AT&T Plans to Gift Free Apple TV to DirecTV Now Subscribers Who Commit to 3+ Months of Service

[BlandUsername]

...

Take my money?

I only have a question mark because it sounds too good to be true, and I'm skeptical because it's coming from AT&T, which isn't really known for being so generous...

I think the antitrust guys need to look at this.

ATT (internet Line + dish service available + Streaming service )
Sling TV ( Uses purchased Internet service from 3rd Party + dish service available + Streaming service)

I can see all sorts of shenanigans coming from them and comcast with their service.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Sorry, but I for one am tired of all these AT&T / DirecTV cross-promotions. DirecTV is not currently an option for me, but all of AT&T's current iPhone promotions also require DirecTV service. ^#$#&.

They are killing off U-Verse...so it makes sense.

 

[jbachandouris]

I have been considering the Direct TV/AT&T package. More to consider...

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Sorry, but I for one am tired of all these AT&T / DirecTV cross-promotions. DirecTV is not currently an option for me, but all of AT&T's current iPhone promotions also require DirecTV service. ^#$#&.

No difference between these promotions and any other promotions from companies that only offer the great deals to new subscribers, leaving out the loyal, long-time customers holding the bag.

If it ain't for you, so be it.

 

[GizmoDVD]

AT&T is buying Time Warner. Wonder if it is Generation 4 or 3 Apple TV? With AT&T the devil is always in the fine print so while this sounds like a good streaming alternative I'll wait and see.

Pretty sure the ATV3 is not receiving any new Apps so it would probably have to be the ATV4.

 

[EvilEvil]

No thanks.

 

[lenard]

I think this is going to be like the Sling TV app...

 

[Veihl]

I think this is going to be like the Sling TV app...

could you elaborate?

 

[pokerplayer73]

Seems to be a good deal. I discarded cable about an year ago and been watching TV through Tivo OTA. Wouldn't mind jumping on this deal, if only for 3 months. If they increase the price, I am out. The biggest problem I have with Cable companies is the additional amounts they charge in equipment fees, taxes etc. Too much. If this is a flat fee that I can subscribe through Apple store/iTunes, I would love it.

 

[benzkid89]

I've been using PS Vue for the past 7 months and it's been pretty flawless. I can't wait to give this a try but I am curious to know how many streams I can use. With PS Vue I have 5 which is great. Also, if they are giving an Apple TV and a Fire TV stick after 3 months of service, that itself is well worth it to me. For a little over a $100 I can get a Apple TV and Fire Stick. Seems like a good investment.

 

[liberte1776]

Who cares if it is not 4K -- Apple TV is far overdue for 4K support! At least with Google Cast I can setup a stream that scales to 4K to my Vizio M80-D3 from almost any device/apps which cast, but with AirPlay and Apple TV, there is NO possibility for 4K.

Now if they were offering a 4K ATV -- then that is something worthwhile!

Does everyone realized that ATSC 3.0 over-the-air broadcast via antenna is going ALL IP and 4K with HDR?! http://atsc.org

 

[2010mini]

How about commit to two month of service and get a free FireTV ($99)?

Apple sells the Fire TV???

 

[pokerplayer73]

I was wondering why no talk of a DVR type tech yet, but a 72 window to watch stuff you missed and for that price it seems like a fair deal to me.

DVR could be useful for live events that can be viewed upto 72 hours later. On-Demand is much better for episodic events(sitcoms, other series etc).
What if HBO is subscribed through this service? I am guessing it will support HBO Go, which allows multiple streams.

 

[Robert.Walter]

There is too little competition in this business.

Content and distribution need to be demerged.

Distribution needs to be regulated like any other public utility.

Further mergers of content should become a rare exception.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

As I know ATT, it will be the fine print:
The subscriber needs to subscribe to ATT 40GB/month download service for $25. <FONT SIZE=7>This offer is void where restrictions apply. Offer only valid in the 49 states. Special offer limited to the first 6 months of service $50 thereafter. Over usage will cost $10 per GB. $279 setup fee waived for new customer only. </font size>

Upgrading from the 6 GB/month I get now to 40 GB/month would be a $90 increase on my monthly bill.

So this offer isn't at all interesting anymore.

 

[webbuzz]

As I know ATT, it will be the fine print:
The subscriber needs to subscribe to ATT 40GB/month download service for $25. <FONT SIZE=7>This offer is void where restrictions apply. Offer only valid in the 49 states. Special offer limited to the first 6 months of service $50 thereafter. Over usage will cost $10 per GB. $279 setup fee waived for new customer only. </font size>

Silly. It would kill the service and they know it.

 

[crawdad62]

The nice thing about all these streaming services is NO CONTRACT. Once they start to nickel and dime you the longest you have to put up with it is a month.

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

Gee, I wonder how much Comcast will throttle that service.

 

[scott911]

Outside of waiting for ATV5 (hopefully the model that finally get's 4K capabilities) I have't paid much attention to apple tv.

So my question is, does the ability to run apps now mean that the apple TV will easily allow someone to get to amazon prime TV within the apple TV? I know on my old gen 3, I could not. TIA.

 

[s0nicpr0s]

DVR could be useful for live events that can be viewed upto 72 hours later. On-Demand is much better for episodic events(sitcoms, other series etc).
What if HBO is subscribed through this service? I am guessing it will support HBO Go, which allows multiple streams.

Based off of the Variety article, it seems that HBO is a premium service added on top of your base plan. So I would assume that it would work like any other subscription to HBO (and HBO Go). I like that they are offering the 3 day window to catch up on content you may have missed initially, even though I don't think this service is for me. Currently happy with watching a few things on Netflix, and then just jumping to the various premium channels when I want to watch a certain show.

 

[LiveM]

This is AT&T saying thank-you to Apple.

 

[CrazyDaveinNeb]

Might be worth it. Especially if they let me out of my DIRECTV contract.

or convert your current satellite contract to a streaming one.

 

[Return Zero]

Well... Looks like I'll be signing up. If it's better than Sling, I may even end up keeping it longer than three months.

 

[NoMoreBeige]

What pending merger? AT&T and DirecTV got FCC approval to merge July 24th, 2015.

They are referring to TimeWarner merger.

 

[nightowl]

The devil is most certainly in the details of what AT&T wants from you. I have Comcast internet currently, but would switch back to AT&T if the details of this service are favorable to me. PS Vue is going to kill my 1TB bandwidth cap that Comcast has now imposed.

I'm wondering, at least for the ATV service, if they aren't thinking, rather than an actual DVR, they offer TV Anywhere access for nearly all of their channels, plus the On Demand offerings of their own, and tie that into the "TV" app that Apple is going to send down? Then you are in the Apple ecosystem for almost everything, since you can then "favorite" programs, have the newest episodes appear in the TV app, and other available programming appear there. I would be very interested to see how this may work, and would love to use just my Apple TV, rather than Amazon Fire or Roku devices in addition. Truly ties all my content into a single device.

The only thing missing, then, is the ability to have different profiles within the TV app for others in your iCloud family, so that my wife and kids have their own "favorites" on a single Apple TV device.