These days, Dish Network’s parent company Echostar will take the wins where it can.
On Friday, the company released its financial earnings for the first three months (Q1) of the year, which showed its pay TV businesses Dish and Sling TV continue to be its biggest earners overall, even if they are still losing subscribers.
Overall revenue clocked in at $3.87 billion during Q1, which included $2.54 billion attributed to Dish and Sling TV. Echostar ended the three-month period with 5.503 million Dish subscribers and 1.894 million Sling TV customers, representing a sequential loss of 187,000 Dish video subscribers and 196,000 Sling TV customers. Overall, Echostar ended the quarter with 383,000 fewer video customers.
While customer declines are never great, Echostar executives noted that the company’s rate of pay TV churn was the lowest in a decade, excluding certain months during the global coronavirus pandemic. Average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric used by financial analysts to gauge the health of a video business, increased 3 percent to $110.64, driven by “operational efficiency, customer loyalty and improving user experiences,” Echostar said.
Its broadband and wireless businesses also improved during the quarter, accounting for a combined revenue of $1.343 billion, three-quarters of which was attributed to its wireless business.
“The Echostar team performed well against our plan in the first quarter,” Hamid Akhavan, the President and CEO of Echostar, said in a statement. “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.”
On a conference call with investors Friday morning, Echostar Executive Vice President and Principal Financial Officer Paul Orban said the company is focused on “retaining profitable customers and remain disciplined in our cost structure” in the pay TV space, and building its enterprise customer relationships in broadband.
On the wireless side, executives left open the possibility that Dish Wireless and its associated Boost Mobile brand may partner with other companies to add wireless subscribers. When asked by an analyst if Echostar was interested in a deal with Comcast, which currently uses Verizon’s network for its Xfinity Mobile service, Akhavan wouldn’t comment specifically, but indicated all options are on the table.
“If the economics of a deal be such that is conducive to value enhancing to everyone, I think we would be working we’d be willing to consider and capitalize any discussions,” Akhavan said, while making clear that he did not want to offer “any implications that we are working with Comcast on anything.”
The question was rooted in how Comcast’s relationship with Verizon is structured: Xfinity Mobile lines are required to be bundled with another service, like Xfinity Internet, when those lines are first activated. Xfinity subscribers are allowed to keep their Xfinity Mobile service when they churn out of broadband or another product, but prospective customers must first buy another Xfinity if they want to take advantage of competitive pricing and financing deals offered by Xfinity Mobile. Comcast has shed broadband subscribers over the past few quarters, even as it continues to add Xfinity Mobile lines.
“I cannot comment about Comcast intentions and what might be best for them,” Akhavan said. “Obviously, only they can comment on that. I can comment about our ability and willingness to partner.”
With wireless becoming a growing part of Echostar’s business, the implication is clear that partnering with other service-based providers to sell Dish Wireless and Boost Mobile will further enhance the company’s wireless reach and revenue.
