Dish Network lost about 196,000 net new subscribers in the second quarter, an improvement over the prior year but a continued indication of the weakness in the pay-TV sector as consumers switch their loyalties to non-traditional delivery methods.
The losses were better than the 281,000 net new customers Dish lost in the prior year. Gross additions declined to 444,000 in the period, behind the 527,000 gross additions in Q2 2016. Dish includes new subscribers from its over-the-top Sling TV service in its overall subscriber numbers, but even those were not enough to halt declines.
Dish does not separately break out Sling TV subscriber numbers, but in a research note MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett estimated the OTT service added about 89,000 new subscribers in the period, compared to 49,000 in the previous year.
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