BUSINESS BRIEFING / MEDIA

Dish Network Corp. said first-quarter earnings climbed to 70 cents a share, topping the 56-cent average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales advanced 2.1% to $2.91 billion, in line with estimates.

Average monthly bills rose 3.1% as Chief Executive Charlie Ergen charged more for programming and equipment such as digital video recorders. That helped Dish make up for subscriber losses, which reached 94,000 last quarter.