DirecTV Now, AT&T’s over-the-top online streaming cable television alternative is preparing to launch this Friday, Nov. 4, offering selected customers a free 7-day trial followed by a subscription offering more than 100 “premium” basic cable networks for $35/month.

As AT&T is rushing this service to the marketplace, details are still trickling in about the channel lineup, device compatibility, and exactly where AT&T plans to market the service. Stop the Cap! has collected details from a variety of sources to give readers additional insight about whether DirecTV’s satellite-less cable television alternative is right for you.

AT&T Will Not Market DirecTV Now to U-verse/DirecTV Satellite Customers

To protect against revenue cannibalization, AT&T will not be marketing or mentioning DirecTV Now to current AT&T U-verse or DirecTV satellite customers. The phone company does not want to lose their more profitable fiber-to-the-neighborhood or satellite dish customers to a lower-priced streaming-only alternative. A memo obtained by SatelliteGuys directed to AT&T and DirecTV supervisors and field technicians warns against even mentioning DirecTV Now unless they cannot complete an installation of U-verse TV or DirecTV satellite service:

As you may have heard, AT&T is launching a new over-the-top (OTT) service called DIRECTV NOW on November 4, 2016. OTT services provide potential customers with a streaming-only option when they are unable to have traditional DIRECTV or U-Verse TV service installed.

Though DIRECTV NOW does not require professional installation, technicians may want to be aware of the service and what it entails. For instances where a DIRECTV or U-Verse installation cannot be completed due to line-of-sight, landlord permission or other issues (emphasis from SatelliteGuys), technicians can provide information on the DIRECTV NOW service and let customers know they can visit directvnow.com to learn more.

Please note that DIRECTV NOW is a completely separate offering from traditional DIRECTV and U-Verse and should only be mentioned to customers when those services cannot be installed. If the customer is able to receive broadcast TV service, technicians should not proactively mention DIRECTV NOW as it is redundant with the DIRECTV and U-Verse Apps, which still offer streaming capabilities to subscribers of the DIRECTV and U-Verse TV services respectively.

In short, AT&T has no intention of competing with itself, which means customers in AT&T service areas will continue to be referred to U-verse for broadband and phone service and DirecTV’s satellite service for television, not DirecTV Now. The service will predominately be marketed to Millennials and the rest of an estimated 20 million Americans that have cut the cable TV cord or never signed up for service at all.

Key Points: You Need a Qualified Streaming Media Player and a Fast Internet Connection

• DirecTV Now is not expected to work with Roku at launch. Customers will need Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV/Stick, and/or Chromecast. More options are expected to arrive later. AT&T will initially promote the service for use with iOS or Android smartphones and tablets. AT&T Mobility customers will be able to stream DirecTV Now programming without it counting against your data plan, a controversial practice known as “zero rating;”
• A minimum internet connection speed of 12Mbps is required for “high quality” streaming;
• The DirecTV Now app will co-exist with the DirecTV app intended for satellite customers. The two services are considered independent of each other;
• A programming package will be required, but there is no contract. Customers cannot choose channels a-la-carte, except for premium movie channels like Starz. One streaming video-on-demand package dubbed Freeview will target Millennials specifically, and is expected to be advertiser-supported and provided at no charge;
• Customers can take advantage of a forthcoming free seven day trial by visiting directvnow.com and pre-registering.

DirecTV Now Programming Lineup

AT&T currently has agreements with 10 large programmer conglomerates, covering most of the major popular cable networks. A robust library of on-demand programming is also anticipated.

Among the networks we are confident will be a part of DirecTV Now:

• Disney: ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, Freeform, Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney, Jr.;
• A+E Networks: A&E, Lifetime, History, LMN. FYI, VICELAND;
• Scripps: HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY, Cooking Channel, Great American Country;
• Discovery Networks: The Discovery Channel and these likely additions: TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Science and Turbo/Velocity and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network;
• Agreements have also been signed with Comcast/NBC, Time Warner, Turner Networks, Starz, AMC, and Viacom.

