The satellite TV unit entered chapter 11 in Houston under a prepackaged plan backed by 88% of Dish DBS bondholders after a spectrum sale to AT&T was delayed.
Dish DBS, the satellite pay-TV provider within Charlie Ergen’s EchoStar broadcast empire, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston. The filing follows a delay to a deal to sell spectrum to AT&T and advances a prepackaged restructuring plan backed by 88% of creditors holding Dish DBS bonds, according to a press release. EchoStar, which also owns Dish TV and Boost Mobile, has been grappling with $25 billion in debt and years of subscriber losses, highlighting the strain on legacy pay-TV businesses as consumers continue moving away from satellite and cable services.