The DBS business can't be that bad. Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) has $1 billion available to acquire DBSB North America, a firm described as a "hybrid satellite and terrestrial satellite communications company, rescuing the firm's assets from bankruptcy.
DBSB's technology focuses on wireless phone and broadband services delivered via a hybrid of satellite and terrestrial communications systems, indicating that Dish may be more seriously venturing into the interactive TV and broadband space to more fully compete with cable.
In other satellite news, DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) and Northwest Broadcasting, locked in a death grip for about a month, seem to be loosening up a bit. Spokane-based Northwest asked DirecTV to resume airing its local Fox programming again--making it pretty certain that satellite subs would get to watch the Super Bowl--and DirecTV complied.
"We're happy that Northwest granted our request to put the channels back on while we negotiate a deal," Dan Hartman, DirecTV's senior vice president of programming wrote in an e-mail that included the important information that negotiations are ongoing. The two sides, of course, are fighting over money.
For more:
- the Hollywood Reporter has this story
- the Tri-City Herald has this story
Related articles:
Dish Network ups telecom service game, acquires Liberty-Bell Telecom
DirecTV subs lose some local stations in retransmission tiff
TV antenna sales going through the roof as DirecTV blackout looms in Seattle