Dish Network reported that it lost about 552,000 net pay TV subscribers in the first quarter, compared to a drop of 462,000 in the year-ago period and a drop of 268,000 in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The company, led by CEO Erik Carlson and Chairman Charlie Ergen, ended the financial quarter with 9.2 million subscribers in total. That includes 7.09 million Dish TV customers and 2.1 million Sling TV subscribers, facing stiff competition from YouTube TV, Hulu+ Live TV and fuboTV.
Dish is consistently losing pay-TV subscribers amid cable-cutting and a consumer shift to streaming platforms. The company had a total pay TV customer base of 9.75 million at the end of the first quarter of 2022.
Dish wants to transform itself from a satellite TV provider in decline to offering a 5G wireless network as part of a broadband wireless company. The company lost 81,000 mobile phone subscribers in the first quarter, up from a loss of 343,000 customers a year earlier, to finish the last quarter with 7.91 million subscribers.
The latest subscriber losses — where Dish’s retail satellite TV business is shedding subscribers faster than losses for its retail wireless business — dropped total revenue to $3.96 billion in the first quarter, compared to $4.33 billion in the same period a year ago.
And net income attributable to shareholders decreased to $233 million, compared to $433 million for the first quarter of 2022.
Dish Network execs will hold an analyst call Monday morning to discuss their latest financial results.
