Dish Network Swings To Profit

Dish Network Corp. swung to a second-quarter profit as the satellite-television provider reported stronger revenue and narrower pay-TV subscriber losses.

There has been significant potential for consolidation in the pay-TV market, with recent deals showing how the biggest companies in television and telecommunications are trying to bulk up to face a changing media landscape. In May, AT&T Inc. agreed to acquire DirecTV, a deal that would make it a major player in pay television and increase its clout with media companies at a time when video consumption is moving online. That agreement came just months after Comcast Corp.'s $45 billion agreement to buy Time Warner Cable Inc.

Dish posted a profit of $213.3 million, or 46 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $11.1 million, or two cents a share.

Revenue rose 5.7% to $3.69 billion, while total costs fell 6.6%.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected earnings of 51 cents a share and revenue of $3.69 billion.

Dish, which has struggled to boost its subscriber numbers, lost 44,0000 net pay-TV subscribers during the three months ended June 30, versus a loss of about 78,000 during the same period a year earlier. The year-over-year decrease in the loss of net pay-TV subscribers was primarily due to higher gross new pay-TV subscriber activations. The company ended the quarter with about 14.1 million pay-TV subscribers, up from 14 million a year earlier.

The company also added about 36,000 net broadband subscribers in the quarter, versus additions of 61,000 in the previous year's quarter.

Write to Anna Prior at [e-mail]

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