DISH Loses 135,00 Subs in Second Quarter

[Scott Greczkowski]

DISH Network Announces Second Quarter 2011 Financial Results

DISH Network Revenues Grow by 13.3 Percent to $3.59 Billion and Net Income Increases 30.3 Percent to $335 Million

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Aug. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) today reported its second quarter 2011 financial results.

Revenue totaled $3.59 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2011, a 13.3 percent increase compared with $3.17 billion for the corresponding period in 2010. Net income attributable to common shareholders totaled $335 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2011, a 30.3 percent increase compared with $257 million during the same period last year. Diluted earnings per share were $0.75 for the second quarter, compared with $0.57 during the same period in 2010. DISH Network's net subscribers decreased by approximately 135,000 during the second quarter, and the company ended June 30, 2011, with approximately 14.056 million subscribers.

"DISH Network delivered another quarter of strong growth in revenue and net income," said Joe Clayton, president and CEO of DISH Network. "The second quarter was also marked by several other achievements including our purchase of most of the Blockbuster assets, settlement of the Tivo litigation, and renewal of a multi-year partnership with Frontier Communications, offering DISH Network's digital TV entertainment to Frontier's nearly 4 million customers in 27 states. Our decrease in net subscribers was primarily due to increased competitive pressures, including higher levels of discounting."

Clayton added, "As we look forward to the second half of the year, we will focus on commercializing our technology, re-energizing our distribution channels and strengthening our brand image. We continue to offer the best value to consumers with the lowest everyday prices, in part by freezing prices through January 2013."
Year-to-Date Review

DISH Network's first half revenues of $6.81 billion increased 9.4 percent over the same period last year primarily due to programming package price increases in early 2011. In the first six months of 2011, net income attributable to DISH Network increased 81.2 percent to $884 million, diluted earnings per share nearly doubled to $1.98 due to the higher net income, and ARPU of $76.72 increased 6.4 percent.

Detailed financial data and other information are available in DISH Network's Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2011, filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

DISH Network will host its second quarter 2011 financial results conference call today at noon ET. The dial-in number is (800) 616-6729.

 

[mike123abc]

Eventually Dish is going to have one customer paying $16 billion a year. Fewer customers again and more revenue/profits.

 

[rjruby]

Per the following article:

The satellite-television provider is attempting to attract more affluent customers who are willing to spend more each month on video and less likely cancel their service, a reversal of its prior strategy to sign up lower-end customers, who were hit during the economic downturn.

Dish Network Raises Quarterly Profit, But Loses Customers - FoxBusiness.com

 

[CK SatGuy]

Not surprising.

 

[TravelFan1]

Per the following article:

The satellite-television provider is attempting to attract more affluent customers who are willing to spend more each month on video and less likely cancel their service, a reversal of its prior strategy to sign up lower-end customers, who were hit during the economic downturn.

Dish Network Raises Quarterly Profit, But Loses Customers - FoxBusiness.com

Affluent customers = premium channels + sports + HD. Premium Channels, Dish is in ok shape. Sports, not so much.... HD - mixed bag, better than Directv on some tier 1/tier 2 HDs like AMC, BBCA, GSN but, on the other hand, missing most Disney HD channels - Also, NYC metro is the place with the largest number of affluent customers - so does that mean Dish will pony up to carry NYC metro RSNs that it dropped last year?

 

[riffjim4069]

Per the following article:

The satellite-television provider is attempting to attract more affluent customers who are willing to spend more each month on video and less likely cancel their service, a reversal of its prior strategy to sign up lower-end customers, who were hit during the economic downturn.

Dish Network Raises Quarterly Profit, But Loses Customers - FoxBusiness.com

Except these "affluent" people know when they are getting nickeled and dimed with various charges and fees and are more likely to switch to the provider offering the best value. The best values are often found with Telco/Cable Triple-Play bundles.

 

[meStevo]

The satellite-television provider is attempting to attract more affluent customers who are willing to spend more each month on video and less likely cancel their service

Are they also searching for white whales and prospecting for gold in Alaska hoping to hit the mother lode?

This seems like investor spin/appeasement, they should be looking to offer the widest selection of channels and the very best service and value in an effort to attract everybody no?

 

[rjruby]

I think that people also under estimate the positive impact that Dish Network's international package offerings have on their revenue stream and subscriber base. DirecTV's international offerings are not in the same league.