Missing are agreements with CBS and FOX. We’re also uncertain about the availability of local channels. Additional channels are expected to be offered at an additional cost above the $35 for 100+ channels. We’ll learn more by the weekend.

AT&T will launch its anticipated DirecTV Now all-streaming cable television alternative next month at an unprecedented price of $35 a month for more than 100 channels, viewable for free without counting against your AT&T smartphone or tablet usage allowance.

Targeting cord-cutters, the new service will not require a satellite dish or expensive equipment — just a reasonably fast internet connection.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson used the announcement at a Wall Street Journal-sponsored event to claim the new service was an example of how AT&T won’t increase prices as a result of its proposed merger with Time Warner, Inc.

“That’s not a medium for raising prices,” Stephenson said, referring to AT&T’s new service. “Anybody who characterizes this as a means to raise prices is ignoring the basic premise of what we’re trying to do here.”

AT&T and Time Warner’s respective CEOs appeared together at the event as part of a week-long press blitz to promote their $85.4 billion merger deal, which is getting considerable blowback from politicians, consumer groups, and Wall Street.

Stephenson and Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes claim they are re-inventing the cable television business model and forcing innovation.

“If there was ever an environment that was begging for innovation, it was this environment,” Stephenson said. Bewkes added: “We would say and we’ve been saying it since 1995, every channel in the country should look like HBO or Netflix—there’s no reason we can’t.”

AT&T defends its $35 price point, which is half the price many cable companies charge for cable television, claiming it can afford to charge those prices by doing away with service calls, equipment, satellites, and infrastructure that traditional cable operators have to cover. DirecTV Now will rely on smartphone and desktop apps, and presumably third-party set-top boxes like Roku and Apple TV to provide its lineup.

AT&T hasn’t announced an official channel list for the service, but AT&T has been in serious negotiations with most of the major content conglomerates, so the lineup is likely to cover all the major cable networks, presumably local stations, and include an on-demand library. Customers may not get some of the secondary cable networks most cable systems bury on three or four digit channel numbers in Channel Siberia, but few viewers are expected to miss channels that attract fewer than 50,000 viewers nationwide.

Stephenson promised that future programming cost increases would be offset by developing “new ad models” that will cover most of the price increases.

One impediment to AT&T and Time Warner’s grand plan is the pervasive issue of data caps and usage-based billing, which could prove a lethal deterrent to customers ditching traditional cable TV in favor of online alternatives. AT&T itself imposes data caps on its DSL service, and has an unenforced cap on U-verse. Comcast continues to charge overlimit fees for customers exceeding 1TB of usage per month and smaller cable operators often include even smaller usage allowances.

Customers are highly skeptical of DirecTV Now because AT&T is involved. David Hill shared his prediction:

Undoubtedly you will get a $35 rate… for 6 months.  Then because you have been a good, paying customer, they will raise it to $75 a month.  But of course, new customers, can still get the $35 deal plus a $400 Amazon gift card.

When you call customer support (if you can actually get through to a living person) and ask for the same $35 rate the new guys get, why you will be told that you cannot get that rate because, well, you already ARE a customer.  So eat dirt.

Then when you work your way via the endless menu items to cancel the service about 2 weeks later and for years after you will be flooded with endless postcards and letters BEGGING you to come back.  You were a GREAT customer and WE want YOU BACK.  Right now!

Is this a stupid marketing policy or not?  In my MBA classes we were somehow mislead into believing exiting customers were your top A, number one priority.  Yet these internet companies cannot be bothered with keeping you.  Jerks, plain and simple.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said the company’s deal with Time Warner will result in a new TV service that will offer more than 100 premium channels for $35 per month. He sat down with Time Warner’s Jeff Bewkes and WSJ’s Rebecca Blumenstein at the WSJDLive conference in Laguna Beach, Calif. (5:05)