notes and, if possible, the certificate numbers of the Old Notes that you are tendering.

The eligible institution’s correspondence to the exchange agent must state that the correspondence constitutes the tender and guarantee that within three New York Stock Exchange trading days after the date that the eligible institution executes such correspondence, the eligible institution will deliver the Old Notes, in proper form for transfer, together with a properly completed and duly executed letter of transmittal and any other required documents. We may, at our option, reject the tender if you do not tender your Old Notes and accompanying documents by either the above-described method or by a timely book-entry confirmation, and if you do not deposit your Old Notes and tender documents with the exchange agent within the time period set forth above. Copies of a notice of guaranteed delivery that eligible institutions may use for the purposes described in this paragraph are available from the exchange agent.

Valid receipt of your tender will occur as of the date when the exchange agent receives your properly completed letter of transmittal, accompanied by either the Old Notes or a timely book-entry confirmation. We will issue Notes in exchange for Old Notes that you tendered pursuant to a notice of guaranteed delivery or correspondence to similar effect as described above by an eligible institution only against deposit of the letter of transmittal, any other required documents and either the tendered Old Notes or a timely book-entry confirmation.

We reserve the right to determine validity of all tenders

We will be the sole judge of all questions as to the validity, form, eligibility, including time of receipt, and acceptance for exchange of your tender of Old Notes and our judgment will be final and binding. We reserve the absolute right to reject any or all of your tenders that are not in proper form or the acceptances for exchange of which may, in our opinion or in the opinion of our counsel, be unlawful. We also reserve the absolute right to waive any of the conditions of the exchange offer or any defect or irregularities in your case.