Dish Network Highlights Sling TV Subscribers as Pay-TV Declines -- Update
February 21 2018 - 8:44AM
Dow Jones News
By Imani Moise
Dish Network Corp. disclosed how many Sling TV subscribers it
has for the first time as the company looks to assure investors it
can grow in new businesses while customers continue to drop their
traditional television packages.
On Wednesday the company said Sling TV, its online-only pay-TV
package, had 2.2 million subscribers. As of December, several
analysts estimated that the service had well over 1 million paying
subscribers.
Dish launched the streaming service over two years ago in an
attempt to lure younger viewers and people who aren't subscribing
to regular cable.
The number of Sling TV customers grew 47% the year-ago period
but wasn't enough to offset a 9.4% decline in satellite TV
subscribers. The company finished the quarter with a total 13.2
million subscribers including Sling and satellite customers, down
from 13.7 million subscribers last year. In the fourth quarter,
total satellite subscribers fell by 121,000 despite adding 399,000
new customers.
The company finished the quarter with a total 13.2 million
subscribers including its regular satellite customers, down from
13.7 million subscribers last year.
Overall for the quarter, Dish reported earnings of $1.39
billion, or $2.64 a share, up from $355 million, or 73 cents a
share a year earlier. The period was helped by a $1.2 billion
benefit related to the recently enacted tax overhaul.
Revenue fell 7.8% to $3.48 billion, missing the $3.53 billion
forecast by Thomson Reuters.
Shares, inactive premarket, have fallen 29% over the past
year.
Write to Imani Moise at imani.moise@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 21, 2018 08:29 ET (13:29 GMT)
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