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AT&T CEO: DirecTV Now Streaming Service Will Cost $35 a Month (variety.com)

Posted by msmash on from the big-deal dept.

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.

10 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. Can I record it by silas_moeckel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    if not it's worthless

    --
    No sir I dont like it.
    1. Re:Can I record it by cayenne8 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Just throwing out ideas, but maybe the infrastructure is so shitty it can't maintain a steady connection long enough to watch a full program streamed. "Time shifting" ability might refer to download now/watch later really. In which case the content is already cached in its entirety and even with no service at all you can watch the program.

      I'll take a look at this.

      I built up a system I'm happy with for "cutting the cord".

      I have an AmazonFireTV by each TV, and I pay $35/mo for Playstation VUE, which streams all the "cable channels" I like, and it has a DVR capability in it, that holds your shows for about 28 days....

      I paired this with a TIVO Roamio OTA dvr setup that came with lifetime guide service...that with TiVO minis by the office and bedroom tvs, allow me to watch live or DVR content from my Over the AIR HD antenna set up.

      I can, of course, also stream Netflix and amazon Prime.

      I dropped my bill from $113/mo with Uverse U200 package to $35/mo. This nice thing is, the VUE component, there is no contract, cancel at any time. So, if I find that the ATT DirectTV Now streaming option for $35 is better than VUE and becomes available on my FireTV I can easily switch to it.

      I looked at SlingTV, but it didn't have DVR capability, and fewer channels offered for the money.

      With VUE, I get TCM, the cooking and food channels, all the ESPN's and the SEC channel, FX, FXX, all the cable news channels (MSNBC, Fox News, CNN..etc)...about the only thing I actually miss from Uverse is AXS and the Velocity channel. I can live without them so far.....

      But this is basically what TV is coming to.

      I figure I'll recoup my hardware expenditure in about 8 months or so with the savings from cutting the cord.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    2. Re:Can I record it by duke_cheetah2003 · · Score: 2

      Obviously not, since you can't record Netflix either.

      I don't need to 'record' Netflix because -

      a) There are already no commercials (so don't need to skip over them)

      b) I can already watch what / when I want, so no need to time-shift.

      And despite all that, I heard Netflix has something in the works to permit downloading content onto your device so you can watch offline.

  2. no dvr capability.. limited channels.. no locals.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  3. Do we get a discount by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 3, Insightful

    if we agree to let AT&T spy on us ?

  4. On-demand programming? by sinij · · Score: 2

    No on-demand programming? Has commercials? If so, not interested.

  5. Also, is it a la carte? by gweilo8888 · · Score: 2

    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.

  6. Re:As someone that lives in Seattle... by danbert8 · · Score: 2

    [Citation Needed] Plenty of people have satellite TV in Alaska where the dishes are practically pointed at the ground...

    --
    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  7. Doomed to fail by duke_cheetah2003 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  8. Re:no dvr capability.. limited channels.. no local by duke_cheetah2003 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.