Cord Cutting Continues: Dish Lost 273K Subscribers in 4th Quarter

Satellite and streaming TV service Dish Network reported losing 273,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter, proving that cord cutting continues among TV customers.

The loss is more than double the 133,000 lost subscribers over the fourth quarter in 2021, the Hollywood Reporter said.

The drop is startling, compared to the loss of only 13,000 subscribers in the third quarter of this year.

The company’s report includes the loss of subscribers to its Dish pay TV services as well as its Sling TV streaming service. The company reported losing about 70,000 subscribers for Sling TV and 200,000 for the satellite service.

Dish satellite lost more than a million subscribers between 2020 and 2021, losing 526,000 in 2020 and another 582,000 in 2021. Sling TV lost 118,000 subscribers in 2020 but grew by a slight 12,000 in 2021.

Dish also lost income over the same quarter in 2020. Net earnings came in at $522 million this quarter, which compared unfavorably to the $733 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Still, over the full year 2021, the company’s income exceeded the previous year — $17.88 billion, up from the $15.49 billion in 2020.

The cable industry was hard hit in 2020. As Breitbart’s John Nolte reported, “During 2020, cable TV lost a net 3.1 million subscribers, the worst year ever recorded. As of now, only 66.8 million households subscribe to [cable], a drop from 84 million in 2016.”

“In 2016, there were 86.1 million cable TV subscribers, today there are only 78.5. That’s a ten percent (give or take) drop in just five years,” Nolte added.

A 2021 report also portended bad news for cable TV providers. According to a TV Technology survey, 27 percent of cable TV subscribers said they planned to end their cable subscriptions in 2021.

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