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Dish-owned Sling TV loses subscribers for first time

(Image: Dish Network/Handout)

Dish Network turned a profit last quarter despite losing subscribers of both its traditional satellite TV and online-only Sling TV services.

The company said it ended Q4 2019 with 11.99 million paying subscribers across Dish Network (9.39 million) and Sling TV (4.26 million).

Those figures represent a loss of 100,000 satellite TV customers and 94,000 Sling TV customers. Dish Network raised prices for both services last year; at the same time, it loss a lucrative deal with AT&T to carry HBO’s multiplex of premium channels, a network that is still unavailable on both Dish and Sling TV.

Executives did not make a statement in a press release issued Wednesday morning, but are expected to make comments on a conference call held later in the day.

Dish Network is based in Englewood, Colorado.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is an award-winning journalist with more than 10 years of experience covering the business of television and radio broadcasting, streaming services and the overall media industry. In addition to his work as publisher of The Desk, Matthew contributes regularly to StreamTV Insider and KnowTechie, and has worked for several well-known news organizations, including Thomson Reuters, McNaughton Newspapers, Grasswire, Comstock's magazine, KTXL-TV and KGO-TV. Matthew is a member of IRE, a trade organization for investigative reporters and editors, and is based in Northern California.

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