AT&T lost a total of 54,000 video subscribers in the first quarter, as increases at its DirecTV satellite TV service couldn’t overcome continued declines at its U-Verse TV offering.
DirecTV added about 328,000 net new subscribers in the first quarter, ending the period with 20.1 million customers. U-Verse shed 384,000 video customers in the period, compared to a gain of 49,000 customers in the same period last year and ending the period with 5.3 million subscribers.
AT&T has been placing greater emphasis on its satellite TV service, and the quarter was further evidence of that policy. On the broadband side, U-Verse added about 186,000 high-speed data connections, down from the 413,000 additions of a year ago. Digital subscriber line (DSL) service lost 181,000 customers, an improvement over the 319,000 losses in 2015.
Overall, revenue rose 24% to $40.5 billion, mainly because of the DirecTV acquisition last year.
AT&T Wireless added 1.8 million new customers in the U.S.
