The Pros & Cons of AT&T's New Streaming Service AT&T yesterday finally unveiled its new DirecTV Now streaming video service, which will formally launch tomorrow, November 30. As we noted yesterday, pricing for the service begins at $35 per month for 60 different channels, up to $70 per month for more than 120 channels. Digging through comments here in our forums and over at the cordcutters subreddit, opinions are mixed on whether AT&T has built an incredible new streaming competitor, or just another service that's going to get lost in the growing wave of over the top streaming alternatives set to arrive in 2017.

Let's break down the good and bad of AT&T's shiny new offering. On the negative side: • No CBS: AT&T says CBS and Showtime content won't be available at launch, but the company continues to work on a deal with CBS. CBS likely is playing hard to get because it doesn't want the added competition for its own CBS All Access streaming service. • No DVR: Like Sling, AT&T's DirecTV Now won't come with DVR functionality at launch, though again, AT&T says it's working on offering such a service sometime in the new year. • No NFL Sunday Ticket: Despite AT&T owning DirecTV and the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, customers will still need to sign up for traditional DirecTV or AT&T IPTV service to access the content -- though they may also be able to sign up for streaming games if they can't gain access to these services. This is one of several ways (DVR, 4K content) AT&T will still try to upsell users to traditional DirecTV if they want the "full TV experience," muting the appeal of its OTT option. • Two stream limit: AT&T is limiting concurrent streams to just two, frustrating customers with multiple kids in the house. Again, this appears to be an attempt to force users to upgrade to traditional TV if they want the "full experience," something that's likely going to be a consistent theme with the offering as AT&T tries to avoid cannibalizing existing TV customers. • Limited device support: At launch the service won't be available on Roku (currently the largest market share for streaming devices) and Android TV devices, though hopefully this improves over time. On the positive side: • $5 HBO: The biggest perk of DirecTV Now has to be the $5 price point for HBO, something AT&T apparently believes makes sense now that it will soon own HBO parent company HBO. The $5 price point is the best in the business. • Zero Rating: Unlike competitors, AT&T's new service won't count against your usage caps if you're an AT&T wireless subscriber. Though this may be a negative if you don't like the way this violates net neutrality and gives AT&T's own content an unfair leg up in the market. • Transparent pricing: AT&T is promising to keep DirecTV Now pricing simple and straightforward with no hidden fees or other surcharges. This being AT&T, we'll need to see if AT&T follows through on this promise once the service launches later this week (and over the coming months). Should you jump in? If you absolutely need a DVR service and find watching live TV archaic, most users will likely want to either stick with Playstation Vue, though again it's worth noting that most of DirecTV Now's shortcomings may be resolved in time. Many users also note that with no NFL Network or CBS, many NFL fans may also be better off sticking with Sony's service. That said, with no contracts users can certainly give AT&T's new service a spin, then jump ship down the road to try upcoming live TV efforts from the likes of Apple, Hulu, YouTube, and Amazon. And while it's fantastic that this surge in competitors is waiting in the wings, we're a little nervous that AT&T's use of zero rating to give itself an unfair advantage will prevent the company from having to truly compete and keep pace in the space in terms of pricing and features. AT&T's initial presentation can be watched in full AT&T's initial presentation can be watched in full here . Let us know what you like or don't like about AT&T's new effort in the comment section below.







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Most recommended from 127 comments



NAM

Premium Member

join:2004-09-09

West Grove, PA 19 recommendations NAM Premium Member No Roku? DOA, who launches a streaming service without Roku support? What a joke. DnEtDe6c

join:2007-02-02

Athens, GA 10 recommendations DnEtDe6c Member It's more like a "soft launch" Excluding tens of millions of Roku and Android TV customers had to have been a deliberate decision to keep the number of customers down at first while they work out the kinks, don't you think? It can't be that hard to develop for those platforms.



I might have been tempted to go for their introductory offer of $35 for 100 channels, but no Roku = no sale for me.

telcodad

MVM

join:2011-09-16

Lincroft, NJ 4 recommendations telcodad MVM DirecTV Now channel lineup lists FYI - Here's the listings of the channels included in each package, obtained from the 9to5 MAC site » 9to5mac.com/2016/11/28/a ··· details/

davidc502

join:2002-03-06

Mount Juliet, TN 3 recommendations davidc502 Member linear tv is out Essentially, if it's only linear TV, I wouldn't be interested. I guess I'm spoiled with the Netflix/Amazon on-demand format.



I hate the idea of having to watch a show at a specific time without interruption.

SHSPVR

join:2003-12-15

Vinita, OK 2 recommendations SHSPVR Member I pass more Con's then Pro's So petty much this = FAILED with Two stream limit and DVR support