Last week, AT&T confirmed that they are launching AT&T TV as a live TV streaming service that seems to be targeting DIRECTV customers. AT&T also announced that DIRECTV Now will be rebranded to AT&T TV Now. This is in addition to the AT&T Watch TV service, which is a $15 a month (or free with select AT&T Wireless plans) live TV streaming service.
AT&T has five live TV services: DIRECTV, AT&T TV, AT&T TV Now, AT&T Watch TV, and U-Verse TV. This, as you would expect, has created some confusion because these services sound a lot alike.
Here is a quick break down of these TV services:
DIRECTV
DIRECTV is AT&T’s satellite TV service.
AT&T TV
AT&T TV is the streaming version of DIRECTV. This service is a streaming version of DIRECTV. According to AT&T, it will start rolling out in the third quarter of 2019 and be nationwide by the end of the year. From our sources, you should consider this to be more of a cable like service than a cord cutting service.
AT&T TV Now
AT&T TV Now is DIRECTV NOW rebranded. The only change right now is the name: DIRECTV NOW is changing to AT&T TV Now on Roku, Fire TV, and Apple TV.
AT&T Watch TV
AT&T Watch TV is a $15 a month streaming service with a handful of channels. Very similar to Philo but with a slightly different channel line up and no DVR.
U-Verse TV
U-Verse TV is AT&T’s legacy TV service that ran through its old U-Verse Internet service. According to AT&T training documents posted online, AT&T will stop selling U-Verse in markets that AT&T TV have rolled out to.
If you are a little confused, don’t worry. This is extremely confusing. The only thing I would emphasize is each service is a standalone service.
From the looks of it, AT&T TV is replacing DIRECTV and U-Verse TV. According to CNBC, AT&T TV Now will eventually be merged into HBO Max sometime after it launches next year. If that happens as CNBC reported that would help with the naming confusion.
For now, we have a lot of questions about all of these services. AT&T promises more details soon. We will have to wait for AT&T to explain how all of these services will stand out from each other.
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