AT&T TV NOW lost 37,000 subscribers during the third quarter of 2020. This subscriber change continues a trend that’s been in effect for some time. It is also part of a much greater loss for AT&T’s collection of premium TV services.
At one point, AT&T TV NOW was one of the live TV services to watch and, along with Sling TV, was understood to be leading the market on subscribers. However, while Sling TV has largely managed to maintain its subscriber base, AT&T undertook various cost-cutting exercises, including raising the price and removing channels. This combination started a subscriber decline avalanche that the service has yet to recover from.
In its latest quarter results, AT&T confirmed that it lost 37,000 subscribers during the last quarter. This number was just for the streaming service as, in total, AT&T’s collective premium TV services lost a combined 590,000 subscribers. According to AT&T, this was the result of increased competition, as well as the company’s “continued focus on adding higher value customers.”
The AT&T TV NOW subscriber trend continues
While this latest quarter result has followed the same pattern as previous quarters, the number itself is less dramatic than it has been in the past. For example, AT&T TV NOW lost 68,000 subscribers in the second quarter of 2020, and 138,000 in the first quarter of the year. Looking at the year-over-year change, AT&T TV NOW lost 195,000 subscribers during the third quarter of 2019. In this sense, the subscriber decline noted today is probably considered to be a relatively good result by AT&T.
Then again, there is the issue of the total number of AT&T TV subscribers to begin with. While previous quarters saw subscribers leaving the service in greater numbers, there were more subscribers to leave in the first place. Over time, AT&T TV NOW’s subscriber base has fallen from close to two million to well below one million. With the overall number of subscribers continually declining each quarter, it would also be expected that the number leaving would become less.
Regardless of how impacting this particular quarter subscriber drop is, it is another example of consumers continually leaving AT&T TV NOW, in favor of other services. Not to mention, at a time when more people are at home and likely using streaming service more often.
Source: AT&T
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