AT&T rebrands DirecTV Now to AT&T TV Now, still plans to launch AT&T TV
AT&T is rebranding its streaming services... and making them even more confusing.
AT&T is rebranding DirecTV Now as AT&T TV Now. Try saying that three times fast.
AT&T is giving DirecTV Now a makeover, but the new name and app may cause more trouble than it solves. On Tuesday the telecom giant announced that it would be rebranding its struggling streaming service as AT&T TV Now. The new name will be rolled out later this summer and work with a new AT&T TV app. Current DirecTV Now subscribers will "simply need to reaccept the terms of service and their streaming will continue as usual without interruption," with the pricing and channel offerings appearing to carry over from one name to the next.
Where things get complicated, however, is that AT&T plans to launch another streaming service later this year called AT&T TV. That service, which will begin its pilot later this summer, will also be accessible through the same AT&T TV app on mobile devices, streaming boxes and connected TVs . Depending on your login and the service you subscribe to, different content will appear.
The rebranding of its services under the AT&T name follows a path the company started a few years ago. The company has already rebranded its U-Verse residential internet and digital phone offerings as AT&T Internet and AT&T Phone, respectively.
It is, however, still unclear what the differences will be between AT&T TV Now and AT&T TV. In a statement an AT&T spokesperson said the services offer "different experiences."
"As previously announced, we plan to introduce the AT&T TV brand later this summer and we are aligning the DIRECTV NOW experience under the same brand family. The DIRECTV NOW product remains unchanged. You can find more info on AT&T TV at www.att.com/tv."
In addition to those two streaming offerings, AT&T already offers AT&T Watch TV -- which is bundled with certain unlimited wireless data plans and offers over 35 live channels, including AT&T-owned TBS, TNT and CNN. It also plans to launch a new streaming service next year called HBO Max, which will offer some live news and sports in addition to streaming HBO and other Warner Bros. content that it owns.
Update July 30, 10:04 a.m. PT: Added AT&T comment.