TNT, TBS and CNN are the latest major additions to AT&T’s soon-to-launch virtual-MVPD service, DirecTV Now, following a comprehensive carriage renewal agreement signed between AT&T and Turner Networks.
With the Turner deal, AT&T now has well over 100 channels lined up for its new service, factoring in recent deals with NBCUniversal, Discovery Communications and Turner’s Time Warner Inc. sibling, HBO.
AT&T also locked up carriage for linear pay-TV platforms U-verse and DirecTV, along with associated multiscreen rights.
"Turner's goal as a consumer-first media company is to make our content available everywhere our audience is, and this expansive deal with AT&T helps deliver on that promise by having our leading portfolio of popular networks and premium programming available on more services and platforms than ever before," said Turner president David Levy in a statement.
"The Turner agreement adds more premium content to our already robust line-up of DirecTV Now channels available to customers when it launches this year,” added AT&T Chief Content Officer Dan York. "We're also pleased to extend our relationship with Turner and provide our customers with access to its content across all AT&T platforms and products.”
Earlier today, UBS released a results of a consumer survey, in which the financial company predicted that so-called “V-MVPDs” like DirecTV Now will amass 15 million subscribers by 2020.
“While YouTube and Netflix have been disrupting the TV ecosystem for a decade, we expect Internet-based pay-TV services to more dramatically upend business models by offering the same content at a lower price while transforming the user experience,” said the report, top-lined by UBS analyst Doug Mitchelson.
For more:
- read this Turner Networks press release
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