AT&T’s subscribers remain on the down slope as the company reports losing more customers this quarter.
In their Q2 2020 earnings report, the company reported a net loss of 886,000 premium TV subscribers (including AT&T TV), leaving them with 17.7 million premium TV subscribers.
The company also lost an additional 68,000 AT&TV NOW subscribers leaving them with just 720,000 (after a peak 1.85 million subscribers in September 2018).
The quarter wasn’t all bad however, as WarnerMedia saw a “successful launch of HBO Max with strong engagement.” But subscriber growth was well below other launches like Disney+.
The company says they had 36.3 million U.S. subscribers to HBO Max and HBO, up from 34.6 million at December 31, 2019. In comparison, Disney+ added nearly 26.5 million subscribers over their first 1.5 month period. Netflix announced they added 2.5 million subs in U.S. and Canada this quarter.
Subscriber loss continues to pile on for the company as they fail to satisfy customers. In March, they launched AT&T TV nationwide, a service powered by an Android TV set-top box.
Last June, John Donovan, then AT&T Communications CEO, said the AT&T TV service would “radically reshape what your concept of television is.” However, when the company unveiled the service in August, it turned out to be everything people hated about cable and satellite companies — hidden fees contracts, teaser pricing, channels they don’t need — with the similar bundle that you would get with a $50 Live TV Streaming Service.
The company has also been lauded with customer complaints regarding their never-ending price hikes.
Yet, in November, they raised prices on their AT&T TV NOW PLUS and MAX plans by $15. AT&T TV NOW PLUS plan would increase to $65, while the MAX plan will increase to $85 (from $70). They would since drop the price of the PLUS plan to $55, after removing HBO.
This was after another price hike, where their legacy AT&T TV NOW customers saw an increase in their bills in the course of a month. Depending on their plans, customers would see their bills increase from $55 to $85 while others went from $35 to $65.
However, just yesterday they added five new Regional Sports Networks, some never before available in streaming.