No, they would not have to report it.
It is considered normal business investing, because they are not actually buying shares of the stock. You only have to report if you have entered into a material agreement or if you purchase a substantial number of shares. This WSJ article may save the company. Now that people know that someone is accumulating, the demand is higher and the price goes up, making it more expensive to buy the bonds, and thus the company.
Yes, you can find out plenty of information about EchoStar... it is a public company. Look under ticker symbol SATS. Reuters is now quotingthe WSJ article. This is NOT good. The stock will get hit hard tomorrow...
According to their most recent filing, they only had about 963 million in cash on hand with about 360 million in outstanding debt. If they are buying debt at a substantial discount, they have the possibility of having enug cash, but they would be SIRIUSLY strapped for cash with no gaurentee of being successful. (pun/misspelling intended)