 

[SaltiDawg]

...
This seems like investor spin/appeasement, they should be looking to offer the widest selection of channels and the very best service and value in an effort to attract everybody no?

No!

 

[CK SatGuy]

I think that people also under estimate the positive impact that Dish Network's international package offerings have on their revenue stream and subscriber base. DirecTV's international offerings are not in the same league.

I agree with you on that front, but not every Dish subscriber has an international package. Now if they were to advertise more about their international offerings, maybe it'll attract some new customers, but in this economy, who knows if that would even work.

 

[andrewj0781]

If this trend continues how much longer can Dish claim to be the cheapest. Because right now I'm only saving a few dollars over Directv. Few years ago it was a bigger savings.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[Juan]

Glad to see their obstinate stand against sports is helping them gain so many customers (sarcasm on)

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

If this trend continues how much longer can Dish claim to be the cheapest. Because right now I'm only saving a few dollars over Directv. Few years ago it was a bigger savings.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

DISH's monthly hardware rates are out of this world. $17 for each DVR... my wife and I were actually talking the other night about possibly dropping DISH just because our bill is so high.. over half of it are just monthly DVR fees.

 

[isaacmorseMI]

I remember back in 2005 when I payed $56 a month for Dish. Those were the days. My bill has doubled to $100 in 6 years.

Sent from my iPad 2 using the SatelliteGuys App

 

[CK SatGuy]

DISH's monthly hardware rates are out of this world. $17 for each DVR... my wife and I were actually talking the other night about possibly dropping DISH just because our bill is so high.. over half of it are just monthly DVR fees.

Dare I ask, but how many Dish DVRs do you have?

 

[SaltiDawg]

DISH Network Announces Second Quarter 2011 Financial Results
...

Of course, an alternate Headline would read, "Dish Network net profit jumps 30.3%"

 

[Bobby]

DISH's monthly hardware rates are out of this world. $17 for each DVR... my wife and I were actually talking the other night about possibly dropping DISH just because our bill is so high.. over half of it are just monthly DVR fees.

Not for the first one which is free. Your statement would be correct for extra DVRs...

 

[DodgerKing]

I'll just post the same thing I posted on the other site. No point in rewriting the same point differently

The truth of the matter is Dish keeps losing more subs than they gain quarter after quarter. Out of the last 4 or 5 quarters they have only had one postie net growth in subs. No matter how much you want to spin, no matter how much they profit in the short term, no business can continue to operate in such a manner. It is not a good thing to lose more customers than you gain over and over and over again. They seriously need to address this issue. I do not want to see only one DBS provider. It will make satellite TV become like SiriusXM (and that is not a good thing).

The main reason why people chose satellite over local cable or fiber is because of packages not offered with their local service. Local packages often include bundling which people jump all over. The only way Dish can compete with these local providers AND the other satellite service is to offer something attractive that nobody else offers. Direct does this with sports, perhaps Dish can do the same with movies?

What I believe is really hurting them is their lack of sports programming, which attracts people to satellite. Even local programming is missing as local RSNs are game only (many good local programming in HD cannot be seen), still many games are JIP'd (even though this was supposed to be taken care of), and virtually nothing is offered in sports in the largest market in the US (NY). Why would sports fans go to Dish when they can get all of their locals in HD through a local provider or through DirecTV?

 

[harshness]

...and ARPU of $76.72 increased 6.4 percent.

I find it baffling that the Q2 ARPU ($78.06) is so much higher than the Q1 ARPU ($75.39). I would have expected the number to drop with the coming of Summer and absent a fancy MLB offering. Perhaps I've underestimated the number of families using pay TV to "keep the little bastards happy" while school is out.

 

[SaltiDawg]

I'll just post the same thing I posted on the other site. No point in rewriting the same point differently ...

What I believe is really hurting them is their lack of sports programming, which attracts people to satellite. ...

Your screen name certainly suggests why you would think that sports programming is what attracts people to satellite.

Your basic premise is that Dish, while hugely profitable, is somehow hurting. Their Quarterly Earnings Statement certainly does not support that premise.

Also, while your world may revolve around sports programming, and certainly sports programming appeals to a certain demographic, the majority of subscribers to either D* or E* would appear not to really much care about the size of their respective sports content.