Networks used to "pay" affiliates..now its viceversa... thats why cable pays stations so they can pay the networks
AT&T disappointed with offers for struggling DirecTV
- Thread starter MitchDeerfield
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 442
- Views 47K
So, DirecTV Now, which became AT&T TV Now, which became AT&T TV, will become DirecTV?
The name of the new joint venture company that manages DirecTV, AT&T TV and UVerse TV is DirecTV (although they sometimes referred to it as "new DirecTV"). It will be HQ'd in El Segundo, where DTV has always been based. So managerial decisions for AT&T TV and UVerse TV will come out of El Segundo, not Dallas, now.
All that said, it isn't clear if there will be a rebranding of AT&T TV. (And I can't imagine why Uverse TV would be rebranded since it isn't even marketed any more and you can no longer sign up for it.) I doubt that they rebrand it to DirecTV since that brand, IMO, is inextricably linked in the public's mind to satellite TV and they do NOT want the baggage of that legacy tech associated with their new flagship streaming cable TV service. Definitely seems like they have plans to grow AT&T TV, though, based on a couple of quotes this week from TPG:
Video remains a core service for tens of millions of households. Since its launch in 1994, DirecTV has continually evolved its product, content and service to provide customers an industry-leading video offering. As video consumption habits evolve, the new DIRECTV will continue investing in its offering to provide value to its customers, including through next-generation streaming pay-TV services. (David Trujillo, TPG partner)
We are particularly excited by the opportunity to grow new DIRECTV’s streaming video service, leveraging the company’s leading pay-TV platform, talented labor force and large subscriber base to transition it into a leading next-generation video provider with best-in-class content and customer experience. (John Flynn, TPG principal )
Why call the company DirecTV if they want to grow AT&T TV? Strange that AT&T just didn't shut down UVerseTV before the deal. I wonder why TPG even wanted a part of UVerseTV?
Last edited:
The existing Directv billing department still exists, as some of us were never converted to AT&T style billing. So that part shouldn't be too hard (though those who have to convert back from AT&T billing may have some issues)
The CSRs will be more of a problem, since there probably are few if any who have been around since before AT&T bought them so most have been hired/trained by AT&T.
TPG isnt looking to raise costs.. Most likely it will be the same outsourced customer service ATT uses now... Which in most cases that person is answering the phone for 4-5 different companies They will just leverage existing customer support agreements they have now
No..they have to separate from the core to grow( like wireless).. and then once its pumping cash they bring it back..or maybe it will die on the vine
I guess they're calling the company DirecTV because the great majority of subs they're acquiring are on DirecTV, and it's definitely the best-known of the three brand names at this point. Plus I'm sure TPG didn't want AT&T to be part of the joint venture's name, so they weren't going to call it AT&T TV.
As for shutting down Uverse TV, I think it was too soon for that to happen. AT&T TV still isn't quite mature enough to shift all their Uverse TV subs over to it. For instance, they need to get PBS stations added and they'd probably want to wait until they roll out their faster, more stable 2nd-gen AT&T TV box that's on the way. Plus, you have to give customers awhile to make the switch.
I think the thinking on the deal went like this: TPG didn't want to buy DTV without AT&T TV being included, since the DTV subscriber base is only ever going to decrease while AT&T TV could potentially grow a lot. TPG knew that AT&T might incentivize DTV subs to switch over to AT&T TV if they purchased the former without the latter. In other words, don't buy the slowly sinking cruise liner without also buying the lifeboat.
As for Uverse TV, I imagine that AT&T didn't want to sell a stake in AT&T TV without also having TPG purchase an equal stake in Uverse TV, given that AT&T won't want to operate Uverse TV forever and AT&T TV is obviously the target platform for those subscribers to migrate to.
Yes. And from what I understand, billing for AT&T TV is already done separately from AT&T Fiber/Internet and Wireless. Doesn't even look like they're offering any kind of bundling discount now for folks who sign up for both Internet and TV. So it should be easy for them to spin off AT&T TV billing to the new joint venture company out in CA.
As for Uverse TV billing, IDK, I think that would be a mess as it's always been unified with AT&T Internet billing. But, as I've said before, I think Uverse TV is a problem that will take care of itself over the next year or two, as the entire service will be killed off, but not before existing subscribers are given plenty of notice and repeatedly asked to switch to AT&T TV.
We don't have the local CW, METV and PBS on AT&T TV yet. METV is on a main channel not a sub-channel. I think AT&T TV adding the 20 simultaneous streams and unlimited cloud DVR is cool.
I wonder if TPG will invest in any new equipment? Maybe do one last DVR that does 4k HDR and outputs to HDMI 2.0 or 2.1? Unless they are just going to make AT&T TV better and forget about any DTV upgrades?
Last edited:
Similar threads
