Q. I live in the Slidell, Louisiana area where AT&T Sports Net Southwest airs games from the Houston Rockets and Houston Astros. I don’t want to get DIRECTV or U-verse (or Spectrum) so my question is: Do any of the live streaming services carry AT&T SportsNet Southwest? —  Keith, Slidell, Louisiana. 

Keith, as you may know, AT&T has refused to allow the live streaming services to carry its regional sports channels. That is, until now.

AT&T announced last week that fuboTV, the live streamer with a strong emphasis on sports, is now carrying AT&T SportsNet Southwest, which is the TV home of the Houston Astros and Houston Rockets. For the first time, fans in the Houston market, which includes Slidell, will be able to watch their favorite baseball and basketball teams without a subscription to satellite or cable.

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AT&T SportsNet Southwest is available throughout the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and portions of New Mexico. FuboTV subscribers in those states can now access the channel with their base plan, which starts at $44.99 a month.

If you’re not familiar with fuboTV, it’s a live streaming service that competes with DIRECTV Now, Sling TV, PlayStation Vue and other Internet-based, multi-channel offerings. The live streamers are targeting consumers looking for an alternative to traditional pay TV service from cable and satellite operators.

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While FuboTV emphasizes sports a bit more than its rivals, it should be noted that it does not carry ESPN, the nation’s most-watched sports channel. But FuboTV does offer more than 80 live channels for that $44.99 a month, and there is also a seven-day free trial for new customers.

There is no word that AT&T plans to offer AT&T SportsNet Southwest, or its other regional sports channels in the Pittsburgh and Rocky Mountain markets, to other live streamers in the future. But the fuboTV deal could be the beginning of a breakthrough.

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Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.

— Phillip Swann