AT&T CEO says company will launch online streaming video service, DirecTV Now, in Q4, which will feature 100+ premium channels and “aggressive” price points
AT&T's Stephenson: DirecTV Now to offer 100-plus channels … Martha DeGrasse / RCR Wireless News : Report: AT&T to launch streaming video service this year Jose Vilches / TechSpot : AT&T's standalone DirecTV streaming service to launch before the end of the year Mitchel Broussard / MacRumors : AT&T to Target Cord Cutters With Late 2016 Launch of ‘DirecTV Now’ Streaming Video Service Micah Singleton / The Verge : DirecTV will launch its streaming service before the end of the year Adnan Farooqui / Ubergizmo : DirecTV Streaming Service Will Be Launched Before End Of 2016 DSLreports : AT&T Will Exempt Its Upcoming Streaming TV Service From Caps Thanks: @rogerwcheng
Context & Ripple Effects
When Randall Stephenson put a Q4 date on DirecTV Now, AT&T was answering the cord-cutting threat with its own over-the-top product rather than defending the satellite bundle. The follow-on coverage shows how the pitch landed: the service debuted Nov. 30 starting at $35/month, though the entry tier shipped with 60+ channels rather than the 100+ promised here, scaling to $70 for 120+.
Two threads matter for what came after. First, AT&T tied the service to its wireless business, with the November debut including unlimited mobile data for TV viewing — making DirecTV Now as much a subscriber-retention tool for the network as a standalone video play. Second, the launch was visibly incomplete: cloud DVR and parental controls only arrived in fall 2017, a year after launch.
First-order effects
- Cord-cutters get a live-TV bundle priced at $35/month at launch — undercutting traditional pay-TV packages — while AT&T gains a hook to sell wireless data alongside video.
Second-order effects
- The missing features forced a rapid patch cycle: AT&T had to add cloud DVR and parental controls within a year, and by early 2018 it was already promising a next-gen version plus a voice-controlled client spanning other OTT services.
Third-order effects
- The pattern of serial relaunches — DirecTV Now, then a piloted successor branded AT&T TV — points to telco video strategy as perpetual beta: carriers chasing streaming economics keep rebuilding the product rather than defending legacy distribution.
The trend: Carrier video is migrating from satellite and cable bundles to repeatedly relaunched OTT services, with wireless-data bundling as the differentiator.