Dish Reports 26.5% Jump in 2Q Profit

U.S. satellite TV provider Dish Network reported a bigger-than-expected loss in pay-TV subscribers as more consumers increasingly opt for online video-streaming services.

Dish said it lost 281,000 net pay-TV subscribers in the second quarter ended June 30, missing the average analyst estimate of a loss of 91,000 subscribers, according to market research firm FactSet StreetEstimate.

However, average revenue per user rose to $89.98 from $87.91, helped by price increases for its video service.

Dish raised its 2016 video service rates in January.

To offset losses in its core pay-TV business, the company last year launched a cheaper $20-per-month Sling TV online streaming service that offers a slim bundle of channels, including live programming from networks such as ESPN.

Net income attributable to Dish rose to $410 million, or 88 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30, from $324 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.

Net revenue rose to $3.84 billion from $3.83 billion.

Analysts on average expected earnings of 72 cents per share and revenue of $3.85 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)