AT&T Lost 1.2 Million Traditional TV Users in 2017 AT&T's fourth quarter earnings report this week indicates that the company lost another 207,000 traditional pay TV subscribers during the fourth quarter as over the top streaming competition intensifies. All told, the company saw a net loss of 1.2 million subscribers from its DirecTV and IPTV (formerly known as U-Verse) television services last year. Some of these users are cutting the cord, some are fleeing to cable bundles to get faster cable speeds, and some are migrating to AT&T's DirecTV Now streaming video platform.

"We would expect to continue grow video customers with our DirecTV Now outpacing our linear customer counts in the sense of net additions," AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said on a conference call with the press. "So, we do expect that." The problem for AT&T is the fact that DirecTV Now subscribers pay substantially less per month than the average traditional DirecTV or IPTV subscriber. "That the company continues to grow its base of DirecTV Now subscribers isn’t helpful--AT&T loses money on them," said MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett in a note to investors. "What matters is that their satellite subscribers are leaving,” Moffett added. AT&T and DirecTV have also been hit notably hard by frustrated DSL users waiting for broadband upgrades. Many of these users are flocking to competitors like Comcast and Charter to obtain faster speeds, then signing up for video bundles as new subscribers on promotion. And while AT&T routinely hypes its sluggish deployment of gigabit fiber, there's millions of AT&T customers still stuck on aging DSL lines. Still, AT&T at least had the courage to provide users with a cheaper, more flexible alternative in DirecTV Now. Most major ISPs have been too afraid of cannibalizing more lucrative traditional TV customers to even risk such an evolution. Despite Moffett's concerns, it's not really deniable that the cash cow that was traditional cable TV won't be the same for any pay TV operator as margins are squeezed by over the top competition. And DirecTV Now continues to do well, adding another 368,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter to bring its total subscriber count to around 1.2 million. Still, as of the end of 2017, AT&T had 25.2 million video subscribers in the U.S., down 1.1% from 25.5 million users a year earlier. And DirecTV Now continues to do well, adding another 368,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter to bring its total subscriber count to around 1.2 million. Still, as of the end of 2017, AT&T had 25.2 million video subscribers in the U.S., down 1.1% from 25.5 million users a year earlier.







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Most recommended from 44 comments



maartena

Elmo

Premium Member

join:2002-05-10

Orange, CA 8 recommendations maartena Premium Member 1.2 Million for just ONE provider.... The total was around 3 million among all providers during the first three quarters, now that the Q4 numbers are starting to trickle in, I am convinced the total of customers lost from traditional cable/satellite television subscriptions is well over 4 million.



And only a part of those switched to OTT channel delivery such as Sling, DirecTVNow or PS Vue.



The bleeding changed to artery gushing in 2017.

unknvoip

RIP goose

Premium Member

join:2006-07-25

Rochester, NY 5 recommendations unknvoip Premium Member Proud to be 1 in a million (or so) I fired DTV in July. Resisted the urge to go for DTVNow. Hopefully the power of choice and competition for streaming helps keep prices down. In the meantime, glad to save over $50/month.

linflas

join:1999-08-18

Manassas, VA 4 recommendations linflas Member Left DTV after 17 years last summer Once I quit the NFL there was little reason to stay with DTV so I took the opportunity add TV to my FIOS and upgrade to gigabit internet and save a nice chunk of change in the process.