DirecTV Now (streaming service)

[Isgrimnur]

Billboard

AT&T, which has agreed to acquire Time Warner for $85.4 billion, and its satellite TV arm DirecTV on Monday unveiled pricing and bundling details of the much-anticipated DirecTV Now and other streaming video offers that the telecom giants hopes will appeal to Americans as their TV viewing behavior continues to evolve.
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The services, which were demoed on Monday afternoon in midtown Manhattan, will launch imminently, giving AT&T, the largest U.S. pay TV company with more than 25 million subscribers, a head start over such competitors as online video joint venture Hulu, which is planning a 2017 launch for its own live streaming service. Alphabet/Google and Apple are also believed to have been working on possible over-the-top video services.
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The new service that is getting most attention is DirecTV Now, which will launch later this month, with monthly prices starting at $35 for up to more than 100 live streamed TV networks, as AT&T had previously announced. DirecTV Now also offers premium add-on options.

That makes it closer to the DirecTV satellite TV service than more typical 25-channel or so skinny bundles like Dish Network's Sling TV. People at AT&T and working with the company say the telecom giant’s message has been that the appeal of skinny bundles is limited, something content company CEOs also have been saying.

All major entertainment giants, except for CBS Corp., have in recent months unveiled deals to be included in DirecTV Now -- from Walt Disney to Time Warner's Turner and HBO, NBCUniversal, Viacom to AMC Networks, Discovery Communications and, most recently, 21st Century Fox. AT&T executives said the goal was of providing the best of live and on-demand TV.

Before Monday, no specific date had been set. AT&T on Monday said DirecTV Now will be available starting on Wednesday and also detailed the specific networks that will be included in its various streaming services. Latest expectations ahead of Monday's launch event were that the $35 per-month DirecTV Now service would include live local streams of ABC and NBC in select markets.

AT&T unveiled the following packages and prices for DirecTV Now: Live a Little for $35 per month with 60-plus channels, Just Right for $50 a month for 80-plus channels, Go Big for $60 for 100-plus channels and Gotta Have It for $70 per month for 120-plus channels. "Fans of HBO and Cinemax can add these channels for just $5 each per month in addition to your base programming package," the company said.

[gilraen]

But how is this any significant savings over any regular DirecTV or cable package offerings? Maybe the $35 is a few bucks cheaper than a basic conventional package, but other than that, I don't see a benefit.

[Isgrimnur]

They already have you. They're after the rest of us. And if they can give local sports to Jeff...

[Captain Caveman]

Sling TV has worked well enough for my needs, and it costs me just $20 a month. It has fewer channels than what Direct TV will be offering, but it has all the channels I'm interested in.

[gilraen]

They already have you. They're after the rest of us. And if they can give local sports to Jeff...

Well, I have Comcast, so they don't technically have me. But when my contract expires, I could potentially be looking at a streaming deal (and many people are), except with this pricing, it's not worth the hassle.

[Isgrimnur]

If it has no contract, no installation or hardware fees, even the exact pricing would be better than signing up for the dish service. Of course, there's probably no DVR service.

[stessier]

There's definitely no DVR service. That's my knock against all the streaming services. My viewing has changed so that sports is the only thing I watch live. I'm both surprised and not surprised that no one has come up with an option including recording.

[tru1cy]

They already have you. They're after the rest of us. And if they can give local sports to Jeff...

Well, I have Comcast, so they don't technically have me. But when my contract expires, I could potentially be looking at a streaming deal (and many people are), except with this pricing, it's not worth the hassle.

Is Comcast your only provider? it is in my area and when I just wanted to use them for internet services the price for the amount of bandwidth I would need was almost the same that I am paying now.

[EvilHomer3k]

There's definitely no DVR service. That's my knock against all the streaming services. My viewing has changed so that sports is the only thing I watch live. I'm both surprised and not surprised that no one has come up with an option including recording.

Playstation Vue has a cloud-based dvr (though you only get 4 weeks to watch). SlingTV is adding a DVR service as well (goes beta on Nov 28).

