AT&T To Launch New DirecTV Premium Streaming TV Service Later This Year

What’s interesting about this new service is that it will provide all of the channels and perks of the full-fledged DirecTV satellite service, but will be much more affordable for customers. “Rather than $110 to $200, it’s going to be in that $80 to $90 area because the cost structure comes way down,” said AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Broker Conference. 

Stephenson explains that AT&T can offer much lower pricing to customers due to cutting out higher costs associated with satellite service on its end. “Think about our traditional DirecTV product at a much lower cost point, meaning you don’t have satellites on roofs,” Stephenson added. “To provision this, the only truck roll required is going to be a UPS truck to deliver a very thin piece of hardware that you plug into your TV and your broadband outlet.”

According to Stephenson, subscriber acquisition costs will be one-fourth that of what it is witnessing right now with DirecTV satellite service.

In addition, it was also reiterated that the AT&T Watch streaming TV service will launch pending approval of the merger with Time Warner. This will be a low-cost service priced at around $15 per month (free for AT&T wireless subscribers). AT&T will be able to hit this price point because it is a “very skinny bundle” says Stephenson, and it won’t include sports programming or local channels.

If all goes according to plan, AT&T will have its bases covered with streaming packages, starting with the AT&T Watch at the low-end, DirecTV Now covering the $35 to $75 bracket, and the new DirecTV streaming service sitting above that.