DISH announces financial results

OK, sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug. There’s not a lot of positive spin to put on DISH’s financial results from the last quarter, and sometimes that’s just going to happen.

There are some bright spots: Total revenue is up to $15 billion, average revenue per user is up by $3, and new activations year-over-year were up. There was also a net positive income, and a lot of pay TV companies are reporting losses.

DISH was hit by some expenses due to its failed attempt to buy spectrum and from a few “non-recurring” items.

Although there was a subscriber decline, it was certainly not as steep as many other providers.

DISH’s prospects look rosy for 2016, with new hardware now reaching customers and increased interest in the Sling TV product. More customers than ever are finding that a streaming package serves them well and DISH has been a pioneer in providing live streaming of content that has only been available on pay-TV.

For those who want to delve further…

DISH Network Reports Year-End 2015 Financial Results

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) reported 2015 total revenue of $15.1 billion compared to $14.6 billion in 2014. Subscriber-related revenue in 2015 was $15 billion, compared to $14.5 billion in 2014.

DISH Network’s operating income in 2015 was $1.3 billion compared to $1.8 billion in 2014. In 2015, operating income was negatively impacted by an FCC auction expense of $516 million and an impairment of long-lived assets expense of $123 million.

Net income attributable to DISH Network in 2015 was $747 million compared to $945 million in 2014. Diluted earnings per share were $1.61 in 2015, compared with $2.04 in 2014.

For the full year 2015, DISH has included all of its Sling TV subscribers in the company’s total Pay-TV metrics, including in the Pay-TV subscriber, Pay-TV ARPU and Pay-TV churn rate numbers set forth below. Sling TV subscribers are reported net of disconnects in our gross new Pay-TV subscriber activations.

In 2015, DISH activated approximately 2.773 million gross new Pay-TV subscribers compared to approximately 2.601 million in 2014. Net Pay-TV subscribers declined approximately 81,000 in 2015 compared to a loss of approximately 79,000 in 2014.

DISH ended 2015 with approximately 13.897 million Pay-TV subscribers compared with approximately 13.978 million at the end of 2014.

Pay-TV ARPU was $86.79 during 2015 versus $83.77 in 2014. Pay-TV average monthly subscriber churn for 2015 was 1.71 percent compared to 1.59 percent in 2014.

DISH added approximately 46,000 net broadband subscribers in 2015, bringing its total broadband subscriber base to approximately 623,000 compared to approximately 577,000 at the close of 2014.

Detailed financial data and other information are available in DISH Network’s Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015, filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.