AT&T U.S. down 627k; Vrio up 229k video subs in 3Q 2020

Thursday, October 22nd, 2020
AT&T logo

DALLAS — AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) reported third-quarter results that showed solid subscriber growth in the company’s market focus areas of wireless and fiber broadband while continuing to reflect strong cash flows, financial strength and business resiliency.

Entertainment Group

Subscriber Metrics:

  • Premium TV subscribers (which include DirecTV, U-verse and AT&T TV): 590,000 loss due to competition as well as lower gross adds from the continued focus on adding higher value customers; also impacting the quarter was improved disconnects due to the lack of significant programming disputes when compared to the year-ago quarter, 116,000 paying accounts relating to the KAC pledge, and lower churn
  • AT&T TV NOW subscribers: 37,000 net loss due to less promotional activity

Video (in thousands):

                                                                            Three Months Ended
                ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                12/31/18   3/31/19   6/30/19   9/30/19  12/31/19   3/31/20   6/30/20   9/30/20
                --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
Connections
  Satellite       19,222
  U-verse          3,681
                --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
 Premium TV*      22,903    22,359    21,581    20,418    19,473    18,576    17,690    17,100
 Over-the-Top†     1,591     1,508     1,340     1,145       926       788       720       683 
                --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
Total             24,494    23,867    22,921    21,563    20,399    19,364    18,410    17,783

Net Adds                  
  Satellite         -403
  U-verse             12
                --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
 Premium TV*        -391      -544      -778    -1,163      -945      -897      -886      -590
 Over-the-Top†      -267       -83      -168      -195      -219      -138       -68       -37
                --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
Total               -658      -627      -946    -1,358    -1,164    -1,035      -954      -627

* Premium TV connections and net adds include AT&T TV, which initially launched in 3Q19 and expanded nationwide in 1Q20.
† 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 3Q20 include 6K 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:

  • 229,000 net adds, driven by the return of soccer leagues and the partial removal of COVID-19 quarantine restrictions; 10.9 million total subscribers at the end of the quarter.

Video (in thousands):

                                                                           Three Months Ended
               ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               12/31/18   3/31/19   6/30/19   9/30/19  12/31/19   3/31/20   6/30/18   9/30/18
               --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------  --------
Connections**    13,838    13,584    13,473    13,306    13,331    13,217    10,664    10,893
Net Adds**          198       -32      -111      -167        25      -114      -312       229

** Vrio Video connections and net adds include satellite and over-the-top. 2Q20 Video connections include a reduction of 2.2M subscriber disconnections resulting from the closure of DIRECTV operations in Venezuela.

WarnerMedia

Subscriber Metrics:

  • Total domestic HBO and HBO Max subscribers topped 38 million and 57 million worldwide, respectively
  • HBO/HBO Max domestic subscribers up ~10% during the nine months ended September 30, 2020

Domestic HBO and HBO Max Subscribers (millions):

4Q19  1Q20  2Q20   3Q20
----  ----  ----  -----
34.6  33.1  36.3  38.0*

* 3Q20 Includes 28.7M subscribers with access to HBO Max and 8.6M HBO Max activations. HBO Max launched at end of May ’20.