AT&T U.S. down 1,035k; Vrio down 114k video subs in 1Q 2020

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2020
AT&T logo

DALLAS — AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) reported first-quarter results that underscored the financial strength and ample liquidity of the business even with current economic conditions.

Entertainment Group

Subscriber Metrics:

  • Premium TV subscribers (which includes DirecTV, U-verse and AT&T TV subscribers): 897,000 loss due to competition and customers rolling off promotional discounts as well as lower gross adds from the continued focus on adding higher-value customers
  • AT&T TV NOW subscribers: 138,000 net loss due to higher prices and less promotional activity

Video (in thousands):

                                                                            Three Months Ended
                ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 6/30/18   9/30/18  12/31/18   3/31/19   6/30/19   9/30/19  12/31/19   3/31/20
                --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
Connections
  Satellite       19,984    19,625    19,222
  U-verse          3,656     3,669     3,681
                --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
 Premium TV       23,640    23,294    22,903    22,359    21,581    20,418    19,473    18,576
 Over-the-Top*     1,809     1,858     1,591     1,508     1,340     1,145       926       788
                --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
Total             25,449    25,152    24,494    23,867    22,921    21,563    20,399    19,364

Net Adds                  
  Satellite         -286      -359      -403
  U-verse             24        13        12
                --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
 Premium TV         -262      -346      -391      -544      -778    -1,163      -945      -897
 Over-the-Top*       342        49      -267       -83      -168      -195      -219      -138
                --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
Total                 80      -297      -658      -627      -946    -1,358    -1,164    -1,035

* Over-the-top connections include AT&T TV NOW and exclude WatchTV, which launched near end of June 2018. AT&T TV NOW connections as of 1Q20 include 5K free or substantially free trial-period subscribers. AT&T has successfully retained many subscribers after the expiration of their trial period.

Latin America – Vrio

Subscriber Metrics:

  • 114,000 net losses mainly due to macro-economic conditions and pricing actions; total subscribers at the end of the quarter were 13.2 million

Video (in thousands):

                                                                           Three Months Ended
               ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                6/30/18   9/30/18  12/31/18   3/31/19   6/30/19   9/30/19  12/31/19   3/31/20
               --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
Connections      13,713    13,640    13,838    13,584    13,473    13,306    13,331    13,217
Net Adds            140       -73       198       -32      -111      -167        25      -114