Dish Network stock fell more than 5% Wednesday after JP Morgan media analyst Phil Cusick downgraded the stock, casting doubt on the satellite TV giant’s wireless plans and adding that the one potential bright spot in the strategy is at least two-to-three years off.

Cusick downgraded Dish shares to “underweight” from “neutral,” but raised his 12-month target on the shares from $38 to $45 each, saying that its plans to build a wireless network in the next several years could be extremely costly and that the No. 2 satellite TV service provider enters the market at a time when barriers are high and competition is fierce. 

Dish shares fell as much as 7.3% ($3.16 each) to $40.42 per share on June 9, closing at $40.44 each, down 7.2%. 

“We can’t find a way but to be skeptical on the Dish story,” Cusick wrote. “[W]e have nothing but respect for Dish chairman Charlie Ergen and his team, but can’t get over our skepticism on three major issues.”

Those issues, according to Cusick are the difficulty in building a wireless network, Dish is expected to struggle to compete against wireless carriers with double and triple its spectrum holdings, and fears that Dish may be too late to the 5G game as other carriers have accelerated deployment and eliminated any advantage Dish would have had if it had been first. 

Dish has said it would spend about $10 billion to build a nationwide 5G wireless network based on ORAN technology, a figure that many analysts said is shockingly low. Dish has about one year to make the network available to 20% of the country as part of the federal requirements for its wireless spectrum licenses, and to 70% of the country by June 2023, deadlines the company says will be reached easily but that other analysts are skeptical can be achieved without a partner. Dish has said it will launch service first in Las Vegas in the third quarter. 

Also Read: Dish: No Partner Needed for Wireless Dance 

Some had hoped that partner would be Amazon, and Dish said in April that it picked the e-retailing giant to provide cloud services for its wireless offering. But so far, Dish is expected to build the network on its own. 

In his report, Cusick wrote that the only bright spot for Dish’s wireless endeavors -- a possible partnership with Amazon in some sort of “Prime Wireless” offering -- if it were to occur, is at least two to three years off in the future. 

“What could a ‘Prime Wireless’ offer look like? What would it bring? We think a lot about where we could be wrong, and how Dish could really disrupt the wireless industry,” Cusick wrote, adding that it’s difficult to see how the satellite company could offer disruptive pricing on its own. 

While Cusick says it is possible that Dish and Amazon could mirror what e-retailers Rakuten and Jio have done with wireless -- offering months or years of free wireless service to drive Prime subscriptions -- he still has doubts.

Also Read: Satellite TV: Five Years, That’s All You’ve Got 

Cusick estimated that it could cost Amazon as little as $11 per subscriber per month to offer a Dish wireless service with Amazon Prime, but he wondered “why Amazon would do this until Dish’s network is proven and of sufficient quality. It makes a lot more sense to us, if it happens, 2-3 years from now at earliest.”

Cusick also speculated on a possible merger of satellite TV assets with rival DirecTV, which in February said it would spin off its TV business with private equity firm TPG. He added a deal is more likely to happen now, especially as content providers continue to unleash direct-to-consumer products, but would likely take at least a year to complete.  

Also Read: Dish Gets Back to its Rural Roots

“We believe that a combination of Dish and DirecTV is likely to face substantial regulatory scrutiny should the parties come to an agreement given the rural concentration of the sub base, but we believe that a deal can eventually be approved,” Cusick wrote. “A deal could be announced by 2022, after AT&T's sale of DirecTV to TPG closes, but getting Ergen and AT&T executives to agree on a price is likely to face hurdles.”

Cusick noted that while the 2007 merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio Holdings is often cited when predicting federal approval of a Dish-DirecTV union, it took 17 months for that earlier deal to get the regulatory nod, “despite the stress that the businesses were under.”

Liberty Media’s three new trackers had a mixed debut on the NASDAQ  stock exchange Monday, with Liberty Braves Group and Liberty Media Corp. falling sharply while its Liberty Sirius tracker rose more than 10%.

Liberty completed its recapitalization into three trackers on Friday – Liberty Braves Group, including its interest in the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball team; Liberty Sirus, including its interest in Sirius XM satellite radio; and Liberty Media, its other assets including ecommerce companies bodybulding.com and its minority holdings in Time Warner Inc. and Viacom. Liberty first announced the intention to spin the units in November.

