Dish Network Co., a nation-wide satellite-television provider, lost 111,000 customers in the third-quarter of 2011, compared to the 327,000 gain by its rival DirecTV, according to Bloomberg.
Despite loss in customer base, Dish’s sales and earnings rose from last year’s numbers. Revenue totaled $3.6 billion for the quarter, a 12.3 percent increase compared to the same period in 2010, according to a Dish press release.
Dish also announced in September they would be teaming up with Blockbuster to create a “Blockbuster Movie Pass, the most comprehensive TV entertainment programming package ever delivered by a multichannel pay TV provider,” which will allow users to stream movies and TV shows online or mail DVDs similar to Netflix, according to a Sept. 23 Dish press release.
“Our net subscriber loss improved over the second quarter of this year,” said Joe Clayton, president and CEO of Dish Network, “but continued to be affected by increased competitive pressures, including aggressive competitive promotional offers.”
One competing promotional offer limiting Dish is DirecTV’s free offering of Sunday NFL games, a right not owned by Dish, according to Bloomberg.
“Dish needs to make their deal with Blockbuster more intriguing than other online streaming video services, like Netflix, to entice more customers to join,” said junior economics major Jordan Hagel.
“If Dish can equal the advertising ideas that DirecTV provides, then they can level out the playing field, and potentially compete with DirecTV, said junior criminal justice major Charlie Haslup. “In most cases, I think well done advertising has direct correlation with the quality of the product.”