DirecTV: no of video subscribers in the U.S. 2014-2021

As of the fourth quarter of 2021, the number of Direct TV video subscribers was around 14.6 million in the United States. This figure is slightly higher than the corresponding quarter from the previous year. Like many similar providers, DirecTV is a casualty of the increasing dominance and success of streaming services, a phenomenon not just isolated to the U.S. but which has spread all across North America.

DirecTV: background information

Broadcast satellite provider DirecTV was a subsidiary of American conglomerate AT&T Inc. as of the acquisition completed in 2015 and has been in business since 1994, when it was brought into the world by Hughes Electronics. Since August 2021, DirecTV is a new standalone company, with AT&T (70 percent) and TPG Capital (30 percent) as its owner.

Decline in pay TV subscriptions

In line with industry trends, as DirecTV has suffered losses the number of AT&T TV Now subscribers has grown. DirecTV Now increased its subscriber numbers from 200 thousand at the end of 2016 to almost 1.9 million by the third quarter of 2018, reflecting the changing preferences of U.S. consumers and their tendency to migrate to streaming platforms from satellite and cable providers. DirecTV’s key competitor Dish Network has also seen a decline in its customer base in recent years. Dish Network lost around three million subscribers between 2013 and 2020, with losses increasing from tens to hundreds of thousands per year.