Q. I know you’ve been covering DIRECTV for a long time so can you explain why they have lost so many subscribers. I’ve been a DIRECTV subscribers for more than 20 years and I can’t understand it. (I also worked for them for three years!) They’ve lost more than anyone by far. It’s not just cord cutting. It’s AT&T and DIRECTV. What in your opinion did AT&T do wrong with DIRECTV? — James, Huntington Beach, California.
James, you are right. I have covered DIRECTV before it even launched on June 17, 1994. In fact, I traveled to Indianapolis in the summer of 1994 to watch DIRECTV go on sale there, just the second city in the nation to get it. (DIRECTV started in five test markets in the summer of 1994 before going nationwide.)
There were long lines of people waiting for the store to open, and many of them told me they were excited to finally get a serious alternative to cable TV. I decided to buy a DIRECTV dish and receiver myself, brought it back with me and installed it on my balcony in my 18th floor apartment in Alexandria, Virginia. I was the first person in the Washington, D.C. area to have DIRECTV.
Over the years, as a magazine and web site journalist, I reported on the meteoric rise of DIRECTV, which eventually became the leading pay TV provider in the nation. I also partnered with Nielsen Media Research in the 1990s to do four comprehensive studies of the DIRECTV audience to determine why Americans were so taken with the ‘little’ dish.
So, yes, I know a little about DIRECTV. And it’s stunning to me as well that the satcaster has lost between five and six million subscribers since AT&T purchased it in 2015 for $49 billion. DIRECTV had more than 20 million subscribers five years ago, more than any satellite or cable operator.
While it’s true that all pay TV operators have lost subscribers in the last several years due to escalating prices, and cord-cutting, DIRECTV’s subscriber decline is unparalleled. By comparison, Comcast has lost slightly more than two million video subscribers since 2015, compared to DIRECTV’s five to six million defections. (AT&T has stopped disclosing the exact numbers for DIRECTV, choosing instead to lump their results with U-verse’s numbers.)
The reason for the decline can be found in plain sight.
In 2015, John Stankey, who was then AT&T’s entertainment chief (he’s now the company CEO), was asked by USA Today what was AT&T’s vision for DIRECTV.
“The simple vision is we want customers to take their premium entertainment experience and enjoy it anywhere,” Stankey told the newspaper’s Ed Baig. “Our job as a company that provides connectivity, whether it’s fixed or mobile, is to make sure that they have that portability. Nobody else has the kind of toolset (and) breath that we now have–scaled content, world class mobile network, broadband network, the technical compatibilities to take all that out over an IP infrastructure. That’s the big strategic thrust.”
Notice that Stankey does not mention the word, satellite. He’s basically describing taking DIRECTV’s customers to a streaming platform, which has been AT&T’s primary mission since the sale. In November 2016, less than two years after the purchase, the company launched DIRECTV Now, a live streaming service which later became AT&T TV Now. Company executives in November 2016 gushed over DIRECTV Now, saying it would eventually replace satellite TV.
While AT&T TV Now has sputtered, AT&T has doubled down with a new streaming offering called AT&T TV. Again, the company says it’s designed to replace DIRECTV.
You see, James, AT&T has never believed in satellite TV. They just wanted DIRECTV’s subscribers, the vast majority of which they believed could be converted to streaming soon after the sale.
Why did they want to convert them? Streaming is far less expensive than satellite. Far less.
AT&T’s master plan, however, has failed because the vast majority of DIRECTV’s subscribers have not made the switch to AT&T’s streaming services. If they have made any switch at all, they have decided to drop DIRECTV because AT&T has failed to invest in the satellite TV service, often leaving it without new technologies, and new sports channels. AT&T has also failed to invest in DIRECTV’s customer service team, which was once pay TV’s best. (It’s not anymore.)
Meg James of The Los Angeles Times chronicled this strange strategy in her excellent January 31, 2020 story entitled, ‘Nearly 3 Million Subscribers Ditched DIRECTV Last Year. Will AT&T Do the Same?’ The story illustrates how AT&T decided to spend their research and development dollars on streaming rather than DIRECTV.
