AT&T loses nearly 1 million video customers in 2Q

NEW YORK—AT&T’s video losses continued in the second quarter as the wireless carrier and entertainment company shed nearly 1 million video customers, but it added more cellphone subscribers.

The Dallas company said Wednesday that it lost 946,000 video customers. That includes 778,000 customers of its DirecTV and cable unit, U-Verse. Satellite-TV customers have been cutting the cord in increasing numbers. But it also lost subscribers in its streaming-TV service, DirecTV Now, a cable alternative that launched in 2016, for the third straight quarter.

AT&T plans to launch another streaming service, HBO Max, focused on HBO, which it owns, next year. It will compete with a growing number of streaming services, including new ones from Disney, Apple and Comcast.

On the wireless side, AT&T Inc. added 72,000 cellphone customers that pay a monthly bill, the most lucrative type of wireless customer. AT&T also added “prepaid” cellphone customers.

The Dallas company reported second-quarter profit of $3.71 billion, or 51 cents per share, down from $5.13 billion, or 81 cents per share, the year before. Adjusted for one-time items, earnings were 89 cents per share, meeting Wall Street expectations.

AT&T Inc.’s revenue rose 15% to $44.96 billion, also meeting Street forecasts.

Shares rose 77 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $32.88 in morning trading. AT&T shares had risen 12% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has increased 20%.