• by Wayne Friedman , May 1, 2017

Dish Network had a massive decline in subscribers during the first quarter, in conjunction with a revenue decline. But the company beat profit expectations.

Dish lost 143,000 subscribers in the first three months of the year -- versus a 23,000 subscriber fall in the first quarter of 2016. This also factors into results of its digital pay TV service Sling TV. The company does not break out Sling TV results

The company now has 13.53 million total subscribers. Dish’s broadband subscribers fell by 25,000 to 555,000.

Revenues dropped 4% to $3.68 billion, versus $3.83 billion in the previous first quarter.

The average Dish Network subscriber paid $86.55, compared to $87.94 a year ago.

The good news for media analysts who follow the company is that net profit beat expectations -- $376 million, down 6% from the $400 million earned in the first quarter 2016.

Mid-day trading of Dish was down 0.2% to $64.26. The stock, as with most other media stocks, has been up this year, climbed 11% It has also been 14% higher since the November election.