“Since AT&T took over, hundreds of (DIRECTV) workers have been cut. Software applications and other functions have been outsourced to IBM and Accenture. The company has been eager to sell smaller assets, including its regional sports networks, and has even considered abandoning its exclusive arrangement with the NFL for the popular NFL Sunday Ticket, according to knowledgeable people who requested anonymity because they’re not authorized to comment publicly. The NFL package — a signature DirecTV offering for 25 years — has become a money loser for AT&T, given the high cost of sports rights,” James wrote.
The plan didn’t work. But to Stankey’s credit, he’s not pretending that the company had a different strategy in 2015, one that misfired for other reasons. Last week, Stankey was asked during an investors call if AT&T believed it still needed DIRECTV. (There have been sale rumors.)
“You can go back and look at comments I made, I think, very early on and post-transaction of DIRECTV that we didn’t necessarily make that move because we love satellite as a technology,” Stankey told analysts. “We like the customer base. It was an opportunity to move that customer base into the right technology platforms moving forward.”
He’s right. It was an opportunity. But the opportunity is gone. And now AT&T has little choice but to sell DIRECTV to the highest bidder.
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
@swanniontv
What ent wrong with DirectTV ?
I COULD WRITE A BOOK but in ONE and ONLY ONE take ?
AT&T !! (T-H-E most incompetent morons on the entire planet) THE GAME IS SOOOOOO OVER for AT&T !!
I have been in the satellite TV and PCO biz for 40 years and can assure you I
FORGOT more then AT&T knows about that business they bought with MONEY they STOLD from MILLIONS of ppl over the DECADES because of the need for a LAND LINE TELEPHONE (which is of course DEAD now)
THIS is JUST the TIP of the ICEBERG but let me end with saying that there are THOUSANDS of us out here that work DAILY to END AT&T as quickly s possible and…
WE
ARE
WINNING !!
That’s exactly right, I work for AT&T and they’re a bunch of idiots. And probably what has killed DIRECTV is the fact that they own them because so many people hate AT&T. Plus their customer service screwed the number one customer in the business. Now I realize a lot of people are streaming these days but where I live in rural Alabama satellite tv is your only option because you can’t get decent internet.
Well when you can’t get anyone to answer the phone.After waiting 30 to 45min.on hold.It tends to lead to pure frustration. I know some that dropped them.Just for that.And why can’t you get anything done in the AT&T stores.After all.They own direct T.V.They should have never purchased direct T.V.They’ve ruined it.
Ive never in my life dealt with a more criminal co. They tried upping the price EVERY single month overcharge overcharge. Theyre were awful.
My package keeps dropping channels but my bill doesn’t go down. Instead of offering better deals and upgrades to long time users all the deals are for new customers only so I’m dropping my direct tv and going to a different provider.
I had to tell them that i didn’t want the service anymore because my bill kept going up and they kept showing the something on different channels also every other day so yes i will help
I know what went wrong. GREED! Along with DN. These are TWO OF THE WORST! They preyed on customers for decades. Both would turn customers upside down and shake as much money out of there pockets as they could and I am sure many hundreds of thousands of people would agree!
Bruce Swann
We dropped them as well. Nothing was the same. We have Spectrum as well as Roku, Hulu, and Netflix and it is still cheaper then what AT&T was costing.
I have been with Direct TV since 2004. AT&T Direct TV has really raised the price. I am pay close to $180 for service and only have Starz. I hate to leave but may not have a choice if they don’t lower it. If I leave I will lose a lot of my favorite channels 😤
Good luck cancelling your service. Plan on being on the phone for at least 45 minutes if your lucking, and be sure to get a text or something in writing, because there is verry poor follow thru with these foreign agents. They tell you anything that you want to hear, then go on to the next call with absolutely NO follow thru.
I want Direct TV they different care about their customers
It’s a no brainer. The problem with Directv is AT&T and horrible customer service. I was a long time Directv customer until AT&T bought it and ran it into the ground by treating their customers like crap…
I agree i loved DirecTV as soon as AT&T got involved it went dowm hill fast customer service wss horrific, they increased the price but not the service, i didn’t want to cancel but they gave me mo other choice
Unfortunately, many of the stations I wach on Direct, I either can’t get on Dish because of fee fights
If I try streaming, the ala carte makes me buy from so many different outlets, the channels get fewer but the overall cost goes up… buy less for more…
We were loyal customers for over 20 years. When a technician broke an expensive outside table (he used it to climb into a low roof) Directv refused to replace it -not even a portion of The $1000 replacement cost. After paying for their (expensive) services for So long, that made it clear that they don’t care about their customers. I can’t tell you how long I worked on reimbursement and got nowhere. I cancelled for that reason alone. rediculous customer service.
