DISH Network lost 40,000 television subscribers in the second quarter of 2020. After an apparent loss of 382,000 the previous quarter, with around 250,000 commercial DISH TV accounts suspended, some 45,000 restored service in the second quarter. That produced an overall increase in subscriber numbers of 5,000. Meanwhile, Sling TV subscribers fell by 56,000. The company ended the first half of 2020 with 9.02 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.25 million Sling TV subscribers.
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CBS All Access and Showtime increased subscribers in the United States to 16.2 million at the end of June, up from 13.5 million the previous quarter and up 74% in a year. Pluto TV, the advertising supported service, had 33 million monthly active users, 26.5 million of them in the United States, up from 24.2 million the previous quarter and up 61% in a year. The company is now planning to expand its CBS All Access service internationally.
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The Disney+ streaming service has gained over 60 million subscribers since its launch in November 2019, already beating its conservative five-year objective. Hulu, now also controlled by Disney, has 35.5 million subscribers, including 3.4 million live television customers, up from 25.7 million in a year. The ESPN+ sports service added over six million customers in a year, for a total of 8.5 million. That gives Disney a total of 100 million paid subscriptions. Disney is now planning to launch another international online service under the Star brand.
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Charter Communications added over 100,000 Spectrum video subscribers in the second quarter of 2020. That bucked the secular trend in declining video subscriber numbers in the United States. It was down to gains in internet customers and support schemes put in place as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Charter still has 15.65 million video subscribers and sees video as central to its long-term connectivity strategy.
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Sky lost 214,000 customer relationships across Europe in the second quarter of 2020, reducing its total to 23.72 million. Average revenue per Sky customer fell to $49.29, down from $51.19 the previous quarter or $54.31 in the second quarter the previous year. Parent company Comcast lost 427,000 residential video customers in the second quarter and lost a further 51,000 business video customers.
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The number of new sign-ups to subscription online video services in the United Kingdom fell back to 0.8 million in the second quarter of 2020. That follows a surge of 6 million new subscriptions in the first quarter of the year, driven by the start of coronavirus restrictions and the launch of Disney+. Amazon Prime Video led the latest signups, with a 45% share of new subscribers.
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