AT&T video sub growth slows to 50K in Q1, DirecTV acquisition to close in Q2

AT&T (NYSE: T) experienced a slowdown of its U-verse pay-TV service in the first quarter.  However, the company is still bullish on its $49 billion acquisition of DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV), which it expects to close in second quarter.

U-verse added about 50,000 TV subscribers in the first quarter of 2015, compared to the 200,000 that were tacked on in the comparable year-ago time period. Total wireline revenue for the company came in at $14.1 billion for the company, down 3.1 percent from first quarter 2014.

Overall, the nation's second largest wireless carrier beat analysts consensus forecasts with net income of $3.2 billion for the first quarter.

For a comprehensive look at AT&T's wireless business, read this FierceWireless story.

Much of the attention during AT&T's earnings call Wednesday was focused on the proposed takeover of DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV), which unlike certain other major telecom mergers, appears to be on track. In fact, John Stephens, AT&T senior executive VP and CFO, said he expects the deal—proposed 11 months ago now—to finally close in the second quarter.

"We have done a lot of work identifying opportunities for additional cost synergies between these two great companies," Stephens said. "This includes savings from supply chain, installation, customer care and even sending just one bill. This has increased our confidence that we can significantly exceed the original $1.6 billion expected in cost synergies. In fact, we now believe cost synergies alone will exceed a $2.5 billion run rate by year three."

For more:
- visit this AT&T investor relations page

Related links:
AT&T converts nearly 80% of broadband subscribers to its IP platform
AT&T U-verse licenses Disney Story Central platform
Analysts: Closure of AT&T's DirecTV buy 'imminent,' and 'oh so 2005'