EchoStar, the parent company of Sling TV, reported its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, revealing growth in its streaming service alongside a decline in its traditional linear satellite TV service. Sling TV added 145,000 subscribers in Q3, bringing its total to 2.14 million, up from 2.06 million at the end of Q4 2023. This subscriber increase is likely due to the return of the NFL season and the start of college football.
Despite these gains, EchoStar’s overall pay-TV subscriber base declined. The linear satellite TV service lost 188,000 subscribers during the quarter, leading to a net decline of 43,000 subscribers—a slight improvement from the 64,000 net loss recorded in the same quarter the previous year. As of September’s end, DISH had 8.03 million pay-TV subscribers, down from 8.07 million in Q2.
EchoStar has also been positioning itself for long-term growth by expanding into broadband. The company announced a $5 billion investment to build a national 5G network, aiming to compete in the broadband market. This expansion is part of EchoStar’s broader strategy to sustain growth, especially in light of a proposed merger with DIRECTV, which would have created the largest pay-TV provider in the U.S.
However, this merger has been effectively abandoned. DIRECTV had initially offered to acquire DISH’s pay-TV assets for a nominal $1 and the assumption of roughly $10 billion in debt. After a group of DISH bondholders rejected a revised debt proposal, DIRECTV announced it will terminate the acquisition by November 22 unless DISH Chairman Charlie Ergen agrees to renegotiate. “A successful exchange was a condition for acquiring the DISH video business,” a DIRECTV spokesperson said in an email, adding that without bondholder approval, the deal cannot proceed.
In addition to subscriber growth and merger news, EchoStar raised $5.2 billion to accelerate its nationwide Open RAN 5G network rollout. The company emphasized its valuable spectrum assets, which are essential for its wireless service development as it seeks to compete with major wireless carriers.
EchoStar, led by telecom mogul Charlie Ergen, had earlier merged its satellite TV and streaming business with its broadband provider, EchoStar Corp., in an all-stock deal. The company is now headed by CEO Hamid Akhavan, with Ergen serving as the executive chairman.
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