In what very well might be the model for future carriage deals, AT&T has locked up a broad-reaching program licensing deal with Time Warner Inc. and HBO, securing the premium cable outlet’s programming across both linear and digital platforms.
Notably, the deal includes carriage of HBO on DirecTV Now, the virtual pay-TV platform set to launch at the end of this year. The agreement also includes carriage of HBO and Cinemax on traditional pay-TV platforms DirecTV and AT&T U-verse.
"Our agreement with HBO is groundbreaking in the pay-TV and wireless industries as well as the premium category," said Dan York, chief content officer for AT&T, in a statement. "With this agreement, we have created easy access to subscribe and consume HBO's premium content across all of our platforms.”
Added said Simon Sutton, president of global distribution for HBO: "The entertainment landscape has evolved and we are excited to innovate on both AT&T's traditional and new platforms to further provide premium quality, extraordinary value and accessibility to viewers anywhere.”
It’s the second major programming announcement AT&T has made for DirecTV Now. The operator previously announced that Disney and ESPN were locked down for the virtual service.
For more:
- read this AT&T press release
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