AT&T’s epic DirecTV losses mount as another 954,000 video customers flee

Enlarge / A DirecTV satellite dish seen outside a bar in Portland, Oregon, in October 2019. (credit: Getty Images | hapabapa)

AT&T lost nearly 1 million TV customers in Q2 2020, continuing a rapid exodus of users from DirecTV and other AT&T-operated video services.

In the three months ending June 30, AT&T reported a net loss of 954,000 video customers in earnings results released today. That includes an 886,000-customer net loss from AT&T's "Premium TV" services, a category that includes DirecTV satellite, U-verse wireline service, and the AT&T TV online service that mimics cable TV. Another 68,000 customers left AT&T TV Now, a separate streaming service formerly known as DirecTV Now.

Higher prices helped drive the customer losses. As it has in past quarters, AT&T said its practice of giving out fewer promotional-pricing deals contributed to the customer losses for AT&T TV Now. AT&T said the Premium TV loss was "due to competition as well as lower gross adds from the continued focus on adding higher-value customers."

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