Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- EchoStar Communications Corp., the second-largest U.S. satellite television service, may spin off assets not related to its pay-TV operations to finance expansion and reward shareholders.

Management is considering splitting the Englewood, Colorado- based company into two publicly traded companies, EchoStar said in a statement today. The spun-off business would include set-top boxes, manufacturing, international operations and satellites.

``There's a huge asset base that's not being valued appropriately,'' April Horace, an analyst with Janco Partners in Greenwood Village, Colorado, said in an interview. ``What they're trying to do is unlock value.'' Horace is reviewing the stock for possible rating.

EchoStar is considering separating its Dish pay-TV services from technology and equipment businesses after agreeing to buy Sling Media Inc. for $380 million yesterday. Sling Media will add a service that allows people to control home TV systems remotely and would be part of the spun-off company.

EchoStar gained $2.57, or 6.2 percent, to $43.89 at 9:46 a.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.

``Each company would be able to separately pursue the strategies that best suit its respective long-term interests,'' Chief Executive Officer Charles Ergen said in the statement.

Ergen said he would be CEO and chairman of both companies.

The Dish pay-TV service operated by EchoStar has 13.6 million subscribers. DirecTV Group Inc. is the largest satellite- TV company.

To contact the reporters on this story: Don Jeffrey in New York at djeffrey1@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: September 25, 2007 09:49 EDT