AT&T TV

[docdaddy]

I've been tempted to move to AT&T TV. After decades of Dish and Directv, the interface of YTTV is maddening, the loss of the RSNs (them having the RSN for my area was a reason I picked them to begin with) plus we have to also have Philo to get the channels we want.

However, I read that I can't rewind live TV? And the longest I can keep DVRed programs is 90 days? Those are big issues for us.

 

[ncted]

I've been tempted to move to AT&T TV. After decades of Dish and Directv, the interface of YTTV is maddening, the loss of the RSNs (them having the RSN for my area was a reason I picked them to begin with) plus we have to also have Philo to get the channels we want.

However, I read that I can't rewind live TV? And the longest I can keep DVRed programs is 90 days? Those are big issues for us.

Well, the first concern can be addressed with hardware -- just get the AT&T set top box. The second one is more problematic.

 

[NashGuy]

However, I read that I can't rewind live TV? And the longest I can keep DVRed programs is 90 days? Those are big issues for us.

Well, the first concern can be addressed with hardware -- just get the AT&T set top box. The second one is more problematic.

Yeah, one of the big things going for AT&T TV is that it has channels from all the major groups, unlike YTTV or other streaming cable TV services. (Although keep in mind that AT&T TV, unlike YTTV, still lacks PBS and NFL Network. And in many areas, it lacks the local CW station.)

The 90-day retention limit on AT&T TV's cloud DVR is unfortunate. That's way shorter than any other competing alternative. They should extend it to a full year, or at least 9 months, same as YTTV.

Who knows what may happen soon with the service. This month or next, AT&T is supposed to complete a spin-off of their cable TV services (AT&T TV, DirecTV, and the no-longer-sold Uverse TV) to a new separate company called DIRECTV. lt looks very likely that AT&T TV will be rebranded as "DIRECTV STREAM," a name which they trademarked last fall and which has begun replacing a few instances of the AT&T TV name on their customer support site just this week. Perhaps they will make some changes/improvements to the service.

One thing to expect is a second-generation streaming box, which was just submitted to the FCC for approval last month. I'd say it will be ready to go as part of the pending relaunch just around the corner. (My bet is that we finally we support for live 4K HDR content added to the service at that point too, maybe in time for the Olympics.) Someone on reddit posted that AT&T TV is currently working on the ability to pause and rewind live TV in their Roku and iOS apps (no idea if that's true though). So perhaps the app will soon come closer to feature parity with their box.

Anyhow, for anyone thinking about signing up for AT&T TV or buying their optional box, my advice would be to hold off for the next few weeks and see what pops up.

 

[Zookster]

I've been tempted to move to AT&T TV. After decades of Dish and Directv, the interface of YTTV is maddening, the loss of the RSNs (them having the RSN for my area was a reason I picked them to begin with) plus we have to also have Philo to get the channels we want.

However, I read that I can't rewind live TV? And the longest I can keep DVRed programs is 90 days? Those are big issues for us.

I switched to AT&T TV in early April after three years with YTTV over the RSN issue. The 90-day DVR limit isn't an issue for me because the 20-hour DVR size (without paying extra) makes it impractical for me to hold on to anything for more than a week. I've already had one bit of "archived" content auto-deleted because I had failed to complete my twice daily DVR clean up (I record all the daily shows and baseball games I regularly watch, time permitting, so I can use trick play features and FF commercials).

But of all the sacrifices and limitations vis-a-vis YTTV, the one thing that bothers me the most about AT&T TV is that the app buffers, freezes, and crashes about once a day on my 2020 Roku Ultra using a short-run wired LAN connection to 150 Mbps internet service.

 

[docdaddy]

I switched to AT&T TV in early April after three years with YTTV over the RSN issue. The 90-day DVR limit isn't an issue for me because the 20-hour DVR size (without paying extra) makes it impractical for me to hold on to anything for more than a week. I've already had one bit of "archived" content auto-deleted because I had failed to complete my twice daily DVR clean up (I record all the daily shows and baseball games I regularly watch, time permitting, so I can use trick play features and FF commercials).

But of all the sacrifices and limitations vis-a-vis YTTV, the one thing that bothers me the most about AT&T TV is that the app buffers, freezes, and crashes about once a day on my 2020 Roku Ultra using a short-run wired LAN connection to 150 Mbps internet service.