In the recapitalization, , each issued and outstanding share of Liberty's existing common stock was reclassified and exchanged for one share of the corresponding series of Liberty SiriusXM common stock, 0.1 of a share of the corresponding series of Liberty Braves common stock and 0.25 of a share of the corresponding series of Liberty Media common stock.

The trackers began trading on NASDAQ on April 18, under the symbols BATRA (Liberty Braves), LSXMA (Liberty Sirius) and LMCA (Liberty Media).

Liberty Braves opened at $36 per share but quickly plummeted in early trading Monday, closing at $19.95each, down 44.6% or $16.05 per share, followed by Liberty Media, which opened at $27.43 each but fell 31% ($8.40 each) to close at $19.03 each.

Liberty Sirius was the lone bright spot, rising 11.4% ($3.20 each) to close at $31.20 per share, up from its debut of $28 per share.

Tracking stocks are a common vehicle for Liberty to unlock the value of its holdings. In the past it has created trackers for its holdings in QVC Group and its Latin American cable holdings (LiLAC Group).

Entertainment legend Barbara Streisand will get her own SiriusXM Satellite Radio channel this Friday, appropriately named The Barbra Streisand Channel, which will exclusively feature the works of the Grammy, Oscar, Emmy and Tony award-winning artist.

The limited-run channel will launch on Sept. 12 at 5:00 pm ET and will run through Friday, Oct. 10, via satellite on Sirius channel 69 and XM channel 73. The Barbra Streisand Channel will also be available online on channel 69 and through the SiriusXM Internet Radio App.

Sirius XM is controlled by Liberty Media.

The channel will feature music spanning Streisand's legendary career, from her 1963 debut through her newest album, Partners, scheduled to be released on Sept. 16. The channel will be fully dedicated to Barbra Streisand's extensive body of work and will include selections from her live and studio recordings. The channel will also include Streisand's personal song selections from her catalog, spanning 50 years.

The Barbra Streisand Channel will also feature an exclusive "Town Hall" special with the entertainer. Streisand will sit down for a Q&A session with a select group of listeners in the SiriusXM studios in New York. Moderated by her longtime colleague, music industry executive Jay Landers, "SiriusXM's Town Hall with Barbra Streisand" will air on Sunday, Sept. 14 at 12:00 pm ET on The Barbra Streisand Channel.

"Barbra Streisand is an artist who is the very definition of the word icon.  Her original voice, songwriting, performances, and life's work has made her a universal star and humanitarian leader. Along the way she has created some of the best-selling albums of all time, as well as being an award winning actress known for her work on stage, film and TV.  Our exclusive channel celebrating Ms. Streisand is a truly comprehensive and deep dive into the music of one of the world's most important artists ever," said Sirius XM president and chief content officer Scott Greenstein in a statement. "We are looking forward to welcoming Ms. Streisand to our studios to be a part of our 'Town Hall' series and discuss her new album with her fans."

After the broadcast, "SiriusXM's Town Hall with Barbra Streisand" will be available on SiriusXM On Demand for subscribers listening via the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for smartphones and other mobile devices or online at siriusxm.com.

"SiriusXM's Town Hall with Barbra Streisand" is part of SiriusXM's "Town Hall" series, featuring iconic entertainers and figures sitting down with studio audiences of SiriusXM listeners. Previous SiriusXM "Town Hall" specials have featured Bruce Springsteen, Billy Crystal, Roger Waters, Robin Williams, Quentin Tarantino, Willie Nelson, Billy Joel, Cher, KISS, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Ringo Starr, Taylor Swift, Hugh Jackman, the surviving members of Nirvana, Gregg Allman, Usher and Tony Hawk.

The Barbra Streisand Channel is another example of channels created by SiriusXM with iconic and prominent artists. Past channels have included Bruce Springsteen's E Street Radio, Jimmy Buffett's Radio Margaritaville, Willie Nelson's Willie's Roadhouse, The Pink Floyd Channel, B.B. King's Bluesville, Elvis Radio, Siriusly Sinatra, Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzy's Boneyard, Pearl Jam Radio, Eminem's Shade 45,Tiesto's Club Life Radio and Neil Diamond Radio.

Sirius XM is controlled by Liberty Media.