Pegasus Satellite Television was formed in 1996 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Pegasus Communications Corp. to handle the distribution of its DirecTV franchise, which was purchased from South Coast Satellite in 2000 for $22.5 million in cash and stock. The franchise contract covers 41 states and serves 1.1 million subscribers, mostly in rural areas, and gives Pegasus exclusive rights to sell the satellite service in those areas.
In June of 2004, DirecTV moved to end its contract with Pegasus in order to pursue negotiations with the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. Because that move threatened to cost Pegasus millions in revenue (the satellite venture is Pegasus Communications Corp.'s biggest revenue producer) the subsidiary filled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to keep the agreement with DirecTV in effect. It also sued DirecTV and NRTC, alleging that the two companies conspired to steal customers from it. The lawsuit sought punitive as well as actual damages and asked the court to halt the efforts of DirecTV and NRTC to "destroy" Pegasus. However, the bankruptcy court in Bangor , Maine ruled that DirecTV could begin selling in the Pegasus franchise area but could not use Pegasus subscriber information to do so.
Pegasus Satellite Television and Pegasus Communications Corp. have outstanding loans in excess of $490 million against assets of $1.6 billion and revenues totaling $831 million for fiscal year 2003. Things are beginning to look up for the beleaguered company, however. The court granted a request to use roughly $40 million of the revenues to cover their June payroll obligations. That means that all their call center jobs are safe for now. Pegasus maintains call centers in Louisville , Arkansas , and in Kansas , Massachusetts , and Texas . Cheryl Crate, a spokeswoman for the satellite distributor said in an interview that, "customer care centers are very valuable assets. We are always going to have need for quality customer care." She further indicated that all operations would continue as normal and that they are working hard to resolve the contractual disputes with DirecTV that led to the Chapter 11 filing.
Pegasus Communications Corp. is based in Bala Cynwyd , Pennsylvania . It owns multiple subsidiary companies including Pegasus Satellite Television and several television broadcasting entities.
The Best Dish Network and Direct TV offers at the moment are:
Dishpronto - (Dish Network) - connect up to 4 rooms with free installation with no equipment to buy.
VMC Satellite - (Dish Network)This company will install a system for free in 4 rooms, with one months free programming. They are the largest online retailer of satellite TV systems.
Satellite TV for PC - Get over 3000 Stations for a small one-time fee! Plus Get Channels from 78 Countries Around the World.
|
