Dish Network CEO, co-founder, and majority stakeholder Charlie Ergen has reportedly chosen to step down from his role, as the company shuffles around several top employees. The shift in employees, according to the associated press release, comes as the company is reorganizing into a “group structure” in order to more effectively face the challenges of supporting DISH TV, Sling TV, and its IoT-centric wireless network. Ergen, who currently owns a 52-percent share of the company, will be continuing in a role of providing oversight. Following Ergen’s decision, the company is said to have promoted Erik Carlson, who previously worked as president and COO of Dish, to take on the role. Executive vice president (EVP) and Chief Technology Officer Vivek Khemak is also said to be joining Carlson’s leadership team.
Aside from the primary leadership team, Brian Neylon will be taking on the role of group president for DISH TV. Neylon previously held a position as EVP of customer acquisition and retention. Neylon’s new role will place him at the head of Dish TV, with accountability for the group’s performance and strategies moving forward. However, Neylon will be continuing to provide oversight for customer acquisition and retention, in addition to the newly added responsibilities. Meanwhile, Warren Schlichting, who previously filled the role of EVP of marketing, programming, and media sales, will take on the role of EVP and group president of Sling TV. As with the role filled by Neylon, Schlichting will take responsibility for Sling TV’s strategy and performance. However, Schlichting will also maintain a position providing oversight for the Programming and Media Sales departments at Dish. EVP John Swieringa will be placed to oversee operational departments that support the company’s DISH TV, Sling TV and Wireless groups, filling Carlson’s previous role as COO. Each of the newly appointed positions will, in turn, report directly to Carlson and his leadership team. Splitting the burden of management of each Dish Networks project into individually managed partitions, with oversight, should help the company refocus efforts where they are most needed. The deeper separation, for starters, will allow the company to more accurately track, monitor, and assess DISH TV, Sling TV, and the more recent wireless efforts with less overlap. Moreover, it should free up the employees directly responsible for making use of Dish’s highly-valued wireless spectrum to operate more efficiently.
In the meantime, those top executives were not the only employees shuffled around by the restructuring. David Scott, a former Walmart executive, has been moved into position as the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer. Scott will also report directly to Carlson, and serve as an EVP on Dish’s management committee beginning in February. Other employees that will now report directly to Carlson include EVP and General Counsel Tim Messner, as well as SVP and CFO Steve Swain. Rober Toevs, who fills the role of VP of Corporate Communications will report to Carlson as well.