Following similar moves from competitors across the industry, DirecTV has announced an expansion of its out-of-home viewing platform, DirecTV Everywhere.
Starting tomorrow, the new update to the service will allow subscribers to view over 30 channels from the DirecTV content pool outside the home on their smartphones and tablets. According to a report by Variety, the service will be available over both WiFi and over “mobile Internet connections”, though DirecTV’s press release did not specify the latter capability.
Most notable in the new programming lineup are top premium channels such as HBO, Starz, Encore and Showtime, as well as their subsidiary channels like Starz Edge and Showtime Next. Other new options include popular cable networks such as The Travel Channel and Food Network, supplemented by more peripheral programming like The Tennis Channel. In addition, the company has bolstered its in-home viewing to over 100 channels, and expanded its online content at DirecTV.com to include on demand content from over 40 channels, with up to 19,000 titles available from a computer.
The company’s Android app has also been updated to include support “across all screen sizes and various operating systems,” which will include the majority of Android devices, though it is unclear which, if any, tablets and smartphones in the Android universe will be left out of the equation.
While DirecTV touts itself as the pioneer of out-of-home streaming with its original NFL Sunday Ticket mobile service, the company has been under pressure to add a more diverse line-up of mobile content thanks to recent moves from cable providers like Comcast and Verizon’s FiOS, as well as massive expansion of mobile viewing from Slingbox and direct satellite competitor DishNetwork’s Hopper with Sling service.
The company claims that more evolutions of the DirecTV Everywhere service are still to come, and in this ever-evolving mobile landscape, you can bet on it.
