AT&T is reportedly planning to launch a new $15-per-month streaming service called AT&T Watch that doesn’t feature any sports content.
That’s according to multiple people covering the AT&T-DOJ trial. Washington Post reporter Brian Fung said AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson announced the service today during his testimony. Hollywood Reporter editor Eriq Gardner also mentioned the upcoming service.
According to Fung, AT&T Watch will launch in the coming weeks.
Stephenson says that in the coming weeks, AT&T will be offering another streaming skinny bundle product called AT&T Watch. It’ll be like DirecTV Now, but without sports programming and priced at $15 a month instead of $35. Don’t believe this has been announced before. #USvATT
— Brian Fung (@b_fung) April 19, 2018
RELATED: Deeper Dive—AT&T goes all-in with DirecTV Now, but Wall Street remains unimpressed
AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation on AT&T Watch.
Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said that AT&T Watch will be available to all customers regardless of their broadband or wireless provider, but that it will be free to AT&T's wireless subscribers.
"While T has offered discounts for DTV Now to wireless user - the content package it offers (with the exception of HBO) not been free to T subscribers. If successful, we believe this could put more pressure on the other three wireless carriers (TMUS, S, TMUS) to act in a more formal way in the content space," Fritzsche wrote in a research note.
By launching a $15/month streaming service with no sports content, AT&T would directly compete with Philo, a $16-per-month streaming service that launched late last year with live channels from cable programmers A+E, AMC Networks, Discovery Inc. and Viacom. Philo's available networks include A&E, AMC, Discovery Channel, HGTV and Comedy Central.
It's unclear which channels AT&T would include with its no-sports streaming bundle.
AT&T Watch would be significantly less expensive than DirecTV Now, AT&T’s $35-per-month streaming TV service. When the company initially announced in early 2016 plans to launch a streaming TV service, it mentioned two other service tiers beside DirecTV Now. DirecTV Mobile was planned to be a cheaper version of DirecTV Now that only worked on smartphones, and DirecTV Preview was going to be a free ad-supported version with limited content.
This article was updated to add analyst comment.