Dish Network reported a modest uptick in revenue and less than half the profit in Q3, compared to its third quarter a year ago. The company had a modest decline in subscribership for its video service, and a minimal increase for broadband.
The results disappointed analysts. The company is widely seen as treading water. The video market is saturated, dependent almost entirely on population growth for expansion, and it’s not clear yet the extent to which younger consumers have developed an immunity to the charms of pay TV, whether satellite, cable or telco.
Dish attributed its showing to increased competition. Service providers prosper with bundles, but very few among Dish’s 14 million subscribers are signing up for its broadband. Only 28,000 people subscribed to Dish broadband in the most recent quarter, and churn is reportedly high.
Dish possesses the rights to enough spectrum to start establishing a terrestrial wireless broadband service, but the company appears to be holding fire with the stated intent of buying rights to spectrum in the 600 MHz band in the next spectrum auction (which was recently delayed again; it is now unlikely to be held any earlier than the summer of 2015).
Dish reported revenue of $3.68 billion for the third quarter, compared to $3.51 billion for the corresponding period in 2013. Net income was $146 million in the most recently completed quarter, compared to net income of $315 million from the year-ago quarter. Pay-TV ARPU was $84.39, up from $80.98 in the like period a year ago.
Total pay-TV customers decreased by approximately 12,000 in the quarter. Dish closed the third quarter with 14.041 million pay-TV subscribers, compared to 14.049 million pay-TV subscribers at the end of third quarter 2013. Dish activated approximately 691,000 gross new pay-TV subscribers, compared to approximately 734,000 gross new pay-TV subscribers in the prior year’s third quarter.
Dish added approximately 28,000 net broadband subscribers in the third quarter, bringing its broadband subscriber base to approximately 553,000. Dish added approximately 75,000 net broadband subscribers in the third quarter 2013.