The cost of Uverse & DirecTV got way out of bounds for me. It began with the bait, great package for reasonable price; then the price increases gradually until I reduced my choices. I paid $165/mth for the Choice Package.
The programming is horrific and only got worse after AT&T came on board. Some of us don’t want to stream, we want to watch good movies and shows on tv , . There’s NOTHING but crap on all channels.
Rhonda, i feel ya. Why, when they get a good product, do they have to screw with it? Got directv for HBO. Can’t get it anywhere else. Can you imagine not ever having the chance to watch Game of Thrones? Directv needs to go back on it’s own.
I was a Tmobile customer back in the day when I heard that AT&T was going to buy the company. Because of past experience with AT&T’s customer service I dumped my Tmobile for Verizon. I have been a customer of DirecTV for over 20 years. I really enjoyed DirecTV up until AT&T purchased it. AT&T is the world’s worst company. I hate everything about them. Absolutely not customer oriented or concerned about customer satisfaction. I hope they go bankrupt. I have never hated a company so much.
There prices are ridiculously high and I have been a loyal customer for years and insite of the economy we are constantly trying to down grade our monthly bills
I keep losing channel and my bill is high and don’t have hardly any channels it’s mostly movie channel , buy channels. Out of 200 channels there’s only 30 channels that’s worth watching. It’s sad can’t wait for my 2 years to be up…
I just dropped them for all of the above reasons. Totally disgusted at their lack of concern for their customers during this pandemic when people are stuck at home with their children and really need good, reasonable costing services. They could care less that your income has dropped dramatically or completely in some cases! Raised the prices anyway. My Att internet price doubled when I dropped Direct TV so I am switching to Comcast for that portion. Att ruined a perfectly good company because of greed.
Their prices are outrageous for the crappy stations in each package they offer. Then suddenly your missing stations and they want u to buy them extra. I am definitely going to streaming!!! Direct TV sucks!
A T & T is no ones friend. Bundling is NEVER n e ones friend. Love, Ayn Randy
At+t is a money grubing whore .they even charge 5 BUCKS FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE PHONE CALL. Ive been looking for a change .im 75 have cancer and low income .any sugestions ?,?
I was with DirecTV for 17 years. My bill amount since AT&T took over became ludicrous. The last year of service was locked in at $94.99 per month for basic satellite (4 tv’s and no HBO, Cinemax, etc). Then my bill went to $180 per month. I requested a discount and was denied so I cancelled my service. The Dish (another disaster company) installer came 3 days later and while he was installing his equipment, DirecTV called and offered me 2 years with the same package I had before for $49.99. The moral of the story…DirecTV doesn’t care about their existing customer base…just signing “new (old)” customers!
I worked for DirecTV for over 7 years as an installer and a customer since 1997.
I for one can tell you when AT&T took over the first thing they did was farm out our award winning customer service to overseas vendors.
Premium subscribers expect a top notch customer experience and Mike White made sure we did provided just that.
AT&T gutted the best thing DirecTV had going.
Vance
What happened to the extra channels AT&T gave the customers
while the Corona Virus is keeping people home ?
They were just NON sports channels, that cost pennies.
That didn’t last long. Why did they Cut them off ?
(Fine way to make customers happy)
I guess AT&T thought the Virus vanished.
What morons! I can switch every Directv customer to their streaming service right now. It’s such a simple strategy I can’t believe it hasn’t occurred to anyone at AT&T. Just offer their streaming service as a “backup” to all of their customers, for the times when they lose signal. Just switch to streaming until your signal comes back. Then, down the road, shut down the satellite service. Now every customer is using ATT TV. Except for the yokels who can’t get internet where they live.
I’ll be waiting for my commission check, AT&T
If AT&T tried that they would muck that up also. Why do AT&T executives that ruinted their company name keep getting promoted?
