Start saying goodbye to DirecTV.
It may not be today or tomorrow, but it could be soon. DirecTV-owner AT&T this week admitted that it is no longer actively marketing the service, which has seen subscribers fall to 16 million from 20 million when the company purchased it for $49 billion in 2015.
AT&T will continue selling DirecTV in “more rural or less dense suburban areas,” John Stankey, the president of AT&T said at an investor conference. “But in terms of our marketing muscle and our momentum in the market, it will be about software-driven pay-TV packages.”
Namely, the new AT&T TV, which opened nationally this week to poor reviews. “I’d recommend taking a pass,” Edward C. Baig said in his USA TODAY review, due to high pricing, the need for equipment rental (for more than 1 TVand a two-year contract. Plus add some key programming that is missing, like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and the NFL games that sports fans crave on DirecTV.
DirecTV has been losing customers at an alarming rate.
DirecTV was initially launched in 1994 as a way for rural customers to get TV entertainment in areas not covered by cable but over the years also expanded to urban centers.
The pitch: By installing a small satellite dish on the roof or outside the home, customers could get more channels and a clearer signal, with a heavy emphasis on sports. Most notably, “NFL Sunday Ticket,” offering “every live game” across the country in one place. The downside: two-year contracts and equipment rental.
Phillip Swann, who blogs as the “TV Answer Man” and has covered the DirecTV woes extensively, was stunned at the new AT&T offering.
“This is everything people disliked about TV over the last 10 years,” he says. “Two-year contracts, escalating prices and equipment to rent. If this was 10 years ago, maybe AT&T TV would have a shot. But not now.”
The ease of streaming alternatives, of smart TVs that connect to the Internet to bring in apps like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, or cheap streaming players like the Roku and Amazon Fire TV Stick, which sell for around $25, make the need for equipment rental a thing of the past.
By Jefferson Graham USA Today
Noticia obtenida de www.usatoday.com
