In an attempt to make a big splash with its upcoming DirecTV Now service, AT&T will reportedly give away Apple TVs to customers who agree to pay for three months of the service, according to a report from Variety. According to customer support documents obtained by the publication, AT&T’s over-the-top offering — which will cost $35 a month — will also give out free Amazon Fire TV sticks to customers who sign up for one month of the service.
The tactic isn’t new, as Sling TV had a similar giveaway last year, but the cost and potential scale of AT&T’s plan far exceeds previous offerings. Sling gave away $50 discounts for the then $99 Roku 3 and Amazon Fire TV if you bought three months of the service; AT&T would be giving away $150 Apple TVs for the same lock-in period.
The documents uncovered by Variety also gave some insight into the channels DirecTV Now may carry at launch, with channels like Fox, CBS, Univision, and the Sony Movie Channel named on a partial list of channels. (CBS would be the big surprise given that the only OTT network it’s agreed to work with so far is YouTube, which is reportedly preparing a TV service for next year.)
Those channels would go along with the previously announced carriage agreements between AT&T and Disney, NBCUniversal, Viacom, Scripps, Discovery, HBO, Starz, and A&E Networks. AT&T says the service will offer over 100 channels.DirecTV Now will feature a VOD library with around 14,000 titles, according to the report. It will also let users take advantage of a 72-hour catch-up window to watch shows you may have missed for up to three days, but according to Variety, every channel won’t be included with the feature (ESPN is notably exempt).
What hasn’t been clarified is whether the service will offer a cloud DVR service like Playstation Vue does, but with the release of DirecTV set to happen sometime this month, we shouldn’t have to wait much longer to find out.