Newsletter
The AT&T TV NOW change has now taken place. AT&T TV NOW has officially taken over from DIRECTV NOW.
Last month AT&T confirmed AT&T TV NOW would be the new name for DIRECTV NOW. At the time it was unclear when the change would take effect at the consumer level. That is now what has changed today.
New and existing users heading to the DIRECTV NOW website will now see the AT&T TV NOW change in full effect. Those looking to download the Android app will also see the change has taken effect there as well.
App changes more than the website
Point to note about the Android app. While AT&T TV NOW is the name of the service in general, the app has seen a slightly different rebrand. “AT&T TV” is the new name of the app.
The company’s upcoming AT&T TV service is likely to be one of the reasons for this. AT&T TV will look to offer a more robust selection of content compared to the “NOW’ service. AT&T TV will be a streaming version of the DIRECTV satellite service.
Unlike the DIRECTV NOW change that’s now in effect, the normal DIRECTV service remains branded as DIRECTV.
App users may find this a little confusing at first. As they will be downloading an app named after a service they are not subscribed to. However this is the approach AT&T has opted to go for. AT&T is combining both services within the same app instead of opting for two different apps.
Put simply, subscribers will be able to access their service through the same AT&T TV app. This is regardless of whether they are subscribed to AT&T TV or AT&T TV NOW.
Besides the name-change, nothing else is expected to change. This rebrand is simply a rebrand in name-only with no notable changes to the plans.
AT&T TV NOW change unlikely to change DIRECTV NOW’s fortunes
AT&T only recently overhauled the DIRECTV NOW plans earlier in the year so the lack of changes now should not come as a major surprise. Those plan changes were a lot more significant compared to the name-change. The new-look plans resulted in higher prices for access to fewer channels.
The number of DIRECTV NOW subscribers has decreased rapidly over the past few months. This is likely to be partly the result of those plan changes, and partly the result of an intentional effort by AT&T to shrink its subscriber base.
If that trend continues than it looks like the all-new “AT&T TV NOW” name will start its journey on a downward note.