EarthLink Q3 improves with fewer sub losses, stable churn

EarthLink Inc. posted third quarter numbers that would make any other provider shudder, but in fact the numbers indicate the struggling ISP is seeing signs of improvement – while revenue continued to free fall, subscriber losses did slow, and churn showed signs of leveling.

For the quarter, EarthLink lost another 13,000 broadband subscribers, up from 11,000 lost in the second quarter but a significant improvement from the 55,000 lost in the third quarter 2008. At the close of the quarter, EarthLink held on to 832,000 broadband customers...