Editing Dish Network (section)

===Founding, early growth and launch of DBS services===
The company was formed in 1980 as EchoStar Communications by [[Charlie Ergen]], Candy Ergen, and Jim DeFranco, as a distributor of [[C band (IEEE)|C-band]] satellite television systems.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2002/09/02/327891/index.htm | title=The Charlie Ergen Show Echostar's founder is one tough operator who will soon take control of the satellite TV industry—if Washington lets him. |last=Gunther |first=Marc | work=[[CNN]] |date=September 2, 2002 }}</ref> In 1987, EchoStar applied for a [[satellite television]] [[broadcast license]] with the FCC and was granted access to orbital slot 119° west [[longitude]] in 1992.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} A year after the launch of its first satellite, [[EchoStar I]],<ref>{{Cite web | title=Technical details for satellite ECHOSTAR 1 | url=http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=23754 | website=N2YO.com}}</ref> EchoStar launched its DBS broadcast services under the DISH Network name on March 4, 1996.<ref name=scoop/> That launch marked the beginning of its television services under a [[subscription business model]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}