Big news on The Street yesterday came via EchoStar's
second stock split announcement in five months. As the
DISH shares passed $100 (closing at just under $100 on
Wednesday and jumping to $105.75 on Thursday), the board
of directors decided they'd better dilute once more. On or
about Oct. 25, shareholders will see their shares as
of Oct. 18 double.
Meanwhile, the board of General Motors continues to
play the now-you-see-it, now-you-don't shell game with
their Hughes Electronics (GMH, parent of DirecTV) subsidiary.
Compared to the mighty DISH, GMH is clearly undervalued
and several analysts tie that directly to the auto-bound General
Motors management. Latest word came Wednesday as
GM's Vice Chairman Harry Pearce apparently left the door
open for a "future" GMH spin-off. "The question," quipped
Morgan Stanley's Steve Girsky, "is how you define future."
GM has an excellent track record with its spin-offs (unlike
its car sales, these days) so we can only hope it will take
a look at those DISH shares as it considers the future
for DirecTV and Hughes.
PROGRAMMING: DirecTV Goes Bowling
*AMF Center To Air DirecTV - DirecTV struck a deal
this week with AMF Bowling, one of the world's largest
bowling companies, to make DirecTV digital entertainment
television service available in selected centers. The agreement
enables DirecTV to equip any number of the more than
400 AMF bowling centers in the U.S. DirecTV said AMF
is the first worldwide sports and entertainment operator
to join its commercial network.
*Dish Offers New Racing Package - EchoStar will offer
four channels of The Racing Network (TRN) on DISH
Network starting Oct. 29. TRN will be offered as a sports
package for $24.99 per month. All DISH Network subscribers
can catch a sneak preview of TRN staring Oct. 15 on
channel 900 or 901.
*TNT Premieres Hollywood Blockbusters - Turner Network
Television and TBS Superstation have obtained the rights
to the exclusive network television premieres of the Columbia
Tri-Star films "Random Hearts," starring Harrison Ford and
Kristen Scott Thomas, and "Blue Streak," starring Martin
Lawrence. Also, this weekend TNT will present the broadcast
network premieres of "Shine" and "Michael."
*VH1 Launches New Series - This marks the end of the first
week of VH1's new series "The List," which features
celebrities and musical artists in round-table debates about
music history and highlights. The topic of tonight's show,
"Rock's Most Significant Moment," will be discussed by
Christopher Cross, Coolio, comedian Jeff Ross and
journalist Phil Gallo. The show airs weeknights
at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET/PT. |
