After several months of teases and rumors, AT&T has finally unveiled their upcoming DirecTV Now streaming service during an event in New York City. This only the newest service to hit an ever-increasing market of streaming services available already, which seem to herald the end of traditional cable TV.
DirecTV Now will launch Wednesday, November 30th in the US as it hopes to compete with other similar services like Sony PlayStation Vue or Dish’s Sling TV. To appeal to as many customers as possible, AT&T is offering several special promotions available at the start of the service. First, it will offer its second largest package of channels at the starting price of $35 despite being $60 as standard.
Additionally, an entire year of DirecTV Now will be included with the purchase of select 2016 LeEco TVs, besides the seven-day free trial offered by AT&T to new customers. To sweeten the pot, even more, AT&T is also offering a very appealing hardware giveaway. Anyone who will prepay for three months now will receive an Apple TV, or an Amazon Fire TV for if you only prepay a month in advance.
The service will be available on various platforms such as Chromecast, PC/Mac, Android, iOS at launch. Roku TV compatibility will only arrive later in the year. It will offer four subscription options starting at $35 for 60 channels, $50 for 80 channels, 60$ for 100 and finally, the best option they have is $70 for over 120 channels. The 100 channels for $35 will only be available for a limited time but it will remain valid each month until you decide to cancel the service.
AT&T has signed agreements with a large majority of networks in the US, except Showtime and CBS, with which negotiations are still ongoing. Unfortunately, Cinemax and HBO are not included in the standard price of any package and you’ll have to pay an additional $5 each month to access them.
Although its current sign-up promotion makes DirecTV Now considerably cheaper, it only allows two simultaneous streams and does not offer any cloud DVR functionality, unlike PlayStation Vue. However, AT&T has stated they will be releasing the feature sometime next year.
Are you going to subscribe to the DirecTV Now streaming service?
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