AT&T Dumps DISH Network

Satellite TV provider Dish Network reported that AT&T will end their agreement to bundle its TV service with AT&T's broadband and phone service by the end of the year.

AT&T indicated that the termination was procedural in nature, and a six-month notice of termination was required under the contract in order to reopen negotiations in the future, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett wrote in a research note Tuesday.

"Nevertheless, today's announcement is not good news for Dish and dramatically increases the risk that the AT&T relationship now shifts to DirecTV," Mr. Moffett wrote.

AT&T and DISH have had a joint marketing agreement since July 2003 to sell satellite TV, phone and Internet packages to customers in the AT&T regions. The move to dissolve any previous arrangements means AT&T appears ready to set up a bidding war between DISH and DIRECTV to offer video services with its lucrative "triple play" joint marketing contract.