The DVR is a huge deal for us due to the way we watch TV. We record almost everything that we watch and watch it later, other than competition shows and sports. We will sometimes have an entire season of a show recorded and only watch it once, say, summer reruns start. So we need a lot of storage space and a long retention. With Dish, of course, with the external USB and a true DVR, it was never a problem.

 

[ncted]

The DVR is a huge deal for us due to the way we watch TV. We record almost everything that we watch and watch it later, other than competition shows and sports. We will sometimes have an entire season of a show recorded and only watch it once, say, summer reruns start. So we need a lot of storage space and a long retention. With Dish, of course, with the external USB and a true DVR, it was never a problem.

Yeah, 90-days is just a bit too short for us. The 9 months that YTTV is a better fit for sure.

 

[Gib4500]

Has anyone heard if at&t tv will add live 4k event's like youtube tv has? I know there's not much 4k live content right now but this fall their should be a lot more.

 

[NashGuy]

Has anyone heard if at&t tv will add live 4k event's like youtube tv has? I know there's not much 4k live content right now but this fall their should be a lot more.

The only thing I've ever read with regard to this were comments from a former AT&T CEO a few years back, when discussing the yet-to-launch AT&T TV service. He told Wall Street analysts that it would eventually have everything DirecTV has and specifically mentioned 4K at least once.

That's not much to hang your hat on at this point, though. But given that the plan for AT&T TV was always to become their mainstream/flagship/default cable TV service (taking over that position from both DirecTV satellite and Uverse TV), I would think that live 4K has always been on the roadmap for the service. It just seems like AT&T TV has, for the most part, been on the back burner since launching nationally in March 2020, as the company immediately pivoted to the HBO Max launch and then negotiating deals to spin off DirecTV, AT&T TV and later WarnerMedia/HBO Max.

So if I had to guess, I'd say that, yes, 4K will be coming to the service at some point this year after it's relaunched as DIRECTV STREAM by the new, separate management group that will soon run it. That spin-off is imminent (July/Aug). But, as I say, that's only a guess. AT&T TV has never announced anything about delivering 4K content.

 

[NashGuy]

Looks like AT&T TV's rebrand to DIRECTV Stream is imminent. The new logo and slogan (Get Your TV Together) have leaked.

AT&T TV Rebrand? DirecTV Stream Wants You To "Get Your TV Together"

AT&T is likely to rebrand its AT&T TV live TV streaming service as 'DirecTV Stream' with a new logo and "get your TV together" slogan.

streamingclarity.com

 

[mikew]

Pause and rewind Live TV now works on ROKU. Yay!

 

[NashGuy]

Pause and rewind Live TV now works on ROKU. Yay!

So looks like they're improving the app -- largely bringing it to feature parity with their own streaming box -- while also getting ready to release a more powerful new model of the box. Wonder what other improvements we'll see them usher in in time for the relaunch as DIRECTV Stream?

I'd say bringing the channel package line-ups even closer to those of the satellite service is a good bet. It's still missing PBS, ION, INSP, NFL Network and Cowboy Channel, while many markets still lack their local CW and/or My Network TV station. And some of the secondary channels in the premium add-ons (e.g. HBO Signature, etc.) are also unavailable. Perhaps we'll see some or all of those added soon.

Another strong possibility is the addition of live 4K and 4K HDR content -- mainly sports. Major competitor YTTV just added that feature in time for the Tokyo Olympics that begin in 8 days. And little FuboTV has had it for years now. Lack of live 4K sports is a key advantage that the DTV satellite service has over AT&T TV and they're one of only a handful of cable TV operators that have announced they'll carry the Olympics in 4K. I almost think that if DTV Stream isn't ready to offer live 4K right out of the gate, then they'll hold off on the relaunch until after the Olympics end on Aug. 8.

Recent posts suggest that AT&T TV may be expanding their support for auto-extending cloud DVR recordings for events (such as sports) that run long. Having that feature work consistently and correctly would be a big improvement, especially given that there's no way currently to manually pad recording times.

