AT&T Will Soon Launch A $15 Skinny Bundle Streaming TV Service
While testifying in court yesterday during the trial, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson revealed that his company will launch new "skinny bundle" streaming TV service in the coming weeks. The service, called AT&T Watch, would be priced at a low $15 per month. That price is quite attractive -- depending on the number and quality of channels offered -- undercutting even the budget-oriented Philo streaming TV service.
To reach this price point, AT&T won't bundle in any sports channels, however, it will be provided for free to all AT&T wireless subscribers which is a nice touch.
AT&T also has another skinny bundle service with DirecTV Now, although it starts at a much higher price of $35 per month for 60+ channels (and tops out at $70 per month for 120+ channels). Given the lower pricing of AT&T Watch, we expect it to have far fewer channels, probably putting in closer in line with Sling TV's basic "Orange" service which costs $19.99 per month and gives you access to over 25 channels including ESPN.
Stephenson brought up AT&T Watch as a sort of savory treat for its $85 billion merger with Time Warner. The DOJ has attacked AT&T for continually raising priced on its DirecTV satellite TV service and is concerned that those increases will only continue if the merger is approved. The DOJ also alleges that AT&T-Time Warner would in turn demand higher prices for Turner content (a la CNN, TBS) from its competition, with the end-user taking the brunt of those costs in the form of higher monthly bills.