[stessier]

I will have to re-evaluate the options then. I tried it back in September for Charter's system and Sling (didn't know about Vue) and neither of those had it then.

[EvilHomer3k]

Vue seems to be the best option if you like sports. I haven't tried it, yet, but it's on my list to do so. Many people believe you need a playstation which is no longer true. You might even be able to get local channels.

[Isgrimnur]

Zero rating

Last night AT&T made a dim prophecy official by announcing that its new DirecTV Now streaming service would be zero rated: it won’t count against its customers’ data caps. Zero rating isn’t new — T-Mobile has been writing the manual on how to get away with it — but now it’s finally happening at a scale that matters. And AT&T’s version is much worse than T-Mobile’s.
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AT&T’s zero rating model is pretty much the nightmare scenario that internet advocates and pro-competition observers have been warning us about. That’s because AT&T owns DirecTV, and is now giving DirecTV Now privileged access to AT&T’s wireless internet customers. The corruption is so obvious here that it doesn’t need a fancy net neutrality metaphor — AT&T is clearly favoring a company it now owns over competitors.

And that’s just the beginning of where AT&T is screwing us. The company stands to reap massive tolls on the other end of that “most favored nation” deal with DirecTV, because it also offers something called “sponsored data” to other companies that want the same kind of privileged access to AT&T customers. So, for example, if Netflix wants to compete fairly with DirecTV, it would need to pay AT&T to exempt its video traffic from data caps.
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This is what ISPs really want the internet to look like: a bundle of premium services that run up the cost of access to their networks. It’s the same game internet companies have been playing from the beginning, when they got the government to classify them as “information services” instead of “telecommunications services” — the ISPs really don’t want to be “dumb pipes,” because there’s less money to be made when you just give people high-quality internet with no restrictions. So AT&T and Verizon are now trying to be video content companies in addition to wireless internet providers.
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The FCC has already warned AT&T about providing free data to its customers for DirecTV video streams, and it’s possible that the agency could finally crack down on zero rating before it corrupts the entire internet service industry. But that possibility may be vanishing as the incoming Trump administration looms over FCC policy. Republicans have been trying to gut the FCC for nearly a decade, and between Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress there’s probably enough support to dismantle net neutrality policy, if not the agency itself. If that happens, zero rating and sponsored data schemes could become completely monstrous.

[Jeff V]

They already have you. They're after the rest of us. And if they can give local sports to Jeff...

I thought Sling would provide that, but sadly no. FS1 and FS2 are now all UFC, all the time, and NBCSN apparently no longer carries Blackhawks games. It's even worse than when Bill Wirtz was alive. I saw one Bulls game on TNT, that's it for local sports.

The ONLY purpose it is serving is live Fox for NFL Sundays. I'm going to save $25 per month come January.

[Isgrimnur]

For the Blackhawks, check the WGN schedules:

The Blackhawks’ ninth consecutive season on WGN-TV launches on Saturday, Oct. 15, when the team hosts the Nashville Predators at the United Center at 7:30 p.m. Chicago makes 20 appearances on the station, which was also its home from 1961 to 1975.

The rest are, of course, Comcast (51) and NBC/NBCSN (11).

[Captain Caveman]

I will have to re-evaluate the options then. I tried it back in September for Charter's system and Sling (didn't know about Vue) and neither of those had it then.

Sling is adding some cloud DVR support to stay competitive:

link

[Jeff V]

For the Blackhawks, check the WGN schedules:

The Blackhawks’ ninth consecutive season on WGN-TV launches on Saturday, Oct. 15, when the team hosts the Nashville Predators at the United Center at 7:30 p.m. Chicago makes 20 appearances on the station, which was also its home from 1961 to 1975.

The rest are, of course, Comcast (51) and NBC/NBCSN (11).

Sling doesn't have WGN, and as I mentioned, NBCSN doesn't carry them at all via Sling, it's always something else or another team. So it's not a very useful alternative for local sports; I'm still looking for such a thing.

