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DirecTV Now passes 1 million customer mark

AT&T's streaming TV service takes just a little more than a year to cross that threshold.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials
  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
Roger Cheng
2 min read
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Screenshot by David Katzmaier / CNET

It took a little more than a year for AT&T's DirecTV Now streaming video service to reach its first million. 

The Dallas telecommunications provider said Tuesday that more than 1 million consumers have subscribed to its service, which offers a mix of live television channels and on-demand content over the internet to your phone, tablet or TV box like a Roku or Amazon Fire Stick. 

The figure marks solid progress for the upstart service, though it still lags behind Sling TV, which Comscore said in June had more than 2 million customers. DirecTV Now launched last November, while Sling TV launched in February of 2015. 

"This milestone is an incredible testament to the thousands of hours many people spent working to bring this product online and continually improving it during the past year," said David Christopher, president of AT&T Entertainment Group, in a statement.

DirecTV Now is a critical component of AT&T's strategy to transform from a company simply offering internet and wireless service to one creating as well as distributing your favorite entertainment. After gobbling up satellite TV provider DirecTV, AT&T is fighting the Justice Department for the right to complete its acquisition of Time Warner, home to "Harry Potter" and "Batman." 

AT&T teased further improvements to the service, including a digital video recorder in the cloud, more concurrent streams, the ability to download shows, and 4K and HD video.

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