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AT&T CEO: DirecTV Now Streaming Service Will Cost $35 a Month (variety.com)
AT&T's upcoming DirecTV Now streaming service is going to cost $35 a month, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said during a panel at the Wall Street Journal's WSJD Live conference. The package wlll include over 100 channels, he added. From a Variety report: This price point is a significant departure from the company's previous stance, when it suggested that it would launch a premium product that wasn't looking to undercut existing pay TV services. Stephenson argued that it can afford this lower price point because DirecTV Now doesn't require operator-owned set-top boxes, satellite dishes, and customer service home visits. AT&T is set to launch DirecTV Now next month. The service will include channels from cablers like A+E Networks and Scripps, as well as broadcasters like Fox and NBCUniversal.
if not it's worthless
No sir I dont like it.
That's cool. Now what about the cap on my Comcast data service?
Are they going to spy on their customers through this service as well?
it's a limited live streaming service, not a replacement for cable or satellite television... especially cable + homerun or tivo....
and one that violates the very essence of net neutrality with at&t zero-rating this service's data on its own internet plans.
this is exactly why internet providers should ONLY BE internet providers.. not content providers, telephone companies, cable or streaming or satellite tv companies, etc etc etc.
if we agree to let AT&T spy on us ?
I don't know what they are talking about. Every TV services I've ever been with has required me to rent/buy the dish/set top box. And I've never had to have home service visit. Even if I did have 1 or 2, then I would have paid for it 15 times over with the inflated rates my cable providers charge me.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
this would be great news if we could get connections fast enough to stream video. We're so far north that even people with a southern view typically can't use a satellite dish because they have to point so low to the horizon.
can i pick the 100 channels otherwise, off to the obsolescence graveyard with you.
No on-demand programming? Has commercials? If so, not interested.
Again, if not it's worthless. I'm tired of paying for stations and content that I would never in a million years want to watch. If one penny of my money goes to Bravo, for instance, there is no amount of value you could add elsewhere which would persuade me to help pay for their "reality"-TV drivel.
Find a VCR.
This is just silliness. The trend is very much toward being able to pick and choose what shows we want to watch, when we want to watch them. Preferably commercial-free. (I pay don't even mind paying for commercial-free content, I already pay Hulu the extra $4/mo.)
The idea of 'channels', 'stations', 'broadcasters', and someone else picking out the programming we might be interested in going the way of the floppy drive. Telling someone like me you're offering 100 channels is nonsense and useless information. I'm more interested in what programming/content there will be to choose from, and if I can't choose, not going to subscribe, end of story.
Bad business choice on AT&T's part. Will never make money. Will definitely not lure 'cable cutters.' We're a whole new breed of content consumer, unlike the cable-television junkie of old.
INFERENCE: nobody cares
Particularly in my case, I want a service that will offer MASN and MASN2. Without those I can't see 90% of Orioles games. I was hoping Playstation Vue was going to have them because they said they'd have local sports channels, but they don't have those two key channels so it's a bust. I keep hoping there going to add them, but so far no dice.
--- What?
But don't bet on actually paying $35/month. There is going to be all of AT&T's Fees and Charges and "taxes" (and probably some real tax too). I'm betting $50+ /month out the door.
As an aside, is it just barely possible that the TimeWarnerAT&T corporate name might be TWATT(tm)? Pleeeez?
I would rather not have net neutrality and be given the option of buying from my provider "a la carte" channel packages which do NOT count against my data usage. You just want unlimited data for downloading warez.
Just hope you never plan on using any content provider outside of your ISP's sphere of control, in that case. Cuz they will make competing services unusable on their networks without net neutrality. You do know that, right? Can't see that hole you're digging? Get the hell out of it then.
Your tech support call would go something this:
Me: I'm having trouble getting netflix to work.
Them: Sorry sir, it must be a problem with netflix, we can't help you. We can however sell you a new subscription to our guaranteed to work streaming service that's not as good as netflix, but it'll stream very good for you, because we're throttling netflix into the dirt so everyone uses our services instead! You could try another internet provider, oh, sorry, we're the only one in this area cuz we bought all our competitors.
Welcome to the world of no net neutrality.
you can get hbo on it's own now.
It's the only solution, in the song of Fire and Ice!
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
If they are highlighting A&E and scripps it sounds like a line-up I couldn't care less about. I had to lookup Scripps to find it's Food Network+travel channel :(
Fox is a rather broad brand. All of Fox like FoxSports or just the free channel? NBC=same?
Corrupt anti-competitive behavior is "more" functionality on what planet?
You use salt & pepper while licking those corporate boots, or do you take them black?
Reasons given for lower-cost are things they charge for and make a lot of money from; such as the modem that they charge $7-$10/mo for, the DVR box that they charge $7-$20 for....and so on...
They need to lower their pricing again, $35 ain't low enough for the so-called quality of popular entertainment these days.
> You just want unlimited data for downloading warez.
God, you're dumb.
