One week after completing its acquisition of Time Warner, AT&T today announced the impending launch of an all-new live TV service called "WatchTV," which unsurprisingly includes many channels under the Time Warner umbrella (via Engadget). This appears to be the service not focused on sports that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in April would be coming very soon.

The announcement came alongside AT&T's reveal of two new unlimited wireless plans, called "AT&T Unlimited &More" and "AT&T Unlimited &More Premium." WatchTV will be directly tied into these cellular plans, offering plan subscribers access to the TV service at no additional cost.

att watchtv
The service includes 30+ live channels, over 15,000 TV shows and movies on demand, and will be available on "virtually every" smartphone, tablet, browser, and streaming device. Subscribers to &More Premium will be able to add one of several premium services for no extra charge: HBO, SHOWTIME, Cinemax, Starz, Amazon Music Unlimited, Pandora Premium, or VRV.

Here's the full list of channels available on WatchTV at launch:

  • A&E
  • AMC
  • Animal Planet
  • Audience
  • BBC World News
  • BBC America
  • Boomerang
  • Cartoon Network
  • CNN
  • Discovery
  • Food Network
  • FYI
  • Hallmark Channel
  • Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
  • HGTV
  • History
  • HLN
  • IFC
  • Investigation Discovery
  • Lifetime
  • Lifetime Movies
  • OWN
  • Sundance TV
  • TBS
  • TCM
  • TLC
  • TNT
  • TRU TV
  • Velocity
  • Viceland
  • WE TV

Channels coming soon after launch include:

  • BET
  • Comedy Central
  • MTV 2
  • Nicktoons
  • Teennick
  • VH1

The &More Premium plan (starting at $80/month for an individual line) offers WatchTV, a premium service add-on, 15GB of high-speed tethering, access to 1080p high definition video, and a $15 monthly credit to put towards DirecTV, DirecTV Now, or U-verse TV, similar to the carrier's current unlimited plans. On the lower tier, &More (starting at $70/month) offers WatchTV, a $15 monthly credit to DirecTV Now, access to 480p video, and up to 4G LTE unlimited data.

AT&T didn't give many other details about the new unlimited plans, but said that more information will be coming when they launch, which is expected sometime next week. Additionally, the company confirmed that WatchTV will be available as a $15/month standalone live TV streaming service for those not on an AT&T unlimited cellular plan, and those details will also come at a later time.

Top Rated Comments

wsuschmitt Avatar
75 months ago
With net neutrality gone, they can prioritize THEIR streaming service over anyone else's and have an unfair competitive advantage on their own network! AT&T customers can stream the AT&T service, but Netflix and Hulu might not work as well...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Braderunner Avatar
75 months ago
I have zero interest in live tv. Even if it's free. And, I will never go back to AT&T.
When I read the headline, I saw: But 1 turd, get 1 turd free.
No thanks. They can keep their crap. :cool:
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
malcolmman89 Avatar
75 months ago
It is getting so tiresome to hear carriers throwing around the term "Unlimited" like they do, when in reality there are still data caps on high-speed data. If you use more data than they want you to, your connection is slowed to the speed of a fax machine. I feel like it is just a word used to lure unsuspecting customers, when in reality there are more strings attached than ever before.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TimUSCA Avatar
75 months ago
With net neutrality gone, they can prioritize THEIR streaming service over anyone else's and have an unfair competitive advantage on their own network! AT&T customers can stream the AT&T service, but Netflix and Hulu might not work as well...
This is the literal definition of FUD. You're worrying about things that a company might possibly maybe do just because they can.

Yes, they can do it. Let's not freak out unless they do though. They still have to compete with other carriers, so just because they can doesn't mean it's a smart business move.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
deeddawg Avatar
75 months ago
With net neutrality gone, they can prioritize THEIR streaming service over anyone else's and have an unfair competitive advantage on their own network! AT&T customers can stream the AT&T service, but Netflix and Hulu might not work as well...
Yes, it's awful how we've returned to the hellacious Internet conditions that existed before February 2015.

Remember how the Internet barely worked, and no new services or companies ever come into existence in the lawless period from 1990 to 2015?

Woe is us. We are lost.

[doublepost=1529588748][/doublepost]
And DTVN is still complete garbage. I tried it for a week, ultimately decided to go with Sling for my live TV needs. Sling has its drawbacks, but at least it works. DTVN was nothing but buffering, app crashes, and a half-assed DVR that was full of bugs.
Odd that you've had that experience when DTVN works just fine for myself and many others.

We use it as our primary live-tv source, sharing the account between home and our vacation place.

No it's not perfect, but for us it works fine for the most part and isn't at all what your description suggests.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac 128 Avatar
75 months ago
I agree, which is why I'm with PS Vue. But the question was how how it compared to the new WatchTV.
[doublepost=1529592604][/doublepost]
If you're going make ridiculous comparisons, then just don't contribute. There are obviously situations where government interference is a good thing and where it's a bad thing, otherwise we'd be a dictatorship since the government obviously knows what's best for everyone.

Besides, I never even said I was against NN. I am simply pointing out that there's no need to freak out until we're given a reason. There's a strong argument to be made that we were fine before NN was a thing for a very short period of time.
Then perhaps you shouldn’t contribute either, if you don’t care for gross simplifications of the issue. There are plenty of simple comparisons involving public safety where simple barriers thought unnecessary were erected after the first injury. Public regulations are designed to prevent such potential injuries before they occur, in situations where they might reasonably occur, if unlikely. Simply because no one ever fell off a ledge before the barrier was erected is not rationale enough to assume one was not necessary to prevent future injuries. Just because we were fine before NN doesn’t mean we should ignore the opportunity for abuse based on predictable, historical, business practices alone, however unlikely we hope it may be. A simple precautionary barrier will prevent public injury before the failure to self regulate occurs — and history all but guarantees it will.

The irony is you’ve gone full speed into a head-on crash into FUD, by implying NN regulations constitutes “a dictatorship”, to say nothing of the hyperbole that “the government obviously knows what’s best for everyone” by legislating regulation. Last I checked, at least in the US, the government reflects the will of the people who elect representatives to look out for their concerns, which are expressed by votes and lobbying. In the case of NN, the regulation was repealed after public opinion was overwhelmingly rejected by those in power, which is literally the definition of “dictatorship”.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...