The other improvement I think they should really implement is an extension to how long recordings can be saved in the cloud DVR. Their satellite service's flagship equipment is the Genie 2 whole-home DVR server, which has a capacity rated at 400 hours of HD and the ability to record 7 channels simultaneously. And of course you can keep recordings on there indefinitely until you delete them. Meanwhile, AT&T TV's $10 upgrade gives you unlimited storage and unlimited simultaneous recordings but you can only keep recordings for a maximum of 90 days before they auto-delete. I think most consumers would prefer a finite amount of storage with a longer retention period. Maybe we'll see DTV Stream's cloud DVR revert back to 500 hours of storage but with a 1-year retention period. Or even combine unlimited storage with 1-year retention. If a skinny $25/mo service like Philo can do it, surely a more premium service like DTV Stream can too.

 

[Zookster]

Pause and rewind Live TV now works on ROKU. Yay!

Confirmed on my 2020 Roku Ultra. There's now an active live TV buffer, though I don't know how long yet (up to 7 mins as I write this). The counterclockwise circle button works to skip back 15 seconds. Looks like I don't need a proprietary AT&T TV box after all.

Recent posts suggest that AT&T TV may be expanding their support for auto-extending cloud DVR recordings for events (such as sports) that run long. Having that feature work consistently and correctly would be a big improvement, especially given that there's no way currently to manually pad recording times.

I record my hometown MLB team's game every day, and a couple weeks back, when I was clearing my 20-hour DVR (a daily task), I noticed one of the game recordings went the full four hours rather than the usual three. Only time I've seen that, as I still find myself watching my recording of the Post-Game Show to see the last couple of innings of each game.

I'd also like to see AT&T TV implement the ability to record just my team's games (like YTTV does) rather than all MLB games, or manually setting individual recordings for each of my team's games (either way, a lot of manual work involved in addition to deleting recordings).

 

[Zookster]

I ran an experiment this afternoon, letting a channel run the same live program block for 2+ hours and determined the live TV buffer is exactly 1 hour. I doubt I'd ever need more than that. Live buffer also continues after a new program starts on the channel.

 

[Zookster]

AT&T TV Adds "Pause on Live" Feature to Roku Devices to Pause, FF, and Rewind Live TV

AT&T TV has pushed a major update to Roku users that makes time shifting easier. Customers can now pause, rewind, and fast-forward Live TV across channels, with AT&T TV on their Roku streaming player and Roku …

thestreamable.com

 

[NashGuy]

I ran an experiment this afternoon, letting a channel run the same live program block for 2+ hours and determined the live TV buffer is exactly 1 hour. I doubt I'd ever need more than that. Live buffer also continues after a new program starts on the channel.

That compares with reports of a 90-minute buffer for live TV on the current-gen AT&T TV streaming box. I assume that that device was locally caching the stream on the device but don't know for sure. Looks to me like they're now doing a 60-minute server-cached buffer that will be available via their app on all devices, even if it's just Roku right now. So perhaps that's what their own box will use too.

 

[Zookster]

I just checked my FireTV stick and I can still pause live TV, but still no trickplay within the pause buffer.

 

[NashGuy]

I just checked my FireTV stick and I can still pause live TV, but still no trickplay within the pause buffer.

I read on reddit a few days ago that they were beta testing the feature on Roku and iOS at that time. Although since Apple TV's tvOS is just an extension of iOS, it's thought that the feature is imminent there too. But I've not read anything about testing the feature for Android-based platforms like Fire TV. I guess that will come last.

 

[Zookster]

Live TV pause functions are now available on Apple TV:

AT&T TV Expands "Pause on Live" Feature to iOS and Apple TV to Pause, FF, and Rewind Live TV

Last week, AT&T TV pushed a major update to Roku users that makes time shifting easier. The Live TV Streaming Service has now brought it to iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Customers can now pause, rewind, and …

thestreamable.com

 

[syphix]

The 90-day retention limit on the DVR isn't it's only limitation: they also limit you to only 30 episodes saved per series.

Data connection req’d. Recordings expire after 90 days. In a series recording, max 30 episodes stored (oldest deleted first which may be in less than 90 days). Restr’s apply.

 

[ncted]

DirecTV separates from AT&T, unveils 'DirecTV Stream' brand | Light Reading

The new DirecTV represents the former AT&T US and Puerto Rico video unit covering satellite, streaming and IPTV services, but not HBO Max, which is staying with AT&T's WarnerMedia unit.

www.lightreading.com