DISH Network Posts First-Ever Loss of Subscribers

Being a digital cable fanboy, I didn’t realize until recently just how common satellite dishes still were. Last weekend, I visited a friend and saw his satellite setup and saw the great selection of channels and the gorgeous HD picture quality… it really does put my current digital cable setup to great shame. But it appears not all is well with satellite, if certain reports are to be read into.

Popular satellite television provider DISH Network has just posted a surprise quarterly loss of their subscribers, which is apparently the first-ever loss of subscribers by a major satellite company. The loss isn’t minor either, with the number totaling 25,000. Granted, those subscribers are a real drop in the bucket compared to their entire subscriber base, but it’s something to take note of regardless.

Analysts note that DISH has not done a good job of attracting new business, although their recently-launched campaign for the ‘Total HD’ service might help a bit. The company itself blames the weak economic conditions (a typical favorite) and also aggressive promotional offerings of their main competition.

Ergen told analysts that signal theft through illegal set-top boxes bought over the Internet or elsewhere was one of the factors that had a material impact on DISH’s customer churn during the quarter. He said the company is rolling out new security measures to prevent signal theft.