Dish Network yesterday reported that it "lost 134,000 pay-TV subscribers" during Q1 of FY '15, but revenues and income "were up, as the company focused on keeping customers who pay a higher bill each month," according to Tamara Chuang of the DENVER POST. The highlight for the quarter was Dish's "new Internet-based Sling TV service, which launched in February and is being heavily watched by the industry." Dish Network Chair & CEO Charlie Ergen said of Sling TV, "The results are encouraging. It's a brand new thing. And for the majority of (Sling customers), they're new entrants and weren't paying for TV before." The company "did not say how many customers Sling has." Dish in its quarterly report said that operating results related to its Sling TV service are "included in its 'equipment sales and other revenue,' which increased $228,000" to $22.47M in the first quarter compared with Q1 of '14. Overall, Q1 revenues rose about 2.7% from a year ago to $3.7B, while net income "nearly doubled" to $351M from $176M a year ago. While the number of subscribers "shrank, Dish made more money per customer than last year." The average monthly revenue per customer "came in at $86.01 in the first quarter, compared with $82.36 last year" (DENVER POST, 5/12).
BACK IN THE DAY: Ergen said of Verizon's skinny bundles, which have prompted a lawsuit from ESPN, "It might have been how I would have handled it 5 years ago. It wouldn’t be the way I’d do it today … because ultimately you have to work with the content providers." CABLEFAX DAILY notes Ergen "does seem to be quite happy with his ability to offer ESPN as part of the $20/month SlingTV bundle." Ergen: "I think it would be difficult to do any kind of bundle without ESPN. I don’t think that’s the case with regional sports." He added he does not know if providers "can burden every single customer with a regional sports network when the vast majority don’t watch it and it’s very expensive" (CABLEFAX DAILY, 5/12).
