A look at cable, satellite TV earnings reports

Cable and satellite TV companies have begun releasing their earnings reports for the latest quarter.

The second quarter is usually a weak one for pay-TV services because students cancel their subscriptions ahead of the summer holidays, and some "snowbirds" cancel their winter home subscriptions before heading to their summer homes.

Here is a summary of earnings reports for selected companies and what they reveal about the industry's prospects:

-- July 19: Verizon Communications Inc. says it added 120,000 FiOS video customers to end with 4.5 million in June.

Dish Network Corp. says it lost a net 10,000 subscribers, which was smaller than analysts predicted in a typically week quarter for pay TV operators. It ended the quarter with 14.06 million subscribers in the U.S.

-- July 24: AT&T Inc. says it added 155,000 U-verse TV subscribers to end with 4.1 million.

-- Wednesday: Comcast Corp. says it lost 176,000 video subscribers, though the rate of decline has slowed. It ended the quarter with 22.1 million to remain the nation's largest.

-- Thursday: DirecTV Inc. says it lost 52,000 U.S. subscribers, the first quarter it has lost subscribers. DirecTV ended the quarter with 19.9 million U.S. subscribers, making it the second-largest provider of pay-TV signals in the country, after Comcast. DirecTV's Sky Brasil and PanAmericana added 645,000 subscribers. That was up from 472,000 a year ago and the best result ever for the company.

Time Warner Cable Inc., the second-largest cable company, says it lost 169,000 subscribers in the second quarter, a record for the company. It ends the quarter with 12.3 million.

Coming up:

-- Aug. 7: Charter Communications Inc., Cablevision Systems Corp.

-- Aug. 8: Dish Network Corp.