IM NOT HAPPY WITH DIRECT TV ANY MORE, I AM 79 YRS OLD AND ONLY GET $880 PER MONTH THEY HAVE WENT UP ON MY BILL VERY HIGH AND YOU HARDLY GET ANY OF THE CHANNELS WE USED TO GET THEY CUT SO MANY CHANNELS,
IM ABOUT TO LEAVE DIRECT TV ALSO IF NO CHANGES ARE MADE, IM A SENIOR CITIZEN IM NOT GOING FOR THIS
I guarantee that if I am forced onto a streaming service, it won’t be with AT&T or SlingTV!
“… because AT&T has failed to invest in the satellite TV service, often leaving it without new technologies,…”
Precisely. We dropped DIrecTV after 24 years because of their relentless rate hikes, poor customer service, and they stopped supporting the standard definition equipment, while offering no viable solution for travelers. We’re in our Airstream more than we are at home. Their apathy and arrogance was astounding. We went with Dish Network. High Def on the road, and low cost hardware at half the price. Streaming is nice, but we go to places where there is no connectivity. Even when connectivity is available, it’s not sufficient for streaming. I will never consider AT&T for anything in the future.
I’ve been with DirecTV for over 25 years and the only reason I’ve not dumped them is the sports package. There’s only one team I’m watching, since the NBA and NFL have gone full SJW, other than my Alma Mater who has a contract with ESPN. If that goes away, so does the satellite. I’m going to watch Vegas Golden Knights, unless the NHL also steps in it.
I’d dump DirecTV if I could get the ATT sports net channels on a streaming service. ATT won’t let anyone stream that sports package, including ATT’s own streaming services! How stupid is that?
Poor customer service is leading the way for the downfall. I was offered free movie channels for 3 months and HBO for a year. I called and cancelled all the movie channels except for HBO. I confirmed the order making sure HBO wasn’t shut off. Well the customer service rep cancelled HBO so I called them back. The rep couldn’t turn HBO back on because it’s their policy that once it is turn off it can’t be turned on so they tried to sell me HBO half off for six months then going back up to full price. I can’t wait till my contract is up to cancel this shady outfit….
They lost because when they bought DTV it was the end of DTV ‘s awesome customer service
Been a customer since 98, no customer service anymore
GONE,,,NO More
I been a Direct TV customer for over three years. I wanted an extra genie mini box. I ended up having to purchase that for $99 and agree to use it for 24 months. Then pay a $49 install fee. Then pay a $ 7 a month usage fee. Oh if I cancel within the 24 months they will charge me a $10 a month fee in stead if $7. Then all the agent wanted to do is script read and didnt really answer my questions. He asked me the same questions over and over again. It was like he didnt understand.
That sounds like their typical SCREW Job.
I LOVE the $99.00 BUY IT Charge, then Charge a monthly $7.00 FEE.
Kinda like BUYING a car for CASH,
then the dealer charges you a monthly FEE to Drive it.
You were talking to an Overseas CS, they are useless
I was with Direct TV forever …my package started off at 39.99….by the end of about 15 years of being a loyal customer it was up to 117.00….with no movie channels and practically just crap channels same movies over and over ……i got tired of it …so I disconnected it….
They really tried to keep me as a customer . I had a locked in price of $59.00 a month. then one day it went to $90.00. They claimed it was a promotional deal. Their contracts are good for them only. outsourcing has become the norm. Corp America wants to charge more and give less. That locked price is BS. Customer service closed on weekends. Very rude people.ATT destroyed DIRECTV. Now they are charging customers ridiculous prices on line. I had planned to cut the cord anyway but did a year sooner thanks to ATT. a piece of advice for ATT. Fire your CEOand relaunch under a new name with competitive prices or bankruptcy is in your very near future. Start doing right for your employee’s. They are the backbone of any company.
I was an early adopter of Direct TV and a great fan of the service…They were on the cutting edge. They lost me when HDTV’s hit the market and cost to convert my receivers was ridiculous…What really burned my buns was if I was new customer the receivers were FREE!!!…Existing customers had to pay $600/ box to upgrade!!!…And we had multiple boxes…Needless to say it was bye-bye Direct TV…
Well I was going to leave a comment, but you guys said it all already. So all I can say is AT&T sucks, just like I have told their customer service representative many times.
