On November 30, 2016, DirecTV gave birth to a virtual MVPD designed to provide a “skinny bundle” to consumers who weren’t interested in a costly monthly subscription plan. Branded as DirecTV NOW, it didn’t require a contract.
At first, consumers seemed to like the vMVPD. Then came a name change to AT&T TV NOW, and a decline in subscribers following a summer 2018 peak.
Now, AT&T TV NOW packages ‘”are no longer available for new customers.”
There’s no official notice — just a marketing note informing consumers that AT&T TV NOW has merged with AT&T TV.
While no new customers are being accepted, current AT&T TV NOW customers will continue to have access. However, there’s no indication for how long.
The move comes as industry chatter persists that AT&T will eventually sell DirecTV to Dish, creating a DBS scenario akin to the satellite radio arena, where Sirius and XM merged to establish a financially viable operation.
Meanwhile, the U-Verse platform AT&T operated in the TV space prior to its merger with DirecTV is still being phased out.
The end of AT&T TV NOW follows the end of Sony PlayStation Vue, a “skinny bundle” that had been a feature tied to the popular video game console.
