If you’re wary of paying a hefty cable bill each month, you might save some money by cutting the cord and subscribing to DIRECTV Stream (previously AT&T TV) in 2022.
This live TV streaming service is one of the most expensive solutions on the market, but it may be the closest experience to traditional cable or satellite TV for cord-cutters who want to preserve that sensation while changing to streaming.
Feeling the heat from popular streaming services such as YouTube TV, Hulu +Live TV, and Sling TV, DIRECTV and AT&T have harnessed old satellite and cable TV technologies into building a competitor in this sector.
But is it good enough? Are their costs palatable, especially in light of the latest price boost that took effect in late January 2022? And will you be able to escape all the costs that DIRECTV wants to hook you with along the way?
In this article, I’ll walk you through all you need to know about DIRECTV’s live television subscription service.
History
On July 13, 2017, it was reported that AT&T was preparing to deploy a cloud-based DVR streaming service as part of its push to develop a single platform across the DirecTV satellite television service and DirecTV Now services, with U-verse to be added soon.
In March 2019, DirecTV Now adopted a new package structure for new members with fewer channels included (albeit with HBO now included in the base package) and increased costs for all subscribers. By the second quarter of 2019, DirecTV Now lost 168,000 members (decreasing to 1.3 million), with AT&T claiming “higher prices and fewer promotional activity” as the rationale.
On July 30, 2019, AT&T announced a future streaming television service called AT&T TV, which would feature an Android TV-based set-top box with a Google Assistant-based voice remote, using the same applications used by DirecTV Now, and offer cloud DVR with 500 hours of storage. Unlike DirecTV Now, this service is marketed on a contract basis (and in bundles with AT&T Internet) and requires the rental or purchase of proprietary set-top boxes.
The service permits user self-installation, however, activation fees are still collected. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson refers to AT&T TV as a “workhorse” service succeeding DirecTV and AT&T U-verse in its pay-television business. The service was initially introduced in selected markets in California, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas, with other markets to come. At the same time, DirecTV Now was announced to be renamed “AT&T TV Now”. The similar titles amongst the multiple services have been recognized as possibly generating misunderstanding, with media sources even claiming examples occurring within the corporation itself.
As of September 2019, a class-action lawsuit against AT&T was filed, accusing the company of falsely inflating the number of subscribers to its AT&T TV Now service by using “unrelenting pressure and strong-arm tactics,” as well as claiming that the service was a risk in AT&T’s SEC filings regarding its purchase of Time Warner.
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In the past,
AT&T’s television service Now
“Entertainment” (the service’s base package) comprised channels from co-owned subsidiary WarnerMedia and the seven other major television conglomerates: Walt Disney, Fox, NBCUniversal; A&E Networks; AMC Networks; ViacomCBS; and the Walt Disney Company. The “Premier” plan includes HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, and StarzEncore, as well as the numerous sports channels that are included in the basic package.
Starting at $35.00, “Live a Little” (Replaced by “Entertainment”), and going up to $70, “Entertainment” was the previous package. “Gotta Have it” (Replaced by “Gotta Have It”) these packages are no longer available but are still accessible to current customers. The new bundles include the same channels as the old ones but at a greater price. AT&T TV will go live across the country on that date in 2020, on the second of March. When asked about the future of DirecTV outside of markets with adequate broadband speed to use AT&T TV, AT&T president John Stankey responded that the firm would push AT&T TV as its primary pay television service.
According to the company’s quarterly results report, AT&T TV Now would struggle in 2019 and lose 138,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2020. The total number of members dropped from 1.86 million to 788,000 before the huge discounts to entice new customers were reduced.
AT&T will no longer provide its Plus and Max plans to new customers as of January 12, 2021, in favor of its new AT&T TV bundles, which will begin at $69.99. Additional channels from AMC, Discovery, and A+E Networks are included in the $15-additional base bundle. AT&T stated on January 13th, 2021, that it would no longer sell AT&T TV Now to new customers and would instead steer new and existing customers to AT&T TV. AT&T TV does not require a long-term contract, and compatible consumer electronics can be used, according to the AT&T TV Now website.
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WatchTV
WarnerMedia, A&E Networks, AMC Networks, Discovery, and ViacomCBS were among the channels available on AT&T’s WatchTV. [required citation] On November 30, 2021, this service will be no more.