AT&T: Streaming DirecTV at 'aggressive' price, exe
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AT&T's (T +0.8%) direct-to-consumer streaming offering, DirecTV Now, is targeting a "very, very aggressive price point" with more than 100 channels -- and that viewing will be exempt from data caps for AT&T wireless subscribers.
That move ("zero-rating" video content) is one of the ways many observers expected the company to take advantage of its DirecTV acquisition to boost its wireless business.
CEO Randall Stephenson discussed the rollout, coming in "a couple of months," at Goldman Sachs' Communacopia conference this morning. Of the platforms on which DirecTV Now will be available (Smart TVs and PCs, but also smartphones and tablets) he noted mobile's increasing importance, particularly for apartment dwellers who are more likely to use mobile devices than sign up for pay TV subscriptions.
“The platform the NFL Sunday ticket rides on is an AT&T platform,” Stephenson said. “Last week, if you looked at the number of people streaming the NFL Sunday Ticket, just week over week it was up 60%, which is a stunning number."
Meanwhile, the company today said it was planning to expand its cross-screen addressable ad offering in Q4. Advertisers will have the ability to serve audiences with precision across nearly 14M addressable TV households, and 30M mobile devices associated with those homes. That will include ad inventory in the DirecTV mobile app.
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