Dish Lost 10,000 Subscribers in Q2

Hopper DVR likely catalyst

By Mike Farrell, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/20/2012 1:38:29 PM

Dish Network shed 10,000 net new customers in the second quarter, far below some analysts' expectations and a substantial improvement over the 135,000 customers it lost in the same period last year.

Dish, which is expected to release second quarter results next month, made that revelation in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday announcing its intention to issue debt.

Churn for the period was about 1.6% and gross new customer additions were 665,000, up from the 572,000 gross additions in the second quarter of 2011. Credit Suisse media analyst Stefan Anninger had expected Dish to lose 99,000 net new subscribers in the quarter (analysts' consensus estimates was for a loss of about 85,000). In a research note, Anninger said heavy marketing around its multi-room DVR The Hopper likely drove the better than expected performance.

"It is far too early to call the Hopper a success, but we are pleased by the 2Q gross adds result, especially since our initial channel checks had not suggested a strong consumer response to the Hopper, or strong gross adds for 2Q," Anninger wrote in a research note.

The results don't include the impact from Dish's decision to drop AMC Networks cable channels, which the satellite giant dropped on July 1.