Dish Lost 10,000 Net Subscribers in Second Quarter

Dish Network Corp. (DISH), the second- largest U.S. satellite-television operator, lost about 10,000 net subscribers in the second quarter, fewer than some analysts’ estimates.

Marci Ryvicker, an analyst at Wells Fargo & Co., had anticipated Dish to lose 119,000 subscribers, while Douglas Mitchelson, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG, projected a loss of 115,000 customers. Englewood, Colorado-based Dish made the announcement in a regulatory filing today.

The figure marks an improvement for Dish from a year earlier, when the company lost 135,000 net subscribers. The results “should ease investor fears about Dish’s core business,” Ryvicker, who is based in New York, wrote in a note to clients today. She has an outperform rating on the shares, the equivalent of a buy recommendation.

Dish is trying to transform itself from a stand-alone video provider to a wireless company and is awaiting FCC approval to use its spectrum to transmit mobile video. Chairman and founder Charlie Ergen has said customers are no longer satisfied with a company that only provides TV signals to the home.

Dish added 665,000 gross new subscribers in the quarter, up 16 percent from a year earlier, according to the filing. The results don’t account for Dish’s decision to drop AMC Networks Inc. around midnight July 1. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings next month.

Dish rose (DISH) 3.6 percent to $29.88 at the close in New York. Shares have gained 4.9 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net