Dish subs losses
February 24, 2011
Dish Network posted bigger-than-expected subscriber losses for the fourth quarter because of customers cancelling their service after a dispute with Fox Network in October blacked out sports shows.
The second-largest US DTH provider lost 156,000 subscribers during the quarter. The company is losing market share to main competitor, DirecTV Group, which reported a higher-than-expected profit and subscriber additions.
In a regulatory filing, Dish blamed “multiple programing interruptions related to contract disputes with several content providers” during the fourth quarter for some its subscriber losses. Earlier this month, Cablevision Systems also blamed its quarterly subscriber losses on a programming blackout with Fox.
Despite subs losses quarterly total revenue increased 8.2 per cent to $3.21 billion, from $2,96 billion in the year-ago period. This was mainly due to an increase in subscriber related revenue. Quarterly net income was $252 million compared with a net income of $179 million in the prior-year quarter.