Dish Network Chair & CEO CHARLIE ERGEN is "giving up his job" as CEO, stepping aside "to devote more attention to the company's emerging wireless business," according to Ben Miller of the DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL. Dish Net promoted President & COO ERIK CARLSON to CEO, and he will report to Ergen. Dish also made several other changes, including naming BRIAN NEYLON Exec VP & Group President of Dish TV. WARREN SCHLICHTING also was named Exec VP & Group President of Sling TV. JOHN SWIERINGA "succeeds Carlson as COO" and will report to Carlson (BIZJOURNALS.com, 12/5). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Etan Vlessing notes Ergen's focus on wireless "comes as Sling TV and new rivals, like PlayStation Vue and DirecTV Now, are moving beyond targeting cord cutters and cord nevers to becoming alternatives to traditional cable and satellite TV packages." Dish spent $6.2B on wireless spectrum "during an FCC auction earlier this year." That move was "seen as a prelude to Dish offering its own wireless service as mobile giants" like AT&T and Verizon "make their own plays to becoming entertainment companies" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 12/5). VARIETY's Todd Spangler notes Dish since '08 has spent more than $11B to "acquire wireless spectrum licenses and related assets" and invested over $10B for "non-controlling stakes in various wireless entities" (VARIETY.com, 12/5).
