EchoStar reports that its DISH Network has passed the 10 million customer milestone, maintaining DISH Network’s status as the fastest growing pay television provider in the nation since 2000.
DISH Network reached this milestone in less than 99 months after activating its first subscriber in early March 1996, adding an average of more than 100,000 net new customers each month.
In the last four years, DISH Network has added more than 6.3 million net new customers, more than all other satellite TV and cable companies combined during the same period.
DISH Network is celebrating by thanking its customers with the $1 Million Great HDTV Giveaway. One thousand high definition television (HDTV) systems, complete with a monitor, HD satellite receiver, a dish antenna, and one-year subscription to DISH Network’s HD programming package, will be given to existing customers in random drawings this summer. The total value of the giveaway is approximately $1 million.
“For the past eight years, DISH Network has offered the best value in pay television, attracting a growing number of customers at a pace unmatched by any other satellite or cable TV company in the nation,” said Charles Ergen, chairman and CEO of EchoStar.
“We couldn’t have reached 10 million without our customers and retailers, so we’re thanking them by giving away 1,000 of our state-of-the-art HDTV systems.”
DISH Network reached 1 million subscribers in December 1997 and passed the 9 million milestone just nine months ago. Today the company offers customers more than 500 channel choices, including more than 60 international channels in more than 25 languages in 131 cities, representing more than 90 percent of all U.S. television households.
