DIRECTV Now has received numerous complaints over the last two days that its picture is frequently stuttering and/or skipping, according to subscriber posts at social media sites and AT&T’s user forum for the live streaming service.
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The problem is the latest in a series of technical snafus that have plagued DIRECTV Now since its launch on November 30. Despite public claims from AT&T executives (AT&T owns DIRECTV Now) that the issues have been resolved, subscribers continue to complain about everything from picture freezing to login difficulties.
The latest issue seems to be mostly affecting owners of Amazon Fire TV products who say the DIRECTV Now picture began frequently skipping and stuttering on June 28 after the live streamer updated its Amazon Fire app.
“@directvnow Getting bad stutter on every channel since yesterday. Unwatchable. Tested on 2 different Amazon Fire TV boxes. What’s going on?,” tweeted @SamirBabir on Twitter last night.
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“DIRECTV NOW is unwatchable on my Amazon Fire TV with all this skipping and stuttering galore. I can’t survive with this! @DIRECTVNowHelp,” added @LandoManiac, one of many to complain.
@DIRECTVNowHelp, the Twitter customer service team for DIRECTV Now, has acknowledged it’s aware of the issue and is working on a solution.
“This is a known issue that we are working to resolve. If you would please check periodically for updates,” the live streamer tweeted this morning shortly before 1 a.m. ET.
@DIRECTVNowHelp also seemed to confirm that the Amazon Fire app update led to the current difficulties.
“Sorry for the issue with the updated version. Hopefully this issue will be resolved within 48 hours,” the service tweeted last night.
There have been a few complaints from non-Amazon users, but the overwhelming majority are from Fire TV owners.
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— Phillip Swann
I’m a new subscriber to DirecTVnow having ended PlayStation Vue and picking up DirecTVnow as part of an AT&T unlimited plan for my new WHPI HomeBase. The live streaming works perfectly on every channel I’ve tried on a Roku 3 and Roku 2 but the VOD has never worked. On the Roku 2 I can watch a minute or two of VOD but then the screen goes black and reverts back to the show selection screen. On the Roku 3 the entire Roku system crashes after a minute or so of VOD and slowly reverts back to the channel selection screen. Trying to use the new dvr function leads to the same results as VOD. Calling Customer Service produced the response that they know about it and will fix it soon. “Soon” hasn’t happened yet and I’m quickly coming to the conclusion that getting something that doesn’t work for $10 isn’t better than paying full price for a service that does work.