I am very disappointed with DirectV because they took channels away and the charge is going up little by little. We are considering to drop them also. Waiting on the new bill and that will determine if we stay with DirectV. They started out good but that almighty dollar increasing prices just got out of hand.
What channels did they take away you liked ?
LMNHD, CookHD, DIYHD, FXMHD, DLIF, FYIHD, POPHD, LOGO, OWNHD, DESTHD, GACHD, TV1HD, MTVC SHOULD I GO ON?? Last week I got all of these channels!
What channel do you want ?
At&t does not have cell service in my area so that defeats the whole purpose of mobility.
The quality of streaming is average in most cases, I currently use hulu and netflix after dumping direct and I have the ‘high speed’ connection but it freezes at least once if not more every night so even if at&t could get the programming to stream through my internet provider it would still be worse than satellite which might go out during a storm.
At&t is a joke and that’s why I cancelled my subscription after being a customer for about ten years.
I’ ve had DirecTV for years, but got tired of several channels having the SAME shows, and also as I figured — after AT&T acquired it they started raising the price of the service!!!!
I’ll be leaving direct tv also. Called them yesterday and waited 58 mins to get someone on phone and at same time was chatting and they have yet to come on the chat today. My bill went up but about 80 dollars and I’ve made no changes to my service. I have the lowest plan and when I wanted to inquire about adding two channels because on the channel line up it shows all the packages and what channels come with each package. Well under my package there is channels I was interested in (and would have paid Lil extra to add 2 channels) the channels I wanted say optional beside them. They don’t say no you can’t have that that channel, they say optional. But when I called they said I can get a bigger more expensive package and can’t add channels. Even when I asked them why it says optional if there not really optional they could not answer me. I’m done. Sending in my box and remote and getting Hulu with live tv. Because Hulu actually has the channels I wanted to add. 😂
Direct tv should stop making promises they do not keep. I had direct tv for five years and they lied to me sooo much i got canceled them 2 weeks ago and no i am with dish. Soo much better. I will never go back to at@t direct tv
I’ve been a Direct customer for 20 years. Always happy until ATT came into the picture. I’ve dealt with ATT with land line phone, cell phone, and now tv service. Always the same story, poor service snd increased prices. I’ve tried to call them several times to voice my concerns. Wait times of up to one hour. Their only answer to the pricing was a two year contract. Reduced prices first year, but no price quoted for second year. That sounds like a shell game to me. Meaning they could set their own prices for the second year and I’m stuck. Well my only solution is to find someone to love me, not to treat me bad.
Jake out of Novato California the regional director for Colorado canceled my wife service after 10 years after lying to us saying that we cannot install our own post for the satellite TV because he wanted to charge me $100 when we had previously two years earlier at another home installed our own post for the satellite TV. Then he lied and filed a false police report about me.He lied and said I threaten to kill him on the phone without any proof whatsoever Jake the a$$ whole From Novato is a liar
Jake out of Novato California the regional director for Colorado canceled my wife service after 10 years after lying to us saying that we cannot install our own post for the satellite TV because he wanted to charge me $100 when we had previously two years earlier at another home installed our own post for the satellite TV. Then he lied and filed a false police report about me.He lied and said I threaten to kill him on the phone without any proof whatsoever Jake the From Novato is a liar
People keep saying that DirecTV is failing because AT&T is incompetent or did something wrong. This is going exactly as AT&T planned all along. They never intended for DirecTV to succeed after the purchase. They bought it to remove a competitor. Now they are starving it out so they can let it die without getting in trouble with SEC. They aren’t going to sell it until it’s so far gone that no one could revive it without going bankrupt. I had to take my dish off my roof to have the roof resurfaced. When the DirecTV tech came out to reinstall he said they were no longer allowed to install the dishes on my type of roof, so I would HAVE to switch to Uverse. Long story medium, I now have Xfinity – which is terrible compared to DirecTV, and even slightly worse than Uverse. AT&T and Comcast need to get broken up.
Exactly right. But also to try to take the customer base. I was a customer for 22 years and took 3 days to cancel. ATT is awful.
