Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Despite its problems, DirecTV Now topped 200K subscribers in its first month

Directv now
Image used with permission by copyright holder
DirecTV Now launched in November and both cord-cutters and those who were simply curious signed up for the free trial, only to be met with various glitches, dropouts, and other streaming errors. Annoying as they were, those issues apparently weren’t bad enough to drive off a fair number of those who tried the live TV streaming service, as it managed to top 200,000 subscribers in its first month.

Those numbers come from an AT&T filing with the SEC released on Friday, where the company states that DirecTV Now — which launched on November 30 — had racked up more than 200,000 subscribers by December 31. The company points out in the filing that this includes only paying customers.

When the service launched, it used a few tactics to draw in customers. The first was a limited-time offer of the service’s Go Big package, which offers more than 100 channels, for $35 per month. That offer has since ended, but customers who signed up at that price get to keep it, at least for the immediate future. The company also offered free hardware, including the latest version of the Apple TV and the Amazon Fire TV Stick to customers who committed to the service for a set amount of time.

The above offers might count for a sizable portion of the subscribers, as the service launched with bugs and errors, many of which still remain. Customers have repeatedly complained about “Error 60” messages, which mean too many streams are being used at once (the service supports two streams at once), even when only a single viewer is watching. Performance issues also continue to plague the service.

“With any new technology there are going to be fixes that need to be made,” AT&T said in a statement released earlier this month. “While we understand we still have work to do, overall feedback on DirecTV Now has been very positive. We’re continuously updating the app to provide a better experience for customers. We encourage customer to keep the app updated.”

It’s expected for any company having issues with a service to promise that things will get better, but the subscriber numbers mean its much more likely that AT&T will prioritize fixing its streaming issues. If you like DirecTV Now enough to keep it — or if you just want to hold on to that $35 price for as long as possible — it is nice to know that the service is likely to receive some much needed fixes.

Editors' Recommendations

Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
Sling TV raises its prices by $5 per month for new subscribers
dish sling dashed cables leverage streaming espn 2

If you were hoping to cut the cord by signing up with Sling TV, we've got some bad news: The live TV streaming service has just announced a price increase that bumps its Sling Orange and Sling Blue packages to $35 per month -- $5  more than their previous $30 per month level. The combo Sling Orange + Blue package is also going up by $5 to $50 per month. The increase only affects new subscriptions for now, as the company's one-year price guarantee means existing customers can hold onto the lower prices until the end of  July 2021, as long as their subscription remains active.

"Unfortunately, we are forced to raise prices because the television networks keep charging us more," said Michael Schwimmer, Sling TV's group president. But Schwimmer insists that despite the increase, Sling TV is "still the best deal in the market," with prices that are much lower than cable and other live streaming services.

Read more
AT&T TV vs. AT&T TV Now vs. HBO Max and more: AT&T streaming services explained
att tv vs now hbo max go dc universe directv 2

Let's face it, there are already too many streaming services. AT&T is making things worse. The telecommunications giant, which owns everything from DirecTV to the Warner Bros. film studio, has seven different streaming solutions either on the market or on the way. Some of them have similar names. Many of them cover the same markets. How is a cord cutter supposed to keep it all straight?

By reading our guide, of course. Here's everything you need to know about AT&T's various streaming services -- for now. At this rate, who knows where it will end?
Live TV
AT&T TV

Read more
AT&T TV reinvents cable for a new age, but keeps the tired old pricing model
AT&T TV Launches Nationwide

AT&T TV Overview | AT&T

AT&T's subscription TV service, AT&T TV -- not to be confused with AT&T TV Now (formerly DirecTV Now) -- rolls out nationwide on Monday, March 2, after launching in more than a dozen markets last year. When you sign up for a two-year contract, you'll get an Android TV set-top box and a remote with a Google Assistant button. Frankly, it looks a lot like cable, which is exactly what AT&T TV is going for.

Read more