Article on the front page of the Wall Street Journal that talked about Disney and SBC not acquiring Echostar. Echostar executives have said they are not interested in selling “the company because "the business is healthy." An analyst at T Rowe Price said that Echostar was going to "stay the course." It said that SBC is to busy with the AT&T merger and that Mr. Ergen "is a wealthy guy who's having a great time" running Echostar.
It talked about some of the good benefits of Echostar combining with a "content company" and talked about the News Corp buyout of Direct TV driving Echostar's stock up because investors felt that they would be acquired due to Murdoch's aggressive marketing strategy.
Critics say Echostar's growth will slow as Direct TV and cable companies continue to improve their offerings and that Echostar managed to grow largely by grabbing "the low-hanging fruit," but 2004 figures to be the first really rough year for satellite services.
Mr. Ergen's poke face is legendary in the business. He has surprised rivals with unpredictable moves in the past. If another company, such as John Malone's Liberty Media, gives Mr. Ergen control of a merged company, he might be persuaded to sign a deal, some analysts say.
It later talks about Charlie being critical of Mr. Eisner's management and that he did flirt with the idea of putting his company into play a year ago but then decided not to.
Mr. Ergen has sketched out a scenario for Echostar to continue to thrive competing against giant entertainment power houses by taking advantage of troubled cable operators, stressing customer service and discounts, and developing a first-of-its kind Internet-via-Satellite project.
"Charlie is quite content to end up the last remaining independent provider" of video programming, says one long-time associate. "He relishes the role of being viewed as the scrappy outsider."
Mr. Ergen's poke face is legendary in the business. He has suprised rivals with unpredictable moves in the past. If another company, such as John Malone's Liberty Media, gives Mr. Ergen control of a merged company, he might be persuaded to sign a deal, some analysts say.
It later talks about Charlie being crital of Mr Eisner's management and that he did flirt with the idea of putting his company into play a year ago but then decided not to.
Mr Ergen has sketched out a scenario for Echostar to continue to thrive competing against giant entertainment power houses by taking advantage of troubled cable operators, stressing customer service and discounts, and developing a first-of-its kind Internet-via-Satellite project.
"Charlie is quite contect to end up the last remaining independent provider" of video programming, says one long-time associate. "He relishes the role of being viewed as the scrappy outsider."
It talked about some of the good benefits of Echostar combining with a "content company" and talked about the News Corp buyout of Direct TV driving Echostar's stock up because investors felt that they would be acquired due to Murdoch's aggressive marketing strategy.
Critics say Echostar's growth will slow as Direct TV and cable companies continue to improve their offerings and that Echostar managed to grow largely by grabbing "the low-hanging fruit," but 2004 figures to be the first really rough year for satellite services.
Mr. Ergen's poke face is legendary in the business. He has surprised rivals with unpredictable moves in the past. If another company, such as John Malone's Liberty Media, gives Mr. Ergen control of a merged company, he might be persuaded to sign a deal, some analysts say.
It later talks about Charlie being critical of Mr. Eisner's management and that he did flirt with the idea of putting his company into play a year ago but then decided not to.
Mr. Ergen has sketched out a scenario for Echostar to continue to thrive competing against giant entertainment power houses by taking advantage of troubled cable operators, stressing customer service and discounts, and developing a first-of-its kind Internet-via-Satellite project.
"Charlie is quite content to end up the last remaining independent provider" of video programming, says one long-time associate. "He relishes the role of being viewed as the scrappy outsider."
Mr. Ergen's poke face is legendary in the business. He has suprised rivals with unpredictable moves in the past. If another company, such as John Malone's Liberty Media, gives Mr. Ergen control of a merged company, he might be persuaded to sign a deal, some analysts say.
It later talks about Charlie being crital of Mr Eisner's management and that he did flirt with the idea of putting his company into play a year ago but then decided not to.
Mr Ergen has sketched out a scenario for Echostar to continue to thrive competing against giant entertainment power houses by taking advantage of troubled cable operators, stressing customer service and discounts, and developing a first-of-its kind Internet-via-Satellite project.
"Charlie is quite contect to end up the last remaining independent provider" of video programming, says one long-time associate. "He relishes the role of being viewed as the scrappy outsider."
