‘DirecTV Now’ Streaming Service Will Launch Nov. 30; Starting At $35 For 60 Channels

After months of teasing the eventual launch of DirecTV Now — a live-TV streaming service that doesn’t require a subscription to cable — AT&T has finally announced the important details of the product that will kick off on Nov. 30 at a price ranging from $35 for around 60 channels to $70 for more than 120 channels.

The service will launch in four different tiers: $35 (dubbed “Live a Little); $50 (80+ channels, “Just Right”); $60 (100+ channels, “Go Big”); and $70 (Gotta Have It). Each tier will allow users to have two simultaneous streams going at any given time.

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At launch, the “Go Big” package will sell for only $35/month. AT&T claims that customers who take advantage of this promotion will be grandfathered in after the price increases. For subscribers willing to commit to multiple months, AT&T will offer free Apple TV streaming devices. A single month prepaid commitment can also get you an Amazon Fire TV streaming stick for plugging into your TV.

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Below is the most detailed channel listing available from DirecTV Now. During our hands-on demo with the service, it became apparent that — contrary to things mentioned during the press conference — some channels are not available live on both mobile and on TV sets. For example, the local NBC affiliate in New York City — owned and operated by the network — is only currently available live on mobile. A company representative later confirmed to Consumerist that when the service launches, all channels will be available on mobile as well as TV.
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That said, the company acknowledged the lack of CBS and Showtime, though AT&T says it is still working on a deal with the networks. Likewise, DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket package will not be included at launch. Again, AT&T says it is working with the league to sort out that issue.

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DirecTV Now also doesn’t offer 4K streaming yet, nor will it offer cloud-based DVR access. Instead, users will have to rely on the on-demand library for missed shows and movies, or for the 72-hour rewind window that will be available on some channels. AT&T repeatedly made the point this afternoon that the service is software based and that this is “just the beginning.”

“People expect choice, flexibility… options,” explained AT&T exec John Stankey at the Monday afternoon press event in Manhattan.

He explained that, with more than half of AT&T customers now buying video content on screens other than their TVs, the company took a mobile-first approach to building the DirecTV Now platform.

“Every piece of content can be used on mobile and in the living room,” said Stankey.

Given that AT&T and DirecTV already have a combined pay-TV audience of more than 25 million in the U.S., why is the company selling a service that is more affordable and portable than its current big-ticket products?

According to Stankey, the notion is to “open up a whole new segment of the market” — meaning cord-cutters, cord-nevers, and people with bad credit who can’t currently get traditional pay-TV service.

The hope is to “establish a relationship using DirecTV Now” and then sell these customers on other AT&T products and services.

“We don’t just want them to have one AT&T product,” said Stankey, “We want them to have two.”

After all, DirecTV Now content won’t count against the mobile allotments of AT&T wireless subscribers. That means mobile viewers without AT&T won’t be seeing that benefit. Stankey deflected a question about this being a possible competitive advantage to AT&T, only noting that wireless plans and promotions seem to change every week.

During the press conference, AT&T mentioned that the increased ability to target advertisers has helped keep cost down, but when pressed by reporters on what data will be collected by AT&T, a company exec would only say that “our ability to personalize is significantly higher than it has been in the past.”

More to come after we get some hands-on with the service after the press conference.

And just for fun, here’s a random picture of Reese Witherspoon shilling for some exclusive thing I didn’t really catch because it didn’t seem terribly important.

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