DirecTV Stream to launch next week

AT&T TV and AT&T TV Now will be rebranded and repackaged as DirecTV Stream from August 26.

This is the first major change for the brand since AT&T completed the spin-off of DirecTV as a standalone business with investment firm TPG earlier this month.

The company said that the newly branded DirecTV Stream “will become the single brand for video streaming services previously launched by AT&T, excluding HBO Max” – though subscribers who receive HBO Max as a part of their subscription package will continue to do so. 

The new brand was initially revealed during the DirecTV spin-off announcement, but no time frame was given. The aggregation-oriented platform will allow users to access streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, along with first-party services.

AT&T has historically struggled with its video business – hence the decision to separate DirecTV as its own entity. Across its three DirecTV, AT&T TV and U-verse video services, the company has 15.4 million video subscribers. 

In February 2020, AT&T agreed to sell roughly a third of its stake in DirecTV to TPG Capital. That agreement valued the pay TV unit at US$16.25 billion, representing a dramatic decrease from the US$68 billion AT&T spent for DirecTV when it acquired the business in 2015.