Yes because at&t was rasing my bill every month when they told me that it will never go up and my bill will stay the same so i had to cancel my service so now am back to watching regular tv now for almost six months
I was a 25+ year customer of DIRECTV, just switched a few weeks ago after the monthly bill just kept creeping up to $240+ per month. DISH has been fantastic! The technology, picture and capability are so much better!! I wish I would have made the switch years ago!
I purchased my DirecTV system in June or July of 1994 over 25 years ago. I think I may have been the first or certainly among the first to have DirecTV service here. Since I lived in the Wash DC area I had to order it from Dillard’s Dep’t Store in Jackson Miss which was one of the original test market cities. I paid $699 for the RCA system. I dropped DirecTV at the end of 2019 due to rising costs and the availability of newer, more reliable, and expanded (i.e., fiber-optic-based) alternative services. And no more rain-fade!! It was great while it lasted but, for me, newer technology (i.e., FIOS) subsequently prevailed.
20 year customer and cancelled DirecTV today, 12/28/20. Here is why:
Last January, 2 local stations ‘on hold’ for negotiations, dragged into summer when DTV simply removed them off the guide (meaning they’re GONE). Then November’s TEGNA thing, missed 3 NFL games and Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy! (yes I know, but I like those shows). So I called about losing the 3 channels and my favorite events/shows. She offered a $20/month bill credit which I believed was fair. But when the email confirmation came, it was a ONE TIME credit, so basically $1.50/mo? OK then, thanks for nothing. DTV’s only other solution was to use LoCast. I did, and what I got was a spotty feed, and the shows continuously interrupted for LoCast to beg you for $5/mo for the service. So it was worthless.
I called DTV to advise I’m shopping around due to this, requested their best offer NOW vs. on a potential cancellation call. They didn’t offer anything. Reached out via chat with the same request. Got a chat supervisor and explained about the channels and rate increase (+$5 in Jan’20 and now another $7 increase…14% in a year). He thanked me for informing him and my reply was “I believe you already knew”. Then flashed 2 chat boxes, one said to call 228-2020 and the next said he ended the chat. So he clearly did not care.
On the phone cancelling today as predicted, the service person made an aggressive offer, but I reminded him that requested it twice before and was promptly blown off both times. Gave them enough warning to keep me, they clearly didn’t care.
For point of reference, just let me point this out:
About 18 months ago, I had the XTRA package with HBO with 4 receivers and the protection package, and was paying about $198/mo.
I dropped from XTRA to Choice as that price kept going up. Dropped a receiver also, as well as HBO. Then with last January’s rate increase, I dropped the protection package, to neutralize THAT price increase.
Fast forward to my latest bill…Choice, not XTRA, no HBO, 1 fewer receiver and no protection package, and my bill going to be $167 had I stuck around. In fact, when I dropped XTRA that package was $101, the Choice would have gone up to $99 this month. So a $30 difference in bills for far fewer channels, fewer receivers, no protection package and no HBO. HBO $18 of it, and the protection package was $9. So basically the same price vs. 18 months ago for way fewer channels, no HBO, fewer receivers and no protection package. Gee I wonder why people are bailing on DirecTV?
This company is absurd and if they’re losing millions of subscribers, frankly it is their problem, but I’m not subsidizing by paying more money for WAY less.
This “subscriber” reminds m of the saying “IDIOTS (er uh FOOLS) and the MONEY are
SOON PARTED !!
YOU PAID MORE to WATCH TV then MOST could dream of and THEN you TOLERATE BAD SERVICE and KEEP BEGGING…NOW we KNOW WHY the SHORT BUS NEVER had EMPTY SEATS !!
Hmm, Dave, you seem to be a troll that is most likely a plant for AT&T. I wouldn’t be surprised if you still lived at home in your parent’s house basement, posting while in your jammies.
You are the perfect example of what I described above no changes and no I’m not a plant by AT&T they’ll be bankrupt long before you’ll be dead again you’re the perfect description of what I described above over and out idiot
One more thing to d i c DirecTV lost 8 million customers in The Last 5 Years Randall Stephenson the original Short Bus Rider was forced out with a 3 million dollar a year golden parachute and idiots like you who shopped at Walmart can now be aware that the fools at Walmart hired a man who lost 57 billion dollars for AT&T if you have AT&T stock you can kiss your dividends goodbye