With the Comcast streaming package I do have, I could watch WGN if I want to watch it on a severely letterboxed, low-def image when Chromecasted from the Xfinity website. Only NBC seems to support live, high-def feeds that can be Chromecasted. The other networks either don't support Chromecast, or don't have a live feed. The Xfinity TV app doesn't support Chromecast at all, either.

[Isgrimnur]

[EvilHomer3k]

PS Vue no longer has Viacom. The only one I'm interested in is Comedy Central but it's one we watch somewhat regularly (Tosh.O, Southpark, some of the specials). If DirecTV has those it may be worthwhile for us. Also, getting HBO for $5 a month is very tempting (though it's probably a promotional offer because it's DirecTV).

[stessier]

FWIW, HBO was free with the Charter streaming offer. The offer had no expiration date (it wasn't a one year deal or anything) and I could cancel at any time. Would have been worth it had they had a free DVR service.

[Jeff V]

I get HBO free with the Comcast streaming as well. Unfortunately, the Android app doesn't always work and the Fire app randomly drops the connection.

[Xmann]

If I could get local sports, I'd dump and get sling or Vue.

But Denver local pro teams (Nuggets, Rockies, Avs) play on the local cable station and that's the only way I can watch them regularly. No streaming service.

If I could stream that station, I'd save tons of money.

[Isgrimnur]

ars

AT&T's DirecTV Now online streaming service goes live tomorrow, and the best pricing will only be available for a limited time. That's a problem, because the service is missing key features at launch and it's not clear when they'll arrive.

The biggest technical limitations might be the lack of recording functionality and the inability to pause live TV for more than a few seconds. DirecTV Now won't have DVR functionality until sometime next year, according to several news reports. If DVR launches in January or February, then it isn't such a huge deal, but if the functionality only comes late in 2017 that would dramatically reduce the value proposition for customers who sign up right away to lock in the most favorable pricing.

It's not even definite that DVR functionality will come to DirecTV Now in 2017. When contacted by Ars today, the company said that "DVR and pause capability is coming in the future, likely next year." (For customers' sake, we hope "likely next year" doesn't turn into "2018.")

AT&T tells us that customers can pause live TV, but only for five or 10 seconds. After that, when customers hit play they will return to the live portion of the stream. You can pause video on demand.

Another limit that might concern families is that DirecTV Now only allows two concurrent streams per account. An additional subscription is needed for more than two simultaneous streams.
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A few weeks before the launch, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson boasted that DirecTV Now would offer 100 channels for $35 a month, including "all the premium" content consumers want. But as we reported yesterday, that offer will be available only for a limited time after the launch. The 100-channel package will cost $60 a month after that, while $35 will provide 60 channels and lack regional sports networks and other channels.

AT&T refuses to say how long the special pricing will be available and when exactly key features will be added, making it hard to decide whether it's better to wait for the service to add advanced functionality. There are no annual contracts, but customers would lose their special pricing if they cancel and sign up again later.
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While DirecTV Now's lack of DVR functionality is disappointing, "Certain stations will have a 72-hour window of available content where you’ll be able to quickly jump back to anything that aired during the previous few days," and there will be an on-demand video library, Consumerist wrote.
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AT&T said that regional sports networks will only be available "in select markets," limiting the service's appeal to fans of local sports teams. DirecTV Now will be available only in the US.

While DirecTV Now will show some NFL games, it doesn't provide any option to add the NFL Sunday Ticket package that offers every live out-of-market game on Sundays, even though AT&T's DirecTV subsidiary has exclusive rights to carry it. Generally, Sunday Ticket can only be purchased if you have DirecTV satellite service, with exceptions made for homes, apartments, and college dorms where DirecTV satellite dishes can't be installed. When contacted by Ars, AT&T did not comment on whether Sunday Ticket will come to DirecTV Now in the future.

[naednek]

now that's one efficient spam post