Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Should AT&T listen to activist investor or stay the course?

HBO Max has become the bellwether that investors are watching to see whether AT&T can execute its entertainment vision.

“Out of all their financials, it’s just a small part of AT&T,” said Brett Sappington, senior research director for entertainment at Addison-based market research company Parks Associates. “It seems to be the tail wagging the rest of the AT&T dog at the moment.”

Elliott has criticized the slow rollout of the streaming service. It also noted how AT&T has shifted from a three-tiered offering focused on Warner Bros. to a single one centered around HBO.
AT&T will face other hurdles, Sappington said. The subscription-based HBO Max will be pricier than competitors. To keep customers from canceling, AT&T will have to have other breakouts that follow in the footsteps of The Sopranos and Game of Thrones, along with a steady stream of popular TV shows and movies.

From the article "Should AT&T listen to activist investor or stay the course?" by Melissa Repko.

Previously In The News

Smart thermostats are tough sell, but ComEd hopes rebates boost interest

A study released this month by Parks Associates found only 18 percent of consumers would buy a smart thermostat at $250, but offering a $100 rebate more than doubled the pool of interested buyers....

Comcast is totally okay with you not having an Xfinity set-top box

“Pay-TV providers want to retain subscribers, so they want to make sure that you stay inside their ecosystem,” says Brett Sappington, a media analyst at Parks Associates. “If you don’t have a reason t...

Sharing your TV streaming passwords? Cable companies won’t stop you—yet

Neither of these methods work particularly well, at least for the kind of casual sharing that’s pervasive among friends and family members. A survey earlier this year by Parks Associates found that 18...

Sling TV has a secret weapon to win over cord-cutters–the humble TV antenna

Mitch Weinraub, AirTV’s director of product development, says a majority of Sling TV’s 2.2 million subscribers already use an antenna somewhere in their homes, and a recent Parks Associates study foun...