Satellite television provider Dish Network Corp. (DISH) Thursday reported a decline in first-quarter profit, citing reduced subscriber growth and higher subscriber-related expenses as a result of increased programming and subscriber acquisition costs. Revenues also declined and missed analysts' estimates.
Dish added about 654,000 gross new pay-TV subscribers, down from about 673,000 gross new pay-TV subscribers in the prior-year quarter. Net subscribers grew by around 36,000 in the first quarter.
The company closed the first quarter with 14.092 million pay-TV subscribers, compared to 14.071 million pay-TV subscribers at the end of the first quarter in 2012.
Average revenue per user or ARPU from pay-TV increased to $78.54 from $76.24 in the preceding year. Pay-TV subscriber churn rate was 1.47 percent, compared to 1.35 percent last year.
DISH also added about 66,000 net broadband subscribers in the quarter, significantly higher than the addition of about 6,000 broadband subscribers a year earlier.
Joseph Clayton, president and CEO of the company stated, "We have been pleased with the market's response to our Hopper with Sling roll out, despite headwinds from our first price increase in two years. Broadband sales are encouraging, especially given that almost all of our dishNET customers have bundled with our pay-TV service."
In the first quarter, net income attributable to the company declined to $216 million from $360 million in the previous year.
In addition to the higher subscriber-related expenses in the recent quarter, the prior-year quarter had a non-cash gain of $99 million related to conversion of certain DBSD North America notes, which reflected in the first quarter of 2013.
Revenues for the quarter declined to $3.56 billion from $3.58 billion in the same quarter last year. On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report revenues of $3.61 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
The decline in revenues was driven by reductions in its Blockbuster segment, the company said. Meanwhile, subscriber-related revenue for DISH segment increased 4 percent to $3.22 billion.
DISH closed Wednesday's regular trading at $39.61 on the Nasdaq. In the pre-market activity, the shares are currently down 5.07 percent.
In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $26.12 to $40.95.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.