AT&T loses fewer premium video subscribers in second quarter

AT&T Inc said on Friday it lost fewer subscribers in its premium video business, which houses satellite TV unit DirecTV, in the second quarter.

The company said in a regulatory filing its premium video subscribers fell by 473,000 in the period, compared with a drop of 887,000 a year earlier.

Over the years, the satellite TV industry has lost subscribers to online streaming options such as Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc’s Prime Video.

The wireless carrier had sold a 30% stake in DirecTV to private equity firm TPG Capital in February, seeking to slow the trend of cord-cutting by investing in customer experience and providing premium video content.

The deal led to the creation of New DirecTV, which includes DirecTV, AT&T TV and web-based TV service U-verse.