Update: AT&T reached out to Cord Cutters News today to point out that this update has more to do with giving DIRECTV customers what they want and how they want it. Less about promoting one service over an another.
Here is the original story:
When DIRECTV NOW was first announced it was rumored that AT&T planned to move most, if not all, new subscribers over to the streaming service rather than the satellite service. At first that rumor was downplayed, but now AT&T has started to do just that.
Recently DIRECTV updated its satellite site and now prominently promotes its streaming service. Even the flyers for DIRECTV satellite now also include a promotion for DIRECTV NOW. (First seen on The TV Answer Man.)
Why is AT&T promoting DIRECTV NOW alongside the higher cost satellite service? The answer is a bit complicated.
It is true that DIRECTV NOW makes less per subscriber than the traditional satellite service; however, the startup costs are lower. There is no hardware to ship and no truck to roll out to the house to install a dish. So while the profit is smaller they become profitable more quickly.
The other reason is the fact that AT&T is a publicly traded company. It is happy to get a subscriber any way it can get one. This allows AT&T to mix DIRECTV NOW subscribers with DIRECTV subscribers, similarly to how DISH reports both streaming and satellite subscribers.
Although no effort has been made to move satellite subscribers to streaming it seems like we are getting closer to that possibility.
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