Customers are flocking to Dish Network’s online service Sling TV — but not enough to offset the loss of its satellite TV customers, the Douglas County service shared Tuesday in its first quarter report.

However, the decline in traditional TV isn’t as bad as Dish founder Charlie Ergen had once anticipated.

“The linear (traditional TV) business hasn’t decayed as I thought it would,” said Ergen, crediting CEO Erik Carlson for overseeing a “spring cleaning” to let go of unprofitable customers. “We’ve got stronger (customer) base.”

Dish’s satellite TV service lost 185,000 subscribers during the quarter, while Sling gained 91,000 to the period with 2.3 million online customers. Overall, Dish ended the quarter with 13.15 million video customers, making it one of the largest TV services in the U.S.

Its Sling TV service also ranks among the top 10 most popular cord-cutting video services, according to market researcher Parks Associates. It puts the company ahead of direct rivals such as AT&T’s DirecTV Now service, which AT&T said had 1.46 million subscribers at the end of March.

Top TV services and number of subscribers, as of March 2018 AT&T (DirecTV, DirecTV Now): 25.36 million

Comcast: 22.26 million

Charter Communications (Time Warner Cable): 16.42 million

Dish Network (Dish, Sling TV): 13.15 million Source: Companies

Sling has been able to expand its customer revenues by offering add-on channel packs and cloud DVR services. The company also saw a large gain in digital advertising due to targeting customers by preference. Carlson said that during the NCAA basketball tournament frenzy known as March Madness, advertising sales tripled from the prior year.

To steer clear of any price increase to its $20 starting plan, the company invests in technology to improve a customer’s experience. One recent tech tweak “shaved off seconds in the act of changing channels,” Carlson said. “It’s really a small thing, but details matter, and (it’s) making a difference for customers.”

But the loss of satellite customers still took a toll on Dish’s financials, partly because Sling’s prices are much lower. Dish said first-quarter revenues sank 6 percent to $3.4 billion from a year earlier, while net income dropped 2 percent to $368 million from the prior year’s $376 million.

While the company has no interest in creating original TV shows or acquiring content companies, Dish is expanding its market by adopting wireless technology. The company has been buying wireless spectrum at auctions for years and is currently putting together a network that would allow internet-of-things devices to communicate. Earlier this year, Dish acquired Denver parking startup Parkifi because of its expertise with internet-of-things technology.