DIRECTV Now has started adding local CBS affiliates, just in time for the first slate of National Football League games on Sunday.
AT&T, which owns the live streaming service, announced last month that it had struck a deal with CBS to offer its local stations in 25 markets as well as the CBS-owned Showtime, CBS Sports Network, Pop and the CW. However, the telco did not reveal a launch date at the time of the announcement.
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DIRECTV Now subscribers yesterday in San Francisco, Minneapolis, Boston and other cities began posting messages at Twitter and other social media sites that the Net TV service had added their local CBS feeds. CordCutterNews.com also reported that some local affiliates had been added.
There was no indication that DIRECTV Now had added Showtime, CBS Sports, the CW or Pop in any markets yet.
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AT&T has not issued a launch announcement yet for the CBS affiliates. The telco said in August that the first rollout will include only 14 of the agreed-upon 25 affiliates with the rest coming later.
The first 14 affiliate markets expected to be added are:
- New York
- Los Angeles
- Chicago
- Philadelphia
- Dallas – Ft. Worth
- San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
- Boston
- Detroit
- Minneapolis-St. Paul
- Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
- Denver
- Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, Calif.
- Pittsburgh
- BaltimoreIt’s unclear if all 14 affiliates will be added by Sunday.
Despite some technical issues, particularly in the first few months after launch in November 2016, AT&T said that DIRECTV Now had nearly 500,000 paying subscribers at the end of the third quarter. The addition of the CBS channels should help bolster its marketing effort.
— Phillip Swann