TiVo (TIVO) shares are up sharply after hours after a federal court in Texas upheld the company’s patents in its closely watched infringement case against EchoStar (SATS). The Judge ruled that EchoStar and DISH Network (DISH) are in contempt of court, rejected their workaround of TiVo’s patent, ordered the companies to stop using TiVo technology in its DVRs, refused to stay its previous injunction against further violations of the patent and awarded TiVo another $103 million plus interest through April 2008. DISH previously paid nearly $105 million in damages in the case.

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DISH Networks (DISH) this morning posted disappointing results for the third quarter.

DISH notched revenue of $2.94 billion, in line with expectations. But profits of 20 cents a share were well below the Street consensus of 58 cents. The results include a $106 million write-down of marketable securities; Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett estimates the hit reduced profits by about 14 cents a share.

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DISH Network (DISH) shares are getting clobbered today after rival DirecTV (DTV) late Friday announced that it has cut a deal with AT&T (T) to sell a co-branded version of the DirecTV service starting after Jan. 31. AT&T previously had a distribution deal with DISH.

Deutsche Bank’s Doug Mitchelson this morning responded to the news by cutting his rating on DISH to Hold from Buy; he chopped his target price on the stock to $31 from $51. He writes that the loss of AT&T “calls into question DISH’s ability to grow subs in 2009.” He says that AT&T will contribute 441,000 gross adds to DISH in 2008, and about 213,000 net adds–or more than the total 150,000 he expects for DISH as a whole.

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TiVo (TIVO) shares are down sharply late this afternoon, apparently on investor disappointment that the judge overseeing the company’s patent-infringement case against Dish Network (DISH) did not issue a ruling today in a dispute over whether DISH had violated an injunction issued earlier this year after the company had been found to be in violation of two TiVo patents.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that the two companies were in court today for a hearing on the issue. The wire service story notes that there was no decision today; ergo, DISH can (at least for now) continue to distribute the DVRs that are at the heart of the patent suit. TiVo has been asserting that the workaround for the patents in question that DISH has developed does not cure the patent infringement.

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The Wall Street Journal whipped up a speculative frenzy yesterday with a story that said Dish Network (DISH) CEO Charlie Ergun was thinking about making a new attempt to merge his company with DirecTV (DTV), potentially creating a monopoly in satellite television services.

This idea has cropped up repeatedly in the last year, on the theory that government approval for the merger of Sirius (SIRI) with XM could signal a new willingness on the part of regulators to re-consider their rejection of a DISH/DTV merger in 2002.

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DISH Network (DISH) shares are down sharply this morning after the satellite TV company reported some disturbing subscriber data for Q2.

For the quarter, the company posted revenue of $2.91 billion, right in line with expectations, and profits of 75 cents a share, nicely above the Street consensus at 60 cents.

But the company also noted that it lost 25,000 net subscribers in the quarter. In a 10-Q filing with the SEC this morning, the company blamed the surprise drop in subscribers on “weak economic conditions, aggressive promotional offerings by our competition, the heavy marketing of HD service by our competition, the growth of fiber-based pay TV providers, signal theft and other forms of fraud, and operational inefficiencies at DISH Network.”

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As you might expect, Dish Network (DISH) shares are lower today following the company’s disclosure last night that AT&T (T) has notified the company that it will terminate their distribution agreement at year end. The odd thing is that DirecTV (DTV) shares have barely budged on the news, despite the fact that they would be the obvious beneficiary if AT&T decided to change satellite television partners.

But the Street instead is apparently interpreting the news as a negotiating ploy, rather than a clear signal of plans to switch its relationship from DISH to DTV. Jamie Townsend, an analyst with investment research firm JRPG, asserted in a note this morning that it is more likely that the company stays with DISH but on improved terms.

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