EchoStar Corporation, the parent company of DISH Network and Sling TV, disclosed significant subscriber declines in its pay-TV services for the full year 2025. The announcement came as part of the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings release on March 2, 2026, highlighting the persistent challenges facing the linear television industry amid widespread cord-cutting.
DISH TV, the traditional satellite-based pay-TV service long known as DISH Network, experienced a net loss of 636,000 subscribers throughout 2025. This figure represented an improvement over the previous year, when the service shed 785,000 subscribers. By the end of December 2025, DISH TV’s subscriber base stood at 5.02 million, down from approximately 5.69 million at the close of 2024. The reduced pace of losses reflected efforts to stabilize the customer base through lower churn rates achieved in several quarters, even as new activations remained limited.
Sling TV, the company’s streaming-focused virtual multichannel video programming distributor, recorded a net loss of 167,000 subscribers for the full year. This marked a reversal from 2024, when the service posted a modest gain of 37,000 subscribers. At year-end 2025, Sling TV had 1.98 million subscribers, a decline from roughly 2.09 to 2.1 million at the end of the prior year. The downturn stemmed primarily from reduced activations, though partially offset by fewer disconnects as the company prioritized higher-quality subscribers.
Combined, the pay-TV operations of DISH TV and Sling TV ended 2025 with 7.00 million subscribers. This total underscored the broader erosion in the sector, where traditional and live-linear streaming services continue to face pressure from on-demand platforms, direct-to-consumer sports offerings, and flexible a la carte options. The fourth quarter alone saw a net loss of approximately 168,000 pay-TV subscribers across both services, a narrower decline compared to the 253,000 lost in the same period of 2024.
Quarterly patterns throughout 2025 illustrated fluctuating dynamics. The first quarter brought a substantial combined loss of around 383,000 subscribers, with Sling TV contributing significantly in some accounts. The second quarter followed with about 289,000 fewer subscribers overall. A partial recovery emerged in the third quarter, driven in part by seasonal sports programming and promotional flexible packages, including notable sequential gains for Sling TV estimated between 159,000 and 210,000. The final quarter then returned to a loss of roughly 168,000 subscribers.
These results occurred against a backdrop of intensified competition in the video entertainment landscape. Providers of subscription video-on-demand and over-the-top live-linear services, including those offering sports content directly to consumers without traditional bundles, continued to draw viewers away. Launches of specialized packages, such as certain sports-focused offerings in mid-2025, further fragmented the market and accelerated the shift away from comprehensive pay-TV subscriptions.
EchoStar’s pay-TV segment has long served as a core part of its operations, but the ongoing subscriber erosion reflects structural changes in consumer behavior. Viewers increasingly favor customizable, on-demand access over fixed linear packages, prompting adaptations in pricing, packaging, and retention strategies. While improvements in churn for DISH TV and targeted efforts at Sling TV showed some progress in slowing the decline, the full-year figures confirmed that the broader industry trend toward cord-cutting persisted without reversal.
The company’s overall financial performance in 2025 included substantial non-cash impairments and expenses that widened reported losses significantly. Despite these pressures on the pay-TV side, EchoStar maintained other business lines in wireless and broadband, though the video services remained a key area of focus for investors and analysts tracking the company’s trajectory in a transforming media environment. The subscriber declines highlighted the difficult transition for legacy providers adapting to a streaming-dominated future.
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