Over 100 channels of reruns, infomercials, and old Simpsons and South Park episodes! Over 100 channels of rehashed drivel and propaganda masquerading as news! A hundred channels of stupid people slapping each-other and cursing! A hundred channels of the same AP story described with the same talking points in the exact same phrasing by people hired by one of three media conglomerates! One. Hundred. Channels. If no one would buy it they would give it away for free. You are the product.
If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
I would rather not have net neutrality and be given the option of buying from my provider "a la carte" channel packages which do NOT count against my data usage. You just want unlimited data for downloading warez.
Just hope you never plan on using any content provider outside of your ISP's sphere of control, in that case. Cuz they will make competing services unusable on their networks without net neutrality. You do know that, right? Can't see that hole you're digging? Get the hell out of it then.
Your tech support call would go something this: Me: I'm having trouble getting netflix to work. Them: Sorry sir, it must be a problem with netflix, we can't help you. We can however sell you a new subscription to our guaranteed to work streaming service that's not as good as netflix, but it'll stream very good for you, because we're throttling netflix into the dirt so everyone uses our services instead! You could try another internet provider, oh, sorry, we're the only one in this area cuz we bought all our competitors.
Welcome to the world of no net neutrality.
That is what data caps are for. Or, you can pay an extra fee for unlimited data like I did. I pay 15 bucks extra for unlimited data at 25 (26) Mbits/s. That is fast enough for UHD Netflix.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Corrupt anti-competitive behavior is "more" functionality on what planet?
You use salt & pepper while licking those corporate boots, or do you take them black?
If you want unlimited data then you should pay extra for it. Is that not fair?
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
> You just want unlimited data for downloading warez.
God, you're dumb.
Right, sorry, I mean torrents of movies and TV shows.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Dear Cable Companies,
More is not better.
Yours,
A former customer.
more likely streaming those movies and TV shows.
Last time I used SlingTV on Dish, every "skip" button press took about 3 seconds to process. Each commercial break is about 10 "skips" (6 to 8 forward-30-seconds and 2 to 4 backward-10-seconds). On the local Dish DVR, each skip takes about a quarter second to process. (And slower skips make me less likely to go back to see a commercial I'm interested in!)
Locals are a meaningless old school, high dollar bundle option.
Any $30 OVA antenna will pick them up plus CW/FOX/etc. And to top it off any cheap DVR can record them, Tivo's or Channel Master's OTR comes to mind.
You're fucking retarded. Please die before you reproduce.
I subscribe to Sling TV to get ESPN (only during football season). That's $20 per month, and comes with about 25 channels that I never watch. If DirecTV came down to $20 a month, I might consider switching!
That is what data caps are for. Or, you can pay an extra fee for unlimited data like I did. I pay 15 bucks extra for unlimited data at 25 (26) Mbits/s. That is fast enough for UHD Netflix.
You can't vote with your wallet if there is no other provider in your area.
If your ISP can degrade competing services to theirs without compunction they will do so - either they get your additional streaming service subscription dollars or you go without high-speed internet.
IMO content and service providers should be separated as completely as possible.
That is what data caps are for. Or, you can pay an extra fee for unlimited data like I did. I pay 15 bucks extra for unlimited data at 25 (26) Mbits/s. That is fast enough for UHD Netflix.
It's people like you that really frighten me, cuz you have no idea how clueless you are. You just don't see the long view on net neutrality and its dangerous dude.
Right now it's just big guys testing the waters, offering 'free rides' on select services.
Later, they'll take away unlimited data, period. They'll promote their own services more heavily.
Later they'll start charging you for data on outside networks, outright. While continuing to promote their own services, which may or may not continue to be 'unlimited.'
And the show just gets worse. It's not a pretty road and I don't particularly want to see where to leads.
And why would I need 100 of them?
Too late for me. I am saying goodbye to AT&T's price gouging cell service. I have already booted directTV as well. I am tired of paying top dollar for shit.
No it isn't fair. Internet is not like water etc. I'm paying for what is important: speed (technically, bandwidth). Data isn't a finite resource. Why should I pay extra on top of that? They double-charge you by selling a service then punishing you if you actually use it whereas water I pay for what I use. They should do one or the other, both is just a blatant cash grab.
And also, moron, some caps are low and some people are gamers. Games can be huge downloads, not to mention patches. Hell, even Youtube/Netflix can chew up a data cap.
Net neutrality and regulation of ISPs would be a GODSEND. They're raping our wallets and not upgrading infrastructure until a competitor is able to get in. My 100mb line tripled to 300mb for free... a few days after FiOS got closer to my apartment complex. But, if you want to continue bending over to your ISP feel free. Some of us have actual sense.
Already am. I'm also paying for Netflix. I don't want my cable company f****** with Netflix packets until Netflix pays them a blackmail fee, which they naturally have to pass on to me, despite my paying the cable company a pretty penny to be my isp. This is net neutrality 101....any more dumb questions?