• by Wayne Friedman , November 12, 2013

Dish Network gained modest increases in the number of its video and broadband subscribers as well as overall revenue for the fourth quarter, prompting favorable reactions from investors.

Subscriber-related revenue increased 6.1% to $3.47 million, with overall revenue up fractionally to $3.6 billion from $3.52 billion and net income at $315 million versus a $158 net loss in the third quarter of 2012.

Dish added a net 35,000 video customers to get to a total of 14.049 million, versus a net loss of 78,000 in the second quarter of 2013 and down 19,000 from its third-quarter 2012 period.  Its current results are higher than analysts' estimates.

Dish also pushed up its average monthly revenue per video subscriber to $81.05 -- a 5.3% hike over the $76.99 mark in the third quarter of 2012 and higher than its $80.90 level in the second quarter of 2013.

Broadband business also increased, with Dish adding 75,000 customers to reach a total of 385,000.

Dish has attempted to make a major deal for its next level of growth. During an earnings phone call with analysts, Charlie Ergen, chief executive officer of Dish, said he is still open to all new options -- a possible partnership with Sprint, T-Mobile, or DirecTV.

Dish Network's stock was up sharply -- 3.2% to $49.02.

Man Watching Television photo from Shutterstock