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AT&T is basically giving away cable TV to wireless customers

Published Jun 2nd, 2017 9:01PM EDT
AT&T DirecTV Now Deals

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Late last year, AT&T launched DirecTV Now, a $35 streaming alternative to regular cable TV. In many ways, it’s a standard cable TV package, but you watch it on a phone or a Chromecast, rather than a cable TV box.

Even though $35 is less than most cheap cable packages, it’s still a whole bunch more money than avocado-eating millennials are used to spending on their Netflix subscription. Signups for the service clearly haven’t been as high as AT&T would like, as it’s been pushing promotions like free Apple TVs and a year of complimentary HBO ever since launch. Starting today there’s a new promotion for AT&T’s wireless customers, and it’s pretty hard to beat.

Anyone on AT&T’s $60-per-month Unlimited Choice cellphone plan can now get DirecTV Now for $10 a month, once bill credits have been applied. The DirecTV Now bundle you would get, called Live a Little, has 60 channels including most of the big cable news and some sports. Unlike customers on the more expensive $90-per-month Unlimited Plus bundle, you don’t get free HBO included.

It’s not a bad deal for cable TV, but it does tie you to AT&T’s Unlimited Choice plan, which objectively isn’t great. For $60 per month, you get “unlimited” data with a max speed of 3Mbps, with video capped at 480p. It’s technically not bad if you don’t mind slow web browsing and never tether, but it’s a bad deal even just compared to Verizon’s new Unlimited plan.

Still, if you’re a light data user who also is tired of paying for cable TV, AT&T’s plan could be worth a look.

Chris Mills
Chris Mills News Editor

Chris Mills has been a news editor and writer for over 15 years, starting at Future Publishing, Gawker Media, and then BGR. He studied at McGill University in Quebec, Canada.