DirecTV unveils internet TV
AT&T-owned DirecTV unveiled the details Monday of its own version of internet TV that promises — much like its competitors — few customer restrictions for a plethora of popular channels that will start at $35 a month.
Called DirecTV Now, the service lets subscribers watch live TV on mobile devices and connected TVs and includes local networks ABC, Fox and NBC, but not CBS. Like competitors from Dish Network’s Sling TV to Sony PlayStation’s Vue, there are no long-term contracts, no credit checks and users can cancel at anytime. The new service debuts Nov. 30.
“There’s over 20 million households that are not part of the pay TV ecosystem today,” said John Stankey, CEO of AT&T Entertainment Group, during Monday’s launch event. “This product is tuned to address portions of that base, to find the folks that maybe couldn’t pass credit checks, to look at the cord shavers and the cord nevers, and find a way to complement what is already a great premium subscriber base for those who have not been able to get into the ecosystem.”
Now’s lowest-priced plan, at $35 a month, offers 60 cable channels like ESPN, HGTV, CNN and Nickelodeon. For a limitedtime, subscribers can upgrade to the 100-channel plan for $35 instead of the regular price of $60 a month. As long as the customer stays with the Now service, they get to keep the $35 plan. The 100-channel plan adds channels like DIY Networks, BBC World News and NBA TV.
Stankey stressed that this is a new platform for AT&T and the Now service is just the beginning. Built as a mobile-first technology, Now will include content from apps like Fullscreen Media and allow for datatargeted advertising, like
DirecTV Now price plans
$35 for 60 channels (includes ABC, Fox, NBC, CNN, Nickelodeon, HGTV, Food Networks, more) $50 for 80 channels (adds ESPN News, MLB Network, Travel Channel, more) $60 for 100 channels, with special promo drops price to $35 (adds FS2, NBC Golf, NBA TV, DIY Network, more) $70 for 120 channels (Boomerang, Starz Encore, Univision Deportes, more) Add $5 each for HBO and Cinemax channels the web. The service also won’t count against any data limits for AT&T mobile customers.
“We control the full stack — the full stack of software, the platform and bringing it all the way out to the end user customer experience,” Stankey said. “We can iterate quickly and we can iterate fully. This is just the start.”
Cable and satellite TV providers have been losing subscribers, which has forced the industry to revamp its model. Dish came out with Sling TV in early 2015 and has kept to a $20 monthly price for at least 20 channels. Sony also introduced its Vue service last year but after launching with a $50 plan at its low end, the company introduced a $30 version earlier this year.
Pay-TV providers have also been simplifying plans. Cable providers, like Comcast, have added “skinny bundles” that slim down the number of channels to keep prices lower. In August, Dish introduced a $30 Flex Plan for its satellite TV customers that excluded local networks.
But prices for most of the new internet TV services don’t include required internet. That makes the price comparable to DirecTV’s own satellite TV service, which currently has a $50 a month offer for 145 channels. That satellite plan requires a 24-month commitment and includes DVR equipment and a $200 Visa reward card.
When Sling was unveiled, CEO Roger Lynch was blunt about why pay TV companies were losing customers. or never attracting them in the first place — the socalled “cord nevers.”
“They have alternatives,” Lynch said in a Denver Post story. “Piracy, Internet. There are other ways for them to watch. But if you look at the models they are subscribing to, it’s affordable and I can take it with me.”
As DirecTV prepped its big reveal Monday, Sling added another new feature to its service: a cloud DVR that will allow its subscribers to save certain TV shows and movies until they delete them. Excluded channels are ABC, Disney and ESPN.