AT&T has officially launched the company’s new live streaming service, WatchTV. Available to AT&T customers on iOS and Apple TV, the service is a free add-on for those using one of the company’s newest cellular plans, Unlimited &More, and Unlimited &More Premium. It's also available to non-AT&T wireless customers for $15 per month.
Announced earlier this month, the WatchTV offers over 30 channels that you can live streaming, including breaking news and film channels. It doesn’t include sports programming. There’s also 15,000 titles you can watch on demand.
With an Unlimited &More Premium plan, you can also add one of several premium services to your subscription plan for free, including HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz, Amazon Music Unlimited, Pandora Premium, or VRV.
WatchTV comes with three limitations, besides the lack of sports programming. First, it doesn’t offer a cloud DVR feature. Second, you can only stream on up to two devices at the same time. There’s also no local channels.
Besides iOS and Apple TV, WatchTV is available on Android, Amazon Fire TV, and Google Chromecast.
Who's this for? AT&T also owns DirecTV (and DirectTV Now, of course), so it's worth wondering why the company's launching something like WatchTV.
Back in May, just before receiving U.S. approval to buy Time Warner, AT&T CFO John Stephens explained: "AT&T Watch would be a very low end, very thin collection of products."
On this point, I would agree, although I'm certain confusion will still reign, given the increasing number of live streaming packages out there trying to get your business. Still, skinny bundles are gaining in popularity, so AT&T's move does make sense.
For more information on WatchTV, AT&T invites you to its website. You can download the WatchTV app from the App Store.
Will you be sampling AT&T's newest offering? Let us know below.
Chart: TechHive
