AT&T’s DirecTV Now is going to cost $60 a month starting on January 9. Something that has many users upset, as they claim the quality of the service the company provides is not as good as it should be, citing many instances where the service suffered technical difficulties.
After AT&T released its pay-TV platform that offered 100 channels for $35 a month back in October, they have decided to charge $60 for the same service. This will apply to any new subscriber to the package.
There will also be smaller bundles for $35 and $50 a month as well as the 120-channel package for $70.
AT&T’s CEO could not keep his promise
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson Drew much attention back in October when he offered 100 channels on the streaming platform DirecTV Now for only $35 a month.
The promise was received with skepticism by wall street analysts who immediately sent emails to the company’s investors assuring the offer wouldn’t work.
They claimed that a reasonable profit was not possible by selling a service with so many networks at such a low price. The new increase in the cost of the service appears to confirm they were right.
Right now, a bundle that offers as many as 100 channels can’t get much lower than $60, whether a digital or a cable transmission, even though the company doesn’t need extra personnel to provide the service.
CBS wants to be in the basic bundle
AT&T has also had to weigh the cost of including CBS to core offers. The latter is the most watched channel in DirecTV Now. According to CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, they have held talks with AT&T to get to an agreement about the inclusion of the network to the budget bundle.
On the other hand, DirecTV has had its difficulties, with many glitches and outages that have been reducing the service’s quality. The company published on Twitter that these problems had been quickly fixed.
However, the service went down again just five days after the company repaired it, and according to the users, it stays like that for as long as two days before it’s online again.
This increase is also likely to go against AT&T’s goal of aiming at users looking for a full package of channels instead of those who prefer small bundles.
These customers are more likely to prefer Dish networks or any streaming service that includes Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, which are the largest streaming operators in the U.S
Source: Gazette
