Sling TV Drops 100K Subscribers in Q2 2023, Total Streaming Customers Now at 2 Million
The calendar turning from July to August means it’s time for the biggest media companies in the United States to release their second quarter earnings reports. DISH Network did so this week, revealing that its live TV streaming service Sling TV had lost 100,00 subscribers.
The number represents a continuing sign of trouble for Sling TV, which lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2023. The service now has 2 million subscribers total, and though it lags behind DISH’s satellite TV service in terms of overall subscribers, it isn’t losing users as fast as that side of the business.
DISH dropped 197,000 satellite customers in Q2, now sitting at 6.9 million overall. It’s yet another indication for traditional pay-TV providers like DISH that times have changed, and the salad days when 80-90% of the American public had a cable or satellite subscription are long gone.
One of Sling’s competitors is also seeing its fair share of difficulties attracting new users; Hulu + Live TV dropped 100K subscribers in the first quarter of 2023. Fubo, on the other hand, had its arrow pointing up the last time it gave the public an update on its numbers, having gained more than 200,000 users in Q1 of this year. Neither Disney nor Fubo has released earnings results for the second quarter of 2023 yet.
Things on the news front have been somewhat quiet for Sling since May, the last time it reported its quarterly earnings. The biggest story was that merger talks between Sling’s parent company DISH and DIRECTV, which have been ongoing for years, have stalled out in recent weeks. There is concern that once DISH finishes rolling out its 5G wireless network, it won’t have enough leftover to make the deal with DIRECTV happen.
Otherwise it’s been business as usual for Sling, which is continuing to offer its “Free This Week” promotion that gives users access to content from a new cable channel or streaming platform every week. There have not been any major additions to or subtractions from Sling’s main channel packages in Q2.
The same cannot be said for Sling Freestream the ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) and free ad-supported TV (FAST) service launched by Sling in February. That service has added dozens of channels since it first became available, and recently came to Android-powered devices for the first time. Sling Freestream now offers more than 400 live streaming channels, as well as over 41,000 on-demand titles with no need for a paid Sling subscription.
Sling TV
Sling TV is a live TV streaming service that helps users save money with the option of two distinct plans. The $40/month “Sling Orange” plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $40/month “Sling Blue” plan offers about 40 channels, including Fox and NBC local channels.