According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dish TV and Sling TV’s shared parent company Echostar revealed their combined lost subscriber counts through the first quarter of 2025 in Friday mornings earnings release. It was revealed that both companies combined for a loss of 380,000 subscribers (7.78 million to “approximately” 7.4 million).
THR reports that Echostar lost nearly $200 million in the quarter (equating to 71 cents per share) as its wireless business, Boost Mobile, continued to lose money.Wall Street expected a loss of 90 cents per share, while Echostar topped projected revenue forecast of $3.86 billion posting $3.87 billion.
The Hollywood Reporter quotes Hamid Akhavan, president and CEO of Echostar, as saying, “The EchoStar team performed well against our plan in the first quarter,” in a statement accompanying the company’s financial release. “We are pleased with the progress of our Wireless business and year-over-year net add subscriber growth. In addition, our Pay-TV segment continues to drive improvements in ARPU and churn, and our in-flight connectivity business advances, scaling and driving interest from airlines worldwide.”
The Hollywood Reporter states that the pay TV segment’s revenue decreased from $2.7 billion in 2024’s first quarter (down 7.4 percent), which was “in line with expectations” according to Echostar. The segment’s operating income slipped down from $670 million to $653 million, and before depreciation and amortization, the decline was from $756 million to $730 million. THR also mentions that average revenue per user (ARPU) increased three percent, while Dish TV specifically saw it’s lowest turn-out in over a decade, which was at 1.36 percent. Dish TV’s churn also reduced by a rate of 11 percent compared to last year’s first quarter.
THR also mentions that Echostar acquired Dish Network in 2023 which DirecTV was set to acquire, hypothetically creating the largest U.S. pay-TV provider. The deal didn’t go through after Dish lenders turned down a debt-exchange offer.
“While we believed a combination of DirecTV and Dish would have benefitted all stakeholders, we have terminated the transaction because the proposed Exchange Terms were necessary to protect DirecTV’s balance sheet and our operational flexibility,” The Hollywood Reporter quotes DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow. “DirecTV will advance our mission to aggregate, curate and distribute content tailored to customers’ interests by pursuing innovative products and providing customers with additional choice, flexibility and control. We are well positioned for the future with a strong balance sheet and support from our long-term partner TPG.”