Effective January 1, 2020, AT&T announced that it was pulling support for its dwindling AT&T Now service (formerly DirecTV Now) on Roku devices and Roku TVs, citing that the contract between AT&T and Roku has since expired. This does not affect those customers who have already installed the AT&T Now app on their Roku device or TV and AT&T is urging those customers to not delete the app, as they will not be able to re-install it until the contract has been renegotiated. This was first reported yesterday by Cord Cutters News and later this morning by Next TV.
This all seems a bit odd and hints at AT&T shooting themselves in the foot for removing access on one of the most popular streaming devices to a service that has been bleeding customers for several months. This comes as a shock for many cord cutters to see a subscription service disappear from a streaming device. It also seems odd that such a contract would exist between AT&T and Roku – if you have ever had an issue with an app on Roku and contacted Roku support, the first thing the agent will tell you is that Roku has no control over how an app (or as Roku likes to call them, channels) performs and that you should contact the provider. However, Roku has been trying to re-invent their business model, hoping to now monetize any subscriptions or purchases a Roku owner makes on their devices, rather than rely almost solely on device sales, licence fees on Roku TVs, and advertising (either banner ads or advertisements during programming on their Roku Channel app), so it is certainly possible that Roku was receiving a small commission for customers who signed up or simply from the DirecTV NOW quick select button found on select Roku device remotes.
Todd Erwin has been a reviewer at Home Theater Forum since 2008. His love of movies began as a young child, first showing Super 8 movies in his backyard during the summer to friends and neighbors at age 10. He also received his first movie camera that year, a hand-crank Wollensak 8mm with three fixed lenses. In 1980, he graduated to "talkies" with his award-winning short The Ape-Man, followed by the cult favorite The Adventures of Terrific Man two years later. Other films include Myth or Fact: The Talbert Terror and Warren's Revenge (which is currently being restored). In addition to movie reviews, Todd has written many articles for Home Theater Forum centering mostly on streaming as well as an occasional hardware review, is the host of his own video podcast Streaming News & Views on YouTube and is a frequent guest on the Home Theater United podcast.
Post Disclaimer
Some of our content may contain marketing links, which means we will receive a commission for purchases made via those links. In our editorial content, these affiliate links appear automatically, and our editorial teams are not influenced by our affiliate partnerships. We work with several providers (currently Skimlinks and Amazon) to manage our affiliate relationships. You can find out more about their services by visiting their sites.
Similar threads