AT&T to Transition U.S. Satellite TV Operations

Credible reports have it that AT&T will begin transiting its newly acquired U.S. satellite TV operations away from the DirecTV brand to the newly minted “AT&T Entertainment” starting January 2016.

A memo from the company to its customers and seen by FierceCable confirmed the impending move. “Beginning in January, you’ll see us add the AT&T globe to the DirecTV name and remove ‘Now a part of the AT&T family’ to signify that the best in connectivity unites with the ultimate in entertainment, and to make it clear that DirecTV is now part of the AT&T product line,” the memo read in part.

The announcement has not come at the wrong time or as a surprise to industry players. It is just recently that AT&T kicked off attempts to have its pay-TV business and satellite asset consolidated into one. The company’s management says the consolidation will help to make it more effective as far as service delivery is concerned.

“Once we have established our next generation TV platform, we plan to transition all TV product names to AT&T Entertainment to symbolize our move to a single entertainment portfolio,” the memo added. However, one of the AT&T representatives who spoke to FierceCable dismissed the reports saying the company has not yet released an official statement on the matter. He said such information was incorrect and baseless.

“The DirecTV brand is not going away in January and will continue for the foreseeable future,” the representative said. Even as they denied that, the memo was very clear that the company will “rewrap” legacy DirecTV installation vehicles with the AT&T globe. Older building signage will also be replaced according to contents of the memo that the company has since disowned. The memo further said that outside the U.S., the DirecTV and Sky brands will remain unchanged.

AT&T to Transition U.S. Satellite TV Operations

Related Posts

Leave a Comment: