Dish Network, the second-largest U.S. satellite-television provider, reported Q3 profits that exceeded estimates after luring more customers away from cable companies.

Net income was $315 million compared with a loss of $158 million a year earlier, the Colorado-based company said in a statement.

Sales rose 2.3 per cent to $3.6 billion, compared with the average estimate of $3.59 billion. Dish added 35,000 pay-TV customers in the quarter, compared with a loss of about 19,000 a year earlier.

Dish and its satellite rival DirecTV are benefiting from an influx of TV viewers from cable providers. DirecTV added 139,000 subscribers in the third quarter, while cable companies Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision lost a combined 460,000 customers. The total US pay-TV market has become saturated, meaning competitors have to grow by taking customers away from one another.

Dish also got a boost from a price increase. Average revenue per pay-TV subscriber was $81.05, compared with $76.99 a year earlier.

Last week, Dish said it was closing the remaining 300 Blockbuster LLC stores it owned in the US and ending the business’s DVD-by-mail service.

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