AT&T Blames Subscriber 'Volume' For DirecTV Now Issues AT&T executives are blaming heavy usage for the ongoing technical issues plaguing their DirecTV Now streaming video service. The service has suffered from numerous widespread outages, several instances where content was accidentally blacked out, and issues with users falsely being told they exceeded the service's two-stream limit. This week, issues bubbled up regarding the programming guide not working and HD content being downgraded to between 360p and 520p.

While users have complained that the service is a glorified beta they have to pay for, in a paywalled report over at The Information , Tony Goncalves, senior VP of strategy and business development for AT&T Entertainment Group, insists that explosive user growth is the only issue AT&T has. "We saw more activity in one day than most (streaming video services) see in a lifetime," said the executive. "This is the first live TV experience at scale,” he claimed. “What happened with DirecTV Now was pure volume, to be quite honest," he continued. "It’s live television at scale and we had more customers in the early days than some of these services got in a year." As for the ongoing problems, Goncalves claims that "we are seeing some material improvements in the stability of the platform." The problem, however, is the lingering question about whether AT&T should have launched this initial service as a beta to work out the kinks, instead of having users pay to access an unfinished product. "You can’t come out to the market and make a such a big declaration about how the service is going to be, use words like quality, talk about how it’s a game changer, and how it’s going to revolutionize video," streaming video industry analyst Dan Rayburn "You can’t come out to the market and make a such a big declaration about how the service is going to be, use words like quality, talk about how it’s a game changer, and how it’s going to revolutionize video," streaming video industry analyst Dan Rayburn tells Fierce Cable . "If you came to market and said this is beta, you can set expectations properly."







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Most recommended from 24 comments



Packeteers

Premium Member

join:2005-06-18

Forest Hills, NY 1 edit 12 recommendations Packeteers Premium Member 3 months you're out

got it included with their paid streaming boxes - do not renew.



"problem" solved at&t will lose a ton of subs in april when the 3 month subs whogot it included with their paid streaming boxes - do not renew."problem" solved grabacon9

join:2013-08-21

Spencer, IN 8 recommendations grabacon9 Member It's never our fault It's our customers fault. CyberGuy

join:2006-08-21

Colbert, WA 5 recommendations CyberGuy Member Customer satisfaction numbers Must've been using Verizon's Go90 subscription numbers as a template.

SuperSpy

join:2012-06-15

Coldwater, MI 4 recommendations SuperSpy Member Bloo Bloo "Waah Waah our customers are using the service they paid for." brad152

join:2006-07-27

Chicago, IL ·AT&T U-Verse

·WOW Internet and..

3 recommendations brad152 Member It IS a beta.. but i'm OK with that This certainly is a beta, and i'm definitely OK with that.



This is the FIRST time a provider (well other than PS Vue) was able to package a fairly decent channel lineup, along with a cable-ish interface for the "first time" cord cutters.. or like me It simply includes the cable channels i need along with the flexibility of being all IP (I work for an airline, so being able to do my things "on the go" are important)



Sure, it's had hiccups, but other than the first few weeks it's been fairly sold.



Usually anything at&t touches, i will not use but this product works well, and at a great price (i got in on the intro $35/mo promo)



So yeah, in short... This is the first time this has been done on this scale (From what i've read, it has more than PS Vue) and hiccups ARE going to happen.



I for one, and willing to wait it out and just enjoy as the system/product matures into a full cable replacement.

davidc502

join:2002-03-06

Mount Juliet, TN 3 recommendations davidc502 Member It's kinda sad isn't it? It's kinda sad to have a ISP as big as at&t not have the bandwidth they need to provide a service.



I'm a wireless at&t subscriber and rarely get speeds above 3mbs, in the Nashville and Mount Juliet areas. Between the two, this really tells me something....

Looking to peel off 4 phones to T-Mobile, but need to pay 2 off first before I can make the move. Sorry, a bit of a tangent there....