Newsletter
It now appears that the wait is over for AT&T’s internet-only streaming service, as AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson made it clear today that the service will launch this November, during the discussion of AT&T/Timer Warner acquisition process. Just as it was expected, DIRECTV Now will now enter the market offering prices “radically lower” than competitors and will likely offer full access to all channels for everyone, as mentioned by Stephenson. This strategy will allow the service to combat competition and gain some market share quickly. AT&T acquired DIRECTV last year and the company is expected to stream the DIRECTV service under this brand. DIRECTV Now is targeted at people who dropped their cable subscriptions and are ready to embrace internet-streaming media services or just people who never had cable subscriptions.
When DIRECTV Now launches next month, it will compete directly with other similar services like PlayStation Vue, Sling TV and HBO Now. In another report similar to this, AT&T confirmed that it will acquire Time Warner alongside all of its entertainment assets which include HBO, CNN and Warner Bros. If the deal goes through, AT&T will own HBO Now including other media assets all for $80 billion which sounds mouthwatering anyway, considering the fact that the telecom giant will care less about procuring TV licenses. The deal between AT&T and Timer Warner is still cooking and has not yet been approved but it’s expected to close anytime this week.
AT&T now turns its focus on media investment after a failed attempt to acquire T-Mobile back in 2011 which was opposed by regulators. The acquisition of Time Warner by AT&T, would spark a stiff competition between AT&T and Verizon. HBO (to be property of AT&T) is as a massively popular network, and could prove to be tough competition for Verizon’s offerings, which can be streamed through its Go90 service. It also offers content that it acquired from AOL in that acquisition, and now possibly Yahoo which is expected to close ending this year as well. While AT&T CEO Stephenson only announced that DIRECTV Now will launch next month, it is not known just yet which channels are going to be available, nor is there any details on an exact launch date for the service.