AT&T continues to fine-tune its video strategy as it seeks to transition the bulk of its pay TV subscriber base to its new internet-delivered premium service, AT&T TV.
AT&T TV and DirecTV subscribers will now have a year of free HBO service when they sign up. The will also receive three free months of Showtime, Starz, Epix and Cinemax.
The offers appear to be separate from AT&T’s #ConnectedTogether campaign, which is currently offering free premium channel content to DirecTV, U-Verse, AT&T TV and AT&T TV Now subscribers.
The telco is also looking to reposition its skinner virtual pay TV service, AT&T TV Now, lowering the price by $10 to $55 a month, but stripping it of its free HBO perk. (The premium channel is now available to new AT&T TV Now subscribers as a $10-a-month add-on.)
The moves come as the COVID-19 pandemic crisis dampens AT&T’s hopes for a turnaround in its pay TV business, which lost nearly 5 million users last year.
Last week, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said that instead of an earlier projection, which called for AT&T’s pay TV base to shrink by 13.1% in 2020 to 16.9 million subscribers, he now believes it will now decline by 16.6% to 16.2 million customers.
Also read: AT&T, DirecTV Set to Be Hit Hard by COVID-19 Recession: Analyst
AT&T last week revealed that it’s no longer adding new customers to its legacy IPTV platform, U-verse. And it’s working to transition much of its DirecTV customer base to AT&T TV.
“That would have been a difficult transition under the best of circumstances. These aren’t the best of circumstances,” Moffett said.
