If you're thinking as a DISH employee, the company is no longer just trying to sell satellite TV. It's trying to acquire customers across several businesses under the EchoStar umbrella, while satellite TV continues to shrink. Humans call this "diversification." Sometimes it's strategy, sometimes it's what happens when your original business is slowly evaporating.
Here's where new customers are currently coming from:
DISH Satellite TV
Declining
Still signs up rural customers, RV users, sports fans, and people without reliable streaming. Subscriber losses continue.
Boost Mobile
Slight growth
Currently the largest source of new consumer customer acquisitions. Added about 16,000 net subscribers in Q1 2026.
Gen Mobile
Stable
Value-focused prepaid wireless, often bundled into Boost's overall wireless strategy.
Sling TV
Mixed
Still acquires cord-cutters but operates in an extremely competitive streaming market. Included in EchoStar's pay-TV business.
HughesNet
Declining
Traditional satellite internet continues losing subscribers because of fiber and low-earth-orbit competitors.
Enterprise/Government Satellite Services
Important revenue
Satellite connectivity, aviation, maritime, military and commercial contracts remain significant revenue sources.
What about Starlink?
This has changed dramatically.
There has been discussion around spectrum transactions between EchoStar and SpaceX, but Starlink is
not currently a consumer sales channel for DISH TV, nor is it sending retail television customers to DISH. Those pending business deals relate primarily to spectrum assets, not customer acquisition.
From a
corporate accounting perspective, a Starlink customer is a
Starlink/SpaceX customer. DISH doesn't own the recurring internet subscription revenue. Starlink bills the customer for service, even when the customer orders through DISH.
From a
field operations perspective, though, that same customer is absolutely entering the DISH ecosystem.
Why?
- DISH markets Starlink on its own website.
- The customer can order Starlink through DISH.
- A DISH technician performs the professional installation.
- That installation generates revenue for DISH.
- The customer now has a relationship with DISH for installation and, depending on how they purchased, ongoing support for the installed equipment.
What about OnTech?
OnTech is still valuable, but not because it's generating huge numbers of brand-new DISH subscribers.
Its role is more as:
- TV installations
- Smart home installations
- Wi-Fi optimization
- Mounting services
- Home technology support
It generates service revenue and helps retain customers rather than acting as a major pipeline for new satellite activations.
Retail partners
DISH/Boost also gains customers through:
- National retailers (Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc.)
- Independent retailers
- Authorized dealers
- Digital sales
- Inbound call centers
- Field sales
- Referral programs
Wireless has become much more important than satellite for new customer acquisition.
Business customers
An often-overlooked area is DISH Business, which serves:
- Hotels
- Hospitals
- Bars & restaurants
- Apartment complexes
- Senior living facilities
- Correctional facilities
These contracts can represent hundreds or even thousands of subscriber equivalents at a time.
Advertising
EchoStar also earns revenue from:
- Addressable TV advertising
- Audience data products
- Advertising technology through DISH Media
This isn't customer acquisition, but it is an increasingly important revenue stream as subscriber counts decline.
The big picture
If you had asked this question ten years ago, the answer would have been "sell more satellite TV."
Today, it's closer to:
- Wireless (Boost Mobile) is where most consumer growth is expected.
- Satellite TV is being managed as a mature business that still generates cash but continues to lose subscribers.
- Commercial satellite services, enterprise connectivity, and government contracts provide meaningful revenue outside consumer TV.
- Installation services (OnTech), advertising, and business solutions provide additional income.
One important recent development is that the satellite TV business itself entered Chapter 11 restructuring, although DISH TV, Sling TV, and related consumer services continue operating normally while EchoStar restructures. Boost Mobile and Gen Mobile are not part of that bankruptcy process.
What DIRECTV does not have
This is where DISH still has an advantage.
DIRECTV has
no equivalent to:
- Boost Mobile
- Gen Mobile
- HughesNet
- Nationwide wireless retail stores
- A nationwide field service organization like DISH's technician network (outside of installation/dealer operations)
So if someone walks into a Boost store to buy a phone, that's an opportunity for EchoStar to cross-sell TV or home internet. DIRECTV simply doesn't have that retail footprint.
If I were comparing the two companies today
EchoStar Strengths
- Wireless business
- Spectrum assets
- Boost stores
- National technician workforce
- Multiple revenue streams
Weaknesses
- Satellite TV decline
- HughesNet under pressure from fiber and low-Earth-orbit competitors
- High capital requirements for wireless network build-out
DIRECTV
Strengths
- Premium television brand
- Strong sports reputation
- Excellent commercial/business business
- Internet-delivered TV without requiring satellite hardware
- Simpler corporate focus
Weaknesses
- No wireless division
- No mobile ecosystem
- No diversification comparable to EchoStar
- Competing directly against cheaper streaming services like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Fubo
Years ago, a DISH technician's day revolved almost entirely around satellite installs and service calls. Today, the company's future bets are increasingly on wireless, while the TV side is expected to generate cash and retain customers.
A DIRECTV field organization, by contrast, is still centered on acquiring and supporting television customers, whether that TV arrives through a dish or over the customer's internet connection. That's probably the clearest way to think about the two strategies today.