AT&T plans to use a free Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV Stick to turn consumers weary of sky-high cable bills into DirecTV Now subscribers, documents inadvertently leaked by the company have confirmed. The service, which AT&T confirmed back in October will be priced at just $35 per month, is expected to offer both live and on-demand streaming. With it, the company hopes to get a bite of the growing cord-cutter market.
That group of users – who now blanch at the idea of spending upwards of a hundred dollars per month on potentially thousands of cable TV channels they never get around to watching – are increasingly on the radar for companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. Unlike many of those players, however. AT&T isn’t planning on making its own streaming hardware. Instead, the leak spotted by Variety suggests, it will offer sign-ups a choice of two well-known third-party devices to turn their existing TV into a smart set.
DirecTV Now subscribers who commit to three months of service will get a free Apple TV in return. That seems a pretty good deal for users, given the streaming TV amounts to $105. A brand-new Apple TV is currently priced at $149 for the cheapest, 32 GB model.
Apple computer backup devices. Those unwilling to give AT&T even three months commitment, however, will get one of Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks. That’s priced at $39.99, currently, complete with Amazon’s latest Alexa Voice Remote. It’s unclear at this stage whether AT&T plans to modify either of the devices before shipping them to subscribers, such as preloading the DirecTV Now app or even limiting access to other services each streamer normally has access to.
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- DirecTV Now has also been integrated with Apple's native 'TV' app. That interface makes it easier to keep up with movies and TV shows from different services, mixing everything into one flow.
- Today AT&T started to roll out an update to the DIRECTV NOW app on iOS and the Apple TV. It seems that AT&T is rolling out a significant update not to the user interface but the back end of DIRECTV NOW. For the last few months many DIRECTV NOW users have complained that DIRECTV NOW has been crashing and suffering a long list of bugs.
The Apple TV app can be pretty helpful, as long as you have the right apps. Now DirecTV owners can say they do. Today, AT&T announced that DirecTV Now is officially integrates with the Apple TV app. This should make it even easier to keep tabs on what you’re watching. Multi video editing software, free download. DirecTV Now is the only live streaming service offering an Apple TV unit and service in a bundled offer. Other services, including DirecTV Now, offer Roku devices. DirecTV Now launched in November 2016 using the Apple TV app with an entry-level package price of $35 per month for over 60 channels. Tags: Apple, apple tv, apple tv 4k, AT&T.
Meanwhile indications of what sort of content users can expect from DirecTV Now are also now available. AT&T previously suggested upward of 100 channels would be offered, though exactly what will be included will depend on local markets. Still, there are some top-level names AT&T presumably hopes to use as a lure.
That includes the Food Network, MTV, Nickelodeon, CBS, Bravo, NBC, and Cartoon Network. Further content will be offered in return for more monthly subscriptions. “With DirecTV Now,” the document claims, “you can stream live TV and On Demand programming with several packages to choose from. Premium channels like HBO and Cinemax can be added at any time.”
For on-demand content, there’ll apparently be a 14,000 title strong catalog to sift through. On top of that, many of the networks will supposedly offer catch-up streaming. That will allow shows to be watched within the 72 hours following their original broadcast.
![Apple Apple](https://www.bestappletv.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/apple-tv-app.jpg)
A 7-day trial will be offered, and a free tier. Dubbed DirecTV Freeview, the latter will be supported by advertising and offer only a partial selection of its subscription-based counterparts.
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![Now Now](https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2017/09/mre_006_iphonex-100735507-orig.jpg)
Exactly when DirecTV Now will launch remains to be confirmed, and AT&T could well change the terms of its streamer promotion and its channel line-up in the intervening period. Still, if you’re in the market for a new set-top box and models from either Apple or Amazon have caught your eye, it might be worth holding off to give DirecTV Now a try.
SOURCE Variety
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We don’t know how many times we can write this story and make it sound any different, but here goes….AT&T has extended – again – its offer on a free 32GB version of the Apple TV 4K with a new, three-month prepaid subscription to the live streaming service DirecTV Now. Apple movie maker music.
The offer – which has not yet been updated online to reflect the new expiration date – was confirmed to BESTAppleTV.com by two retail store employees with copies of an internal company memo saying the offer has been extended “through June.”
The promotion effectively reduces the price of the Apple TV and three months of service to $105 plus tax with the $35-a-month plan. At present, Apple sells the same model alone for $179 making this deal about $75 cheaper than the full retail price of the hardware alone.
The reduction in the length of the plan makes it $35 cheaper than the original offer from last year that required a four-month prepaid subscription and was reduced to three months in February.
The streaming service’s original offer was first introduced last November and was timed to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the service’s launch, It was not the first time DirecTV Now has promoted a free Apple TV. It did the same in November 2016 when the service debuted.
DirecTV Now is the only live streaming service offering an Apple TV unit and service in a bundled offer. Other services, including DirecTV Now, offer Roku devices.
DirecTV Now launched in November 2016 using the Apple TV app with an entry-level package price of $35 per month for over 60 channels.