DirecTV Now has experienced frequent buffering and widespread outages for several consecutive nights, according to the service’s Twitter customer help page, and user comments at social media sites.
A year after it launched, AT&T’s Internet-delivered skinny TV bundle DirecTV Now has officially reached 1 million subscribers.
DirecTV Now, the AT&T-owned live streaming service which has experienced recurring technical issues since its debut, suffered another major meltdown last night while viewers were watching Sunday Night Football and other primetime programming.
Exclusives
DirecTV Now has started adding local CBS affiliates, just in time for the first slate of National Football League games on Sunday. AT&T, which owns the live streaming service, announced last month that it had struck a deal with CBS to offer its local affiliates in 25 markets as well as the CBS-owned Showtime, CBS Sports Network, Pop and the CW. However, the telco did not reveal a launch date at the time of the announcement.
AT&T’s DirecTV Now has reversed its plan to restrict use on computers and laptops to the Google Chrome browser, and will support Apple’s Safari browser as well.
The two cable MSOs have rolled out ad campaigns/promotions targeting DirecTV’s DBS service and its DirecTV Now online video service.
Roku today announced that DirecTV Now has been added to several of its streaming devices, two months after the companies’ initial deadline. DirecTV Now and Roku promised last November that the live streaming service would be added to Roku by the end of the first quarter. But they missed the deadline for reasons that were never officially explained.
AT&T’s live online video service, DirecTV Now, has seen its growth stall in recent months, according to people familiar with the matter, raising questions about consumer demand for the growing number of new web-TV services entering the market.
Hulu is planning a new web subscription service that would sell live and on-demand programming from the likes of ESPN, ABC, Fox and FX, for about $40 a month, starting early next year.
The Wall Street Journal reports the FCC is probing whether big cable firms use special contract provisions to discourage media companies — from Walt Disney to smaller firms — from running programming on the Internet. Journal subscribers can read the full story here.
Apple Inc.’s lofty plans to build an online television service are coming into sharper focus, according to The Wall Street Journal. The technology giant is in talks with programmers to offer a slimmed-down bundle of TV networks this fall, according to people, say people familiar with the matter. The service would have about 25 channels, anchored by broadcasters including ABC, CBS and Fox, and would cost $30-$45 a month. WSJ subscribers can read the full story here.
Apple is reportedly in talks with TV executives about deals that would allow it to offer an OTT pay TV service like Dish’s Sling TV. Talks seem to be in the early stages, with issues like timing and pricing far from ironed out, and Apple won’t comment on the effort.
Nimble TV, which wants to allow users to watch the TV they’ve already paid for anywhere they want to watch it, says it is now open for business in the New York City area, following a year-long trial.
Time Warner Cable and other pay-TV operators are offering incentives to media companies that agree to withhold content from Web-based entertainment services such as those pursued by Intel Corp. and Apple Inc., people with knowledge of the matter say. The incentives can take the form of higher payments, or they can include threats to drop programming, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
The broadcaster is near a deal that will let it stream current Warner Bros. programs on websites and mobile devices. The terms with Fox are similar to a deal announced yesterday by Warner Bros. Television and Walt Disney Co.’s ABC.
Web Not Yet Threat To Primetime Television
Although more people are watching online video on the small screen — monitors, smartphones — it’s not a threat to primetime TV yet, according to a survey conducted by online Web series platform Blip.tv. Only 16% said they had switched to Web-only viewing in primetime.
A Defense Of Charging More For Web TV
Fox is going to make it harder for Web viewers who don’t pay for content to access its shows and other TV networks are likely to follow. Dan Rayburn, who has been involved with streaming media for 15 years and now, says he understands that people want hit movies and TV shows freely available online. But the self-described pragmatist says that just isn’t going to happen.
Web TV Is Just Waiting To Click
Online television has yet to catch on like the traditional format, but it’s just barely getting started and hubs like Hulu, Crackle and Koldcast point to a wide-open future.
