In late October, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson announced DirecTV Now, a cable streaming service to compete with the likes of Dish Network’s Sling TV and Sony’s PlayStation Vue. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, these services allow you to watch live TV over the Internet. It typically costs much less than traditional cable services (between $35-50) although not nearly the amount of channels as traditional cable/satellite. However, for people looking to “cut the cord” and save money, streaming cable provides a good value depending on the channels you’re looking for. It’s also much easier to cancel as you don’t normally have to go through retention and sales people.
DirecTV Now officially launched November 30th with a promotional rate of 100 channels for $35. The promotion will eventually end but AT&T has said that those who sign up for the initial $35 rate will be able to keep that indefinitely. Aside from that, DirecTV Now comes in four different tiers:
- Live a Little – $35 for 60+ channels
- Just Right – $50 for 80+ channels
- Go Big – $60 for 100+ channels ($35 initially)
- Gotta Have It – $70 for 120+ channels
Most of the popular channels like Disney, Nickelodeon, AMC, FX, AMC, CNN, Fox News, and ESPN are here. Premium channels such as HBO and Cinemax are available for an extra $5/month each. Local channels are tricky. Technically, ABC, Fox, and NBC are included but actual live broadcasts depend on if the network controls the local station and your area. CBS isn’t included at all on DirecTV Now (nor on any of the other streaming services).
Some of the major caveats to DirecTV Now include the lack of any DVR/time shifting options. Pausing is limited to only a few seconds before it goes back to live TV. According to Ars Technica, AT&T stated that “DVR and pause capability is coming in the future, likely next year”. Also, although you’re able to stream DirecTV Now on a variety of devices including Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Chromecast, and smartphones (Roku support is coming in 2017); only two devices can stream simultaneously using the same account. In contrast, PlayStation Vue allows up to 5 devices to stream at the same time on the same account. Finally, for all of the football fans, despite DirecTV having exclusive rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, that’s only available to the DirecTV satellite TV service. Sports broadcasts in local markets are also subject to blackout rules. On the upside, customers can expect live TV up to 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second.
Overall, this seems to be a competitive entry into the growing streaming cable market. The initial offering of 100+ channels for $35 should be very enticing to interested customers although the lack of DVR and multiple simultaneous streams will be deal breakers to many. PlayStation Vue recently dropped all of the Viacom channels (Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, Comedy Central…etc) due to a dispute with Viacom so that’s something to take into consideration. CNET recently did an excellent comparison between the streaming cable services. Regardless, if you’re looking to cut the cord and save money, DirecTV Now deserves a look.
