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. [More]
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‘DirecTV Now’ Streaming Service Will Launch Nov. 30; Starting At $35 For 60 Channels
By 11.28.16 — Updated: 11.29.16
FCC Has “Serious Concerns” About AT&T Exempting DirecTV Video From Mobile Data Caps
By 11.11.16
In September, AT&T announced that it would not charge streaming DirecTV content against wireless customers’ monthly data caps. It’s a controversial practice known as “zero-rating” that some believe has anticompetitive effects, especially when the content company is owned by the wireless provider. It’s an issue the FCC has not yet ruled on definitively, but one that the Commission says may be cause for concern. [More]
Report: ‘DirecTV Now’ Will Give Away Free Streaming Devices; Has Restrictions On ESPN, NBC
By 11.7.16
AT&T has been teasing its live-TV streaming DirecTV Now service for months, but aside from some vague pricing information recently mentioned by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, there has been very little in terms of concrete details. However, some new apparently leaked documents may give some indication of what to expect. [More]
DOJ Sues DirecTV Over Blackout Of SportsNet LA
By 11.2.16
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against DirecTV, alleging that the nation’s largest satellite TV provider illegally shared non-public information with other pay-TV companies about their negotiations to carry SportsNet LA, the only cable channel in Los Angeles to air most Dodgers games. [More]
AT&T CEO: DirecTV Now Streaming Service Will Cost $35/Month, Launch Next Month
By 10.25.16
We’ve been waiting nearly eight full months for AT&T to announce details on its “DirecTV Now” standalone streaming platform, and today the company’s CEO has finally revealed some of the most important information. [More]
AT&T, Time Warner Stock Prices Fall Slightly Amid Merger Skepticism
By 10.24.16
Before the $85 billion merger of AT&T and Time Warner was official, it was already being decried by people in both presidential campaigns, consumer advocates, lawmakers, and former regulators. Amid this backlash to the news, both companies’ values have taken a bit of a ding today. [More]
Reports: Possible AT&T/Time Warner Merger Valued At $85 Billion
By 10.21.16 — Updated: 10.22.16
This morning, the world woke to find out that AT&T and Time Warner were getting cozy and maybe thinking about moving in together. Now comes news that talks have heated up and that a nearly $90 billion deal could be in the offing. [More]
Report: AT&T Can’t Let Verizon Or Comcast Have All The Fun, Hopes To Branch Into Media
By 10.5.16
Competition for a single consumer who wants to buy pay-TV or broadband is usually nonexistent, but the world of media and TV overall is super active and cutthroat. Everyone wants a slice of your time — and money — for their media service… and the rumor mill says that’s soon going to include AT&T as well. [More]
Could New DirecTV Streaming Service Be A Replacement For Satellite TV?
By 9.26.16
We’ve known for a while that AT&T plans to launch an online-only version of DirecTV in the coming months, but even though it shares the same brand name as the nation’s biggest satellite-TV provider, it is not being marketed as a replacement for satellite. However, a recent report claims that AT&T’s long-term goal is to eventually migrate the entire DirecTV customer base online. [More]
Ad Watchdog Warns Comcast & Dish To Use Caution When Dissing DirecTV
By 9.22.16
Pay-TV services might need to be a bit more careful when it comes to the messages they put out into the universe following an ad watchdog’s suggestion that Comcast and Dish revise some of the claims made against competitors in national ads.
AT&T CEO Says DirecTV Standalone Streaming Service Will Launch By End Of 2016
By 9.21.16
Six months ago, AT&T announced it would launch DirecTV Now, a standalone streaming service to compete with PlayStation Vue and Dish’s Sling TV. Aside from a handful of content partnership announcements, details about DirecTV Now continue to be scarce, but at least we have a timeframe for its launch. [More]
AT&T Exempts AT&T-Owned DirecTV App From Mobile Data Caps
By 9.7.16
DirecTV and AT&T joined up and moved in together just over a year ago. The merged company started launching meager combo offerings soon after, but it’s taken it a while to warm up into the main event. Now, it seems, we’re getting there, because AT&T is about to start taking advantage of its 141 million North American wireless customers when it comes to expanding DirecTV. [More]
Your Cable Company Will Probably Give You Free HBO For A Few Months, But Good Luck Getting The “New Customer” Rate
By 8.15.16
For years, we here at Consumerist HQ have heard anecdotal claims that negotiating for a better rate from your cable provider is no longer as simple as it used to be. The discounts weren’t as deep, people would say, the offers were on the weak side, and in the wake of bad PR, companies have seemed more willing to call customers’ bluff and let them cancel service painlessly. Of course, anecdotes do not equal data, so we wanted to know: is this actually a thing? [More]
AT&T Tweaks Uverse Data Caps (Again), Will Still Charge You $30 For Unlimited Data
By 7.29.16
If it seems like this is the season when every ISP out there is messing with its data caps, well, that’s because it is. Up today: AT&T, with its second shift in data cap policy in the last six months. [More]
Listen To A U.S. Senator Try To Get Bogus $8 “Protection” Fee Removed From Cable Bill
By 6.23.16
You’d think that being the senior U.S. Senator from Missouri would help Claire McCaskill get better service from her cable company, but you’d be wrong. As this recording demonstrates, the legislator has just as much trouble as the rest of us trying to get anything resembling decent service from her pay-TV provider. [More]
Chris Thomas From DirecTV Moved To AT&T, Still Sends Ads Disguised As Greeting Cards
By 6.6.16
Have you received a card from your favorite cousin Chris Thomas lately? All humans are cousins if you go back far enough, after all, and Chris is the public face of DirecTV convincing customers to open mail by disguising it as a greeting card, or some kind of personal mail that you’d actually want to open. [More]
AT&T Starting Customer Reward Program With Discounted Movie Tickets, “Tailored Offers”
By 6.2.16
There’s only so much room for a company as large as AT&T to grow its businesses. Pretty much everyone in the country has a cell phone already, so the only way to attract new customers there is to keep poaching customers from Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Meanwhile, over in TV-land, DirecTV is huge but cord-cutters are legion. So what’s a giant corporation to do? Give customers presents, of course. [More]
AT&T Working To Put DirecTV In Your Car
By 5.26.16
Parents who count on TV shows, movies, and cartoon to keep the peace between their children in the backseat during road trips could soon be getting a helping hand from AT&T. With the company’s recent acquisition of DirecTV, it plans to include the television service to connected vehicles using its cellular network. [More]
