Mike Wuerthele
Briefly available AT&T customer support documents not only shed some light on channels that will be available on the internet-streaming DirecTV Now video service, but also show that the telecom giant will give either an Apple TV or a Fire TV stick as a digital receiver to customers signing up for the service.
According to the customer support pages seen by entertainment-industry trade Variety, customers who commit to three months of paid DirecTV and AT&T service qualify to get the Apple TV. Customers signing up for one month will be given the option for a Fire TV stick.
The offering appears to be a loss-leader for the companies, as one month of service at $35 costs less than a Fire TV stick, and three months is far less than the retail price of the fourth-generation Apple TV.
The support documents also list Fox, Galavision, the Hallmark Channel, HDNet Movies, the Sony Movie Channel, and Univision.
Strangely, and related to streaming conditions applied by the networks, the support documents claim that NBC local channels will not be available at launch on streaming devices, like the Apple TV, or smart television sets. At least to start, NBC programming will only be available through computers and mobile devices.
The DirecTV Now service was revealed in March, and eliminates the need for a satellite receiver on the roof. The content will include most of the DirecTV programming, according to AT&T, including local live channels, on-demand programming, and premium channels for extra expense.
The service is not DirecTV's first attempt at an "over the top" network. The broadcaster launched a streaming service with Univision tailored to Spanish speakers called Yaveo in December of 2014, but ceased programming in November 2015.
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
21 Comments
I'll sign up for 3 months get another $150 ATV for $105. Best Buy periodically offers them for $100/$150 which is what I paid for my 32GB and 64GB Apple TVs, but it's worth $5 for 3 months of programming - even if that's all its worth.
The fragmentation of these early streaming services takes me back 20 years to the days of the RCA DSS where you got some channels from USSB, other channels from DirecTV, and local channels from an antenna. Or, local phone service from one company and long distance service from another.
Hello TV/Cable providers ! If you want to be successful in TV streaming business than offer tier base packages starting at $20,$25,$30,$40 if not able to offer ala-carte package scheme. Than.offer delta packages of similar contents programming(like business news, Home shopping, Old shows/movies, International,etc) at fraction of base package. Also, come-up with delta pricing for simultaneous streaming on multiple devices. For example, base package can cost $25 for 3 streaming but HBO or other packages for multiple streams can cost additional $5 for 3 streams. Whole idea is offer flexibility to cord-cutters or contents streamers what, where and when you want to watch at reasonable price. Without wide spread piracy of sharing password like old days of Netflix. Dish SLING has done it.
I have serious doubts that AT&T will be able to deliver this service reliably. I understand on the back-end, AT&T chose IBM's cloud solution which likely won't scale like the Netflix/Amazon services out the gate. Probably best to wait until after the SuperBowl to see how this works. I have difficulty getting 300MB speed on a 1G fiber connection today. With the bandwidth requirements even for 4K it's probably best to stick with broadcast for the time being.
Hope, it doesn't suck like Sling TV. Sling tv sound and picture quality is atrocious!! >:)