AMC-14 Bust Won’t Impact 2008 HD Roll: Dish
Satellite Provider Claims It's On Track For 100 HD Channels By Year-End
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 4/18/2008 11:20:00 AM
Dish Network told securities officials that the failure of satellite AMC-14 won’t impact its high-definition rollout this year, and that it’s assessing alternatives to lessen the effect on its long-term HDTV expansion.
In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, Dish Network noted that last week SES Americom announced that it had declared AMC-14 a total loss to its insurers, in that the bird can’t be moved into the correct orbital position.
“Dish Network had intended to lease the entire capacity of the satellite from EchoStar Corp. in order to, among other things, increase the number of high definition channels that Dish Network offers,” the satellite provider said.
“As previously announced, our plans to enhance our HD programming line-up this spring remain on track and we have two more satellites scheduled for launch later this year to continue our HD rollout and reach our year-end goal of 100 local HD markets and 100 national HD channels,” Dish Network told the SEC.
But the satellite provider also noted that it is looking into other options to secure satellite capacity for its long-term HDTV efforts.
“We are continuing to assess alternative sources of satellite capacity that will mitigate any affect that this development may have on our longer-term plans to roll out additional local HD markets and national HD channels,” Dish said in its filing.
The company added that it won’t incur any financial liability as a result of AMC-14 being declared a total loss.
AMC-14’s launch failed March 14 when an anomaly took place and the satellite fell short of its planned orbit. After assessing the various options to fix the problem, SES Americom said the satellite can’t be repositioned and declared it a total loss. SES Americom insured AMC-14 for $150 million.
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