DirecTV Now: Everything you need to know

AT&T kicked off this week with some big news: DirecTV Now, its streaming IPTV service, is here. Starting today, you can sign up for a free trial on a wide range of platforms including smartphones, tablets, living room streaming devices, and PCs. No satellite dish or cable box required; all over the web. I’ve been using DirecTV Now for a day, and my early impression was that there’s a lot of potential and value in it, but the first try feels a bit incomplete.

Four tiers of channel packages are offered with DirecTV Now, but the deal AT&T is pushing aggressively at launch is a limited-time promotion that lets you pay $35 per month for a package with more than 100 channels. This level will eventually cost $60 for those who missed the introductory offer. AT&T claims that anyone who signs up in time will be able to stay at the $35 price tag as long as they remain an active DirecTV Now customer. And yes, the $35 promotion gets you nice savings and something especially It can be compared to the traditional cable. Even better, you can subscribe to HBO for just $5 more each month.

Even without HBO, DirecTV Now includes many popular channels, and the cheapest subscription will get you access to shows like The Walking Dead, Empire, The Voice, Grey’s Anatomy, and others. But there are downsides. The most urgent is that the service He doesn’t have CBS In his assortment, which means you can not watch The Big Bang Theory, NCIS, 60 min, and other results of the weekly assessments. Showtime is also absent, and at least for the time being, DirecTV Now won’t offer the NFL Sunday Pass or the Red Zone channel. There’s some weirdness about live TV from the big networks (ABC, FOX, NBC), too; Only customers in cities where those networks operate the local station will receive live programming.

Even worse, DirecTV Now has no DVR functionality whatsoever for recording shows. If you missed something live, you’ll have to hope that replays will eventually be available on demand. Sony’s PlayStation Vue, a competitor to AT&T’s new service, is offering a cloud-based DVR that can save recordings for up to 28 days. Another competitor, Sling TV, will soon start testing on its own cloud DVR. In response, AT&T has already confirmed that DirecTV Now will add a DVR feature in 2017. They know it’s a glaring weakness, and they’re working on it.

Well, you say, but what is it like to actually replace your cable with DirecTV Now? I spent most of Tuesday doing a test run, and there it is a lot channels here if you pay for this $35 promotion. Scrolling through the entire directory may take some time. Fortunately, DirecTV Now allows you to choose your favorite channels and display those on a separate list. The interface (which I tested on the Apple TV) was mostly fast and smooth, but it’ll take 30 minutes or even an hour before you can remember where everything is and how to get around. Some swipe gestures—at least on the Apple TV remote—feel illogical and a little confusing. Swiping left or right changes channels one by one, but this forces you to pass all channel instead of your favourite, which seems pretty stupid. Everything about the guide is a 1.0 product that looks very much part of it, and reminds me of what Sling TV was like at launch. It’s not quite as close and put together, but there’s plenty of room for improvement.

Choose an individual grid and you get a vertically scrolling list of programming table, but choosing a view from there doesn’t really do any good. There’s a brief summary and that’s about it. For a service you can watch anywhere (and one that lacks a DVR), I wish DirecTV Now let you set up notification reminders for when your favorite shows are about to air. no!

As it is, the current interface lets you find your way around without too much confusion. The other aspects of it are much nicer and show more refinement. The TV is full screen and the movies that play as you change channels are HD and look great, and the on-demand menus are clear enough. There’s a watchlist for keeping track of all your favorite shows, but again, DirecTV Now does very little to highlight when the next episode is. It’s up to you, TV addict.

Channels loaded pretty quickly—one or two seconds at most—in my two days of using DirecTV Now. From what my eyes could tell, it instantly uploaded in 1080p. But I’m not sure what bandwidth AT&T offers for streaming at; Traces of compression were sometimes visible, and some channels looked noticeably better than others.

The service doesn’t officially support or encourage pausing live TV, but I was able to do so on several channels during my testing. An AT&T spokesperson explained that the short pauses are between 5 and 10 seconds We are Allowed, though not for all channels. Any longer than that, and you’ll be taken back to live TV when you hit the play button again. Video-on-demand content supports pause, rewind and fast-forward functions. But even there, sometimes it gets restricted.

Speaking of VOD, AT&T was in the process of uploading a “rewind” and on-demand programming vault for DirecTV Now during my experiment, so it’s too early to tell if you’ll find a better choice than Sling TV or PlayStation Vue. There are Netflix-like categories to help you parse the catalog, though AT&T is wasting some space to amplify its original content that very few people will ever see — except for The Taylor Swift Show, obviously.

