Sling TV Loses 200K Subscribers in First Quarter of 2023, Now Down to 2.1 Million
The first quarter of the year is often the softest for media companies, with fewer new shows and movies premiering and a smaller slate of live sporting events. Even with that historical proviso in place, however, it was not a particularly encouraging quarter for DISH Network, at least from a user perspective.
DISH reported having 2.1 million users for its live TV streaming service Sling TV, a drop of 200,000 from the fourth quarter of 2022 when the service had 2.3 million subscribers. Sling was able to add customers in its first quarter of 2022, so the results cannot be encouraging to Sling executives.
The linear side of DISH’s business did no better during Q1; in fact, it did worse. Adding to the 200,000 departing Sling users, the company saw 352,000 satellite customers lost in the first three months of the year as well. Altogether, DISH lost 552,000 pay-TV customers during the quarter.
The numbers indicate that Sling is moving in the wrong direction, especially compared to one of its biggest competitors. Fubo added more than 200,000 customers in the first quarter this year, raising its total to 1.664M users. While Disney does not announce its latest quarterly results until later this week, the last time the company reported earnings, Hulu + Live TV also added 100,000 live-TV subscribers, so hopefully for DISH, the losses are a trend that can be reversed soon.
There’s a possibility more engagement with Sling Freestream will help. DISH launched Sling Freestream in February, as a platform where customers could watch free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels and add premium streaming services to their account as well. The company is hoping the free streaming service will keep its users engaged while they wait for football or other seasonal content to return.
One of the big reasons that pay TV is losing so many customers is the high cost of keeping a cable or satellite account. DISH executives know this and lay some of the blame at the feet of local affiliates, who often charge high retransmission fees that are then passed along to the customer. DISH chairman and co-founder Charles Ergen went so far as to call local affiliates a “tax” in late February and said companies like his could not afford to be their banks.
It’s a precarious time for companies like DISH, whose main business for so many years was providing traditional pay TV. The company owns one of the cheapest live TV streaming services available, but it may have to find a new advertising point to better drive people to Sling TV if it wants to stem subscriber losses.
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.