AT&T isn’t messing around with its newest TV streaming service DIRECTV NOW. In response to consumers moving away from traditional media in favor of streaming sites such as YouTube and Netflix, AT&T acquired DIRECTV with the intention of creating a live TV service for cable cutters.
AT&T recently notified its DIRECTV NOW customers that they will be receiving one full year of HBO for free as a way of thanking its early adopters who signed up for DIRECTV back in November. Those same customers most likely are locked into early adopter pricing where they are receiving the Go Big tiered plan with 100 channels for $35, which is now priced at $60 per month. Throw in a free year of HBO, especially with the next season of Game of Thrones on the horizon, and AT&T just might retain its early adopter base for the unforeseeable future.
If you were to subscribe to HBO Now through its app, you’d pay $15 per month which makes DIRECTV Now an incredible value for those who lucked out on the deal. AT&T wireless customers also can stream unlimited video from the service using their cellular connections without affecting their data caps. While the FCC is complaining about AT&T’s unlimited data cap for its streaming service violating net neutrality rules, it certainly isn’t stopping them. It’s also not stopping T-Mobile for offering free music and video streaming as well. Customers simply love their videos.
When DIRECTV NOW launched back in November, I prepaid for three months up front ($105) in order to try out the service while also receiving a free 32GB Apple TV. No contracts or strings attached. With my favorite channels available on DIRECTV NOW – Espn, Discovery, History, Velocity and now HBO – I feel like I got one heck of a deal and cancelled my subscription to Sling TV which was costing me $25 per month with far fewer channels.
Early reviews back in December were pretty harsh on DIRECTV NOW, but in my experience so far, I find the user interface to be very easy to use across all of my devices, Android, iOS or Windows based. I’ve only had issues connecting to shows twice over the past four months, granted I get 100mbps internet speed at home and am always connected to LTE in San Diego. When I was an early adopter of Sling TV, I ran into way more issues on a regular basis with subpar customer service. AT&T has entered the video streaming service at full speed and isn’t looking to slow down anytime soon. The service is well worth a try.
If you’re interested in trying out DIRECTV NOW, head on over to www.directvnow.com and get a seven day free trial to try it out for yourself.