“Absolutely there were problems … the problems were not as big as I expected,” said Rodriguez, AT&T Entertainment’s CTO and the executive in charge of the technical aspects of the carrier’s newly launched DIRECTV NOW video streaming service. “I’m so proud of the quality we delivered.”
In an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Rodriguez told Fiercecable.com that AT&T worked for months to prepare its systems to handle the launch of DIRECTV NOW. He said the company specifically worked to own and operate as much of the distribution system as possible—he pointed to the company’s acquisition of QuickPlay earlier this year as an example of AT&T’s desire to own the technology that would distribute DIRECTV NOW’s services.
“We have to understand what each piece [of the distribution chain] is doing and how they interact with each other,” Rodriguez said.
During the interview Rodriguez said he is looking toward 2017 with the goal of improving DIRECTV NOW’s quality and device lineup, and introducing DVR services.
When the topic of devices came up, Rodriguez said DIRECTV NOW in 2017 would work to expand the number of devices that can access its services. Yet he declined to name any devices that the company is hoping to support. “You want to be in a position where no device is left behind,” he said.
As for when DIRECTV NOW will add a DVR Rodriguez said the company is working on that capability but didn’t provide any details.
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