Dish Network revealed president and CEO Erik Carlson (pictured) would step down on 12 November, after previously divulging EchoStar chief Hamid Akhavan was in line to take over as the companies move to close a merger by the year-end.

The company and executive each played down the significance of his departure, with Dish Network stating in an SEC filing there had been no disagreements and Carlson using social media to explain he was looking for his next steps.

He expressed sadness at leaving, but explained he believes it is “time in our company’s history that we embrace new opportunities”.

He held various executive positions during a 28-year career at Dish Network, including COO. Carlson’s position on Dish Networks’ board will be maintained until the EchoStar deal is finalised.

Akhavan is scheduled to take over on 13 November, “subject to the approvals” of each company’s board.

Dish Network released details of the executive shuffle alongside revealing Q3 numbers showing it lost 228,000 retail wireless subscribers, leaving it with a total of 7.5 million compared with 8 million in the same period of 2022.

Recon Analytics founder and lead analyst Roger Entner commented the numbers suggest an online distribution deal Dish Network struck with Amazon for its post-paid Boost Infinite service had yet to bear fruit, explaining the channel “is still an afterthought when it comes to mobile”.

Dish Network fell from a net profit attributable to the company of $410.8 million in Q3 2022 to a loss of $138.8 million, with revenue declining from $4.1 billion to $3.7 billion.