Roger Fingas
DirecTV Now, AT&T's internet TV service, is officially rebranding as "AT&T TV Now" later this summer in what's promised to be a smooth transition.
Subscribers will only need to accept terms of service, at which point streaming will continue automatically, AT&T said. A soon to be rebranded app supports iPhones, iPads, and the Apple TV, but the service also runs on Amazon, Roku, and Android devices, as well as Web browsers and Samsung Smart TVs.
Apple-based customers won't need to reauthenticate unless they actively sign out of compatible apps. At that point, they'll have to select "AT&T TV" as their new provider.
AT&T TV Now will co-exist along a separate AT&T TV, entering testing this summer and described as an "all-new connected TV experience with no satellite needed." The company is offering a mix of live and 55,000 on-demand titles, plus 500 hours of cloud DVR storage, and an included remote with Google Assistant. People who bundle with AT&T Internet will get any data caps lifted.
DirecTV Now was beset with technical problems at launch, but has recovered to the point that it recently raised monthly prices by $10. It was aided by an aggressive marketing campaign in which it gave away free Apple TV 4Ks for extended prepays.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Amber Neely
17 Comments
I hope they plan on fixing all the issues with the service as well. The video quality is outstanding, but Roku app is simply awful. The iPad app isn't the greatest either.
Until they start offering all of the channels again it's a neutered solution anyway. We would have subscribed if we could have signed into network apps like TLC. Rather than make that an option, AT&T simply dropped those channels for all new subscribers.
Tried the service and it was a train wreck with buffering on high speed networks. Beyond that, the billing and sign-in did not play well with existing AT&T accounts.
At one point I was getting billed for the service and could not log in to the service and the online customer service was abysmal. Frustrated, I went to an AT&T retail store where I was told they could not help me, despite ads for DTVN all over the store.
My guess is that the rebranding is an attempt to run away from the bad reputation they have developed
Just too many T's. Get rid of the first two. And the 'A' in front of them.
Just call it “AT&TV” since I think their support for telegraphs may no longer apply.