Dish Network boss Charlie Ergen is acting like a bull in a china shop.
The 59-year-old executive is said to be in talks with content owners to create a streaming pay-TV service of limited channels.
If the talks succeed and result in such an offering, it would be the first time TV viewers had an option outside the all-or-nothing set-up.
In addition, the proposed service, first reported yesterday by Bloomberg, would not include ESPN — the most expensive network in pay-TV land.
Ergen, according to the report, is in talks with Viacom, which owns MTV, Nick plus a host of other channels, and Scripps Networks Interactive, which owns Food Network, HGTV and Univision.
The prospect of a cheaper, more limited bundle of TV channels might appeal to some who are forgoing TV service in favor of broadband only.
The news that Ergen’s plan is gaining traction might rattle traditional cable operators, although BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield thinks it could be good news since Ergen’s aim would be to deliver those TV channels via broadband.
Greenfield noted that Dish, in 14 million homes, is already providing a collection of international channels to the TV screen via Roku boxes.
“The next logical extention is to do it with domestic,” he added.
Greenfield has long predicted that Ergen’s Dish would be the first to deliver a national subscription bundle of TV channels via the web.
Not everyone’s convinced Ergen’s plan will succeed any time soon.
Bernstein Research’s Craig Moffett told The Post, “At the end of the day I don’t think content companies are terribly interested in a bundle that doesn’t carry all their services at a fraction of the price.”