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AT&T Sub Losses, What's Next for DISH?
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After news surfaced that AT&T reported a loss in satellite TV subscribers during the third quarter, some on Wall Street began to scrutinize the impact that decline could have on the telco's exclusive DBS partner, DISH Network.
On Wednesday, AT&T reported that it lost 53,000 satellite TV connections in the third quarter, taking its total to 2.182 million at the end of September. Given that news, Tom Eagan of Collins Stewart, in a note released Thursday, said he now expects DISH to report a net customer loss of about 30,000 for the three-month period, revised from a previous 3Q estimate of a 20,000 net gain in customers for the DBS service.
DISH lost 25,000 customers in the second quarter, taking its total to 13.79 million.
Also, Eagan said he expects DISH to gain 30,000 customers in the fourth quarter, down from a previous estimate of a 90,000 net gain for the small dish service during the last three months of the year.
"We continue to believe that DISH is adding fewer (gross) subs because of its inferior HD offering and a higher involuntary churn rate," Eagan said in his note. "Increasingly, subs are churning, we believe, to go to competitor offerings and due to non-payment."
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After news surfaced that AT&T reported a loss in satellite TV subscribers during the third quarter, some on Wall Street began to scrutinize the impact that decline could have on the telco's exclusive DBS partner, DISH Network.
On Wednesday, AT&T reported that it lost 53,000 satellite TV connections in the third quarter, taking its total to 2.182 million at the end of September. Given that news, Tom Eagan of Collins Stewart, in a note released Thursday, said he now expects DISH to report a net customer loss of about 30,000 for the three-month period, revised from a previous 3Q estimate of a 20,000 net gain in customers for the DBS service.
DISH lost 25,000 customers in the second quarter, taking its total to 13.79 million.
Also, Eagan said he expects DISH to gain 30,000 customers in the fourth quarter, down from a previous estimate of a 90,000 net gain for the small dish service during the last three months of the year.
"We continue to believe that DISH is adding fewer (gross) subs because of its inferior HD offering and a higher involuntary churn rate," Eagan said in his note. "Increasingly, subs are churning, we believe, to go to competitor offerings and due to non-payment."