That’s who I am Can Say after a few hours of watching DirecTV Now: If you only (or mostly) care about sitting on the couch and watching live TV, it might be an interesting option. Will you save money compared to what you’re paying Comcast or anyone else now? Yes to some, no to others. There is a way to suddenly increase your internet bills when calling the cable company and cancel half of your precious double play. But $35 is cheap. Cheap enough AT&T will likely take a hit For every customer who jumps on the temporary deal. If you ever cancel the service or lose your $35, 100-channel subscription, the whole thing becomes more expensive and less compelling.

Price isn’t everything and there’s a lot of work to be done on AT&T’s part. DirecTV now needs CBS. Having to subscribe to Unlimited separately or using an antenna for one channel don’t seem like great solutions to me. DirecTV Now needs a Sunday ticket. Needs a DVR. Maybe it needs to increase the number of concurrent streams for some people to consider subscribing. And this company’s trampling on net neutrality could drive others away before they get there. But as long as what you’re missing isn’t a deal breaker, you don’t have much to lose by going for the free trial.

How do I stream DirecTV Now?
Here’s what you are no You need: A satellite dish or DirecTV box connected to your TV. Instead, DirecTV Now only requires an Internet connection and any of the following gadgets or web browsers:

• Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick
• Android smartphones and tablets
• Camel
• Chromecast (Android at launch, iOS in 2017)
• Google Cast on supported Vizio and LeEco TVs
• Google Chrome
• Internet browser
• IPAD
• iPhone
• Safari

Roku is an obvious omission from that list, but AT&T says it will bring DirecTV Now to the popular streaming line in 2017 — possibly much sooner in the year than later.

How many simultaneous streams are allowed?
Only two devices can watch at the same time. This is very unfortunate if you want DirecTV Now to be your one stop TV solution for the whole family. If one person is watching on TV and anyone Broadcasting is done from a smartphone, tablet or laptop, that’s it. It may take some coordination if several people live in your home or apartment.

Can I watch live programming from ABC, FOX, and NBC?
The answer to this question, like PlayStation Vue, depends on where you live. If it’s in a city where the networks own and operate the local stations, you’re good to go. But in cities where these channels are operated by affiliates – this is the case a lot From Places – You won’t see live shows and can only access on-demand stuff the day after it originally aired. unlike Monthly subscriptions to PlayStation Vue, DirecTV Now cost the same regardless of whether or not you have access to live network programming. So you’ll want to research this before signing up.

Added Nov 30 at 3:00 PM: There are also somewhat unfortunate restrictions that apply to local NBC stations. According to AT&T’s own website, live local NBC feeds (regardless of market) are not viewable on “streaming devices or Apple TV” leaving you with… basically only web browsers. This is not good.

What about regional football and sports channels?
DirecTV Now does not carry the NFL Sunday Pass or the Red Zone Channel. If there is a game on channel now Do You should be able to adjust. Blackout rules apply, and Verizon holds exclusive streaming rights on smartphones, so you can’t watch the NFL there. Your TV or laptop should work fine.

• Availability of regional sports networks varies by your location; The YES Network is part of DirecTV Now in New York, for example. AT&T says it’s offered in other regions of the US:
  Comcast SportsNet: Bay Area, California, Chicago, Mid-Atlantic, New England
• Fox Sports: Southeast and the Sun
• FSN Arizona, Cincinnati, Detroit, Florida, Midwest, North, Ohio, San Diego, South, Southwest, West

What is the decision? frame rate?
When viewed on TV platforms, DirecTV Now broadcasts in “up to” 1080p resolution. On my stable home Wi-Fi connection, it seems to start up consistently and maintain this quality without any visible degradation, buffering, or pauses. But that was hardly with anyone using the service on Tuesday; We’ll have to see how it holds up once people start jumping on the $35 offer en masse.

On mobile, there are two options for video quality: good and better. The “Better” option will get you HD resolution, according to an AT&T spokesperson. It’s supposed to be “Good” for less than that and it comes in 480p/DVD quality.

In an interview with the edge, AT&T Entertainment CEO John Stankey said 4K will “definitely” be a part of DirecTV Now’s future.

As for the frame rate, the service supports up to 60fps – good news for sports fans.

Does DirecTV Now Support 5.1 Surround Sound?
Yes. 5.1 audio output is currently only available on Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

Can I sign in to the TV Everywhere apps (HBO Go, WatchESPN, Disney, etc.) with my DirecTV Now account information?
Yes. AT&T believes most people will stick to the main DirecTV Now app for all of their broadcasts, but you can use your account credentials to authenticate with the following apps on different devices, with more to be added in the future:

• HBO Go
• Max Joe
• ABC
• ESPN
• Disney, Disney Junior, Disney XD

Can I see the entire channel list?
certainly. Here are the channels that come with each DirecTV Now category. If you want to compare it to PlayStation Vue and Sling TV, Cnet He did a great job Determine who submits what.

I’ll be testing DirecTV Now more widely (and on multiple devices) over the coming days, so leave any lingering questions in the comments if you left any unanswered.