.
The trend already was seen in prior quarters where U.S. video subs declined ever since the DirecTV merger. The Now online service has started helping the total sub numbers, but AT&T is trading dimes for pennies in this switch. The trend since the merger are as follows:
Q3'17: Total - 90,000, Traditional - 390,000, Now 300,000
Q2'17: Total - 199,000, Traditional - 351,000, Now 152,000
Q1'17: Total - 233,000, Traditional - 233,000, Now 72,000
Q4'16: Total - 240,000, Traditional - 27,000, Now 267,000
Q3,16: Total - 3,000, Traditional - 3,000, Now 0
Q2'16: Total - 49,000, Traditional - 49,000, Now 0
The company placed the blame partially on the hurricanes but skipped right past the NFL protest issue that required AT&T to provide refunds for NFL Sunday Ticket. Even worse, the company continues to assert a winning strategy