When AT&T TV launched, AT&T said that it would reach nationwide by the end of 2019 Now during AT&T’s 3rd quarter earnings call, AT&T announced that AT&T TV’s national rollout is delayed until 2020. AT&T did not explain why it is delaying the deployment of AT&T TV.

AT&T also announced that in the future, HBO MAX will be how AT&T offers live TV streaming. This lines up with an earlier report that then DIRECTV NOW (now called AT&T TV NOW) will be merging into HBO MAX. AT&T did make it clear that would not happen on day one but did say eventually HBO MAX will be how they offer live TV streaming in 2021.

According to AT&T’s CEO Randall Stephenson, AT&T TV will “ultimately get down to two products,” including HBO MAX. AT&T did not say how AT&T TV NOW will merge into HBO MAX or exactly when that would happen, but it is starting to look like the days of the newly launched AT&T TV NOW are already numbered.

This lines up with what AT&T’s CEO said about the future of then DIRECTV NOW (now called AT&T TV NOW) a few months ago. Here is what AT&T CEO John Stankey said in an interview with CNBC:

“In addition, AT&T eventually plans to merge its DIRECTV NOW service with its WarnerMedia streaming service, giving customers a more robust TV offering than anything on the market, the people said. A combined product with a common search and user interface — which, like the standalone streaming service, could also come bundled at a discount with an AT&T wireless subscription — would give customers access to live pay-TV streaming channels and Warner’s library and originals, all in the same ecosystem.”

If you have AT&T TV NOW this does not mean your service is going away. As best we can tell AT&T still wants profitable streaming customers, but the future of the service is with HBO MAX. This does raise the question of why AT&T rebranded DIRECTV NOW to AT&T TV NOW a few months ago only to announced plans to make HBO MAX the future of live TV streaming.

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