Will a free streaming service help hook customers? AT&T is about to find out.
The Dallas-based company announced Thursday that it will offer two new wireless plans that include unlimited data and a new streaming service called AT&T WatchTV. For customers on other wireless plans, the streaming service will cost $15 per month.
The two unlimited wireless plans will be available starting next week, according to an AT&T news release. AT&T announced the offers a week after it completed its acquisition of Time Warner. It is now the owner of TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and CNN, among other networks. Those networks are featured on the streaming service.
AT&T has renamed the media company WarnerMedia.
The new streaming service, WatchTV, that features about 30 live channels and more than 15,000 TV shows and movies on demand, according to a news release. Nearly a third of those channels are now owned by AT&T after its acquisition of Time Warner.
The streaming service will not include any 24-hour sports channels, such as ESPN, but will include TNT's live sports programming. During the antitrust trial, AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson spoke about the product for the first time and noted that it would be focused on entertainment other than live sports. Networks with live sports command higher affiliate fees that are paid by TV providers. Those providers pass on some of those costs to consumers.
AT&T is a small, but growing player in the world of streaming. It launched its first streaming service, DirecTV Now, in November 2016. DirecTV Now has live TV like traditional cable or satellite service, but does not require a long-term contract or equipment like a cable box or satellite dish. DirecTV Now starts at $35 per month for about 60 channels. AT&T recently added cloud DVR to the streaming service.
DirecTV Now has grown to about 1.5 million subscribers. It trails Dish's Sling TV, which offers a similar live TV service to about 2.3 million customers. YouTube TV _ which is owned by Google's parent company Alphabet _ and Hulu Live TV also have competing products.
AT&T executives say they want to use the streaming service to win the business of people who might not otherwise pay for TV, such as young professionals, apartment dwellers or price-conscious consumers. Once the company wins their business, AT&T can offer discounted bundles with broadband or wireless service.
