Movie night! (Unless it rains)... That's the reality for '80s babies who grew up with a satellite dish. Dish Network's stock just enjoyed a "buy" recommendation from a Wall Street analyst — only a month after it was hit with a "sell" recommendation. That made us want to sit down, kick off our shoes, and take a look at the satellite OG.
While you were enjoying Clueless on Netflix... Dish Network realized it needed a makeover.
- The old Dish = Pay TV: It literally owns satellites that orbit the earth, sending signals to the dish jiggered to grandpa's garage. That biz has shrunk for years from cord-cutting.
- The new Dish = Wireless: It's gearing up to launch 5G service for the Internet of Things ➡️ Connect your appliances so they buzz your phone when the wash cycle finishes. Dish is also acquiring Boost Mobile as part of the Sprint/T-Mobile merger.
Pay TV companies are evolving gorgeously fast... Just look at AT&T: it's evolved from its landline past, acquired Time Warner, now owns HBO, and is going big on wireless and streaming. Telecom companies are becoming media giants. Dish hopes to Metamorphosize as gracefully, but hasn't quite yet. It's still almost 100% dependent on pay TV revenue because it's mid-makeover.