Dish Bolsters Senior Leadership

Dish Network said Thursday it made two key executive changes as part of its overall efforts to enhance the customer experience.

Dish has expanded the role of executive vice president and chief operating officer Bernie Han, who now will oversee all direct and indirect sales and distribution, in addition to his current responsibilities managing operations, information technologies, customer service, customer retention and corporate initiatives.

Senior vice president of programming Dave Shull has been promoted to executive vice president and chief commercial officer. In addition to programming,
he will oversee all product management, marketing and advertising sales.

Both Han and
Shull will continue reporting to Dish president and CEO Joseph Clayton. The leadership changes are effective immediately.

"We are in a brand and cultural transformation at Dish and these two leaders understand we must deliver the best possible customer experience with a motivated and engaged workforce," Clayton said in a statement. "Dave, who has forged a leadership role for Dish in the programming arena, will be responsible for creating an unsurpassed customer experience. Bernie will be responsible for delivering and maintaining a superior sales and service experience that builds lasting customer relationships for Dish."

To streamline the company's operations and ensure a seamless customer experience, Dish consolidated its sales and operations functions under
Han. "Consolidating our sales and operations efforts will enable us to get even closer to our customers and enhance the speed, agility and responsiveness of every aspect of our business," said Clayton.

"Bernie has been relentlessly focused on improving the company's operational performance — helping us achieve some of our best operational results in years," Clayton said. "He's a steadfast advocate for our customers and our employees, and this move will allow us to leverage Bernie's talents on the revenue side of our business at a time when a new era of growth is opening a host of opportunities for Dish."

Han was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer of Dish in 2009. Previously, he served for three years as Dish's chief financial officer.

Reporting to
Han will be
Amir Ahmed, senior vice president of sales and distribution;
Brian Neylon, senior vice president, sales planning, administration and direct sales;
Erik Carlson, executive vice president of operations;
Mike McClaskey, senior vice president and chief information officer;
Kathy Schneider, senior vice president, customer service;
Kevin Covell, vice president, retention marketing; and
Rex Povenmire, vice president, corporate initiatives.

To ensure continued development of superior entertainment experiences, Dish integrated product development, content acquisition and packaging, marketing and advertising sales under a single leader.

"Dave has been a driving force at Dish, bringing innovation and transformation to our business for almost a decade," said Clayton. "I'm confident his leadership will enable us to become even more customer-focused, more collaborative and better able to create new products and services that provide the exceptional TV viewing experiences that our customers have come to expect from Dish."

Previously Shull was senior vice president of programming at Dish, where he was responsible for the acquisition and renewal of programming content, which includes national cable channels, Latino and international content, local broadcast stations and premium services such as HBO, Showtime and Starz. He also oversaw the DISH Cinema, DISHWorld and digital content businesses.

Shull joined Dish in 2004 as director and assistant to Chairman
Charlie Ergen. He served numerous roles at Dish's headquarters in the U.S., including vice president of U.S. operations, and spent three years in Hong Kong as managing director of EchoStar International. Before his time at Dish,
Shull held various leadership positions with venture capital funded high-tech companies involved in the enterprise software industry and as a principal at strategy consulting firm, the Parthenon Group.

Reporting to
Shull will be
James Moorhead, senior vice president and chief marketing officer;
Warren Schlichting, senior vice president of media sales and analytics; and
Vivek Khemka, senior vice president of product management. The senior vice president of programming also will report to
Shull, once a successor is appointed to the role.