AT&T is putting its AT&T TV Now streaming TV service out to pasture and going all-in on its AT&T TV service instead. This doesn’t really affect existing subscribers, but new subscribers will be forced to purchase a higher-priced service.
AT&T has thrown in the towel in trying to compete for cord-cutters looking for a cheap TV bundle — an unsurprising move as the telco tries to shore up its struggling pay-TV business.
In an update on its website this week, the telco said it is no longer selling AT&T TV Now to new customers. “AT&T TV Now has merged with AT&T TV to bring you the best live and on-demand experience!” a message on the telco’s site says. The AT&T TV broadband-delivered product, introduced last spring, is priced and packaged more like traditional cable and satellite TV and is designed as a replacement for the steadily declining DirecTV satellite service.
The phasing out of AT&T TV Now comes after years of shifting strategies and a confusing mélange of marketing messaging. AT&T first launched the skinny-bundle service in December 2016, originally called DirecTV Now, stuffed with 100-plus channels for an eye-popping intro price of $35 per month. But the attempt to win cord-cutters backfired, as AT&T hiked the prices of the over-the-top package and the early adopters dropped the package in droves.
A company rep said existing AT&T TV Now customers will continue to have access to the old lineup of channels for the same monthly price “and will not experience any disruptions as part of this change.”
AT&T TV Now most recently was priced started at $55/month for 45-plus channels, and a tier including HBO Max started at $80/month with more than 60 channels.
MacDailyNews Take: If AT&T can’t make it confusing (and more expensive), nobody can!
AT&T. It’s my favorite phone company because I like life to be expensive and confusing – just like my art. Bum steers – my other favorite!
For what it is worth, after 35+ years of cable, we (physically) moved and chose ATT TV at our new house over other cable or streaming options. We are very pleased with the content selection and availability across every device. It may be more expensive than some others but it is still 1/3rd of the price of our previous cable provider.