AT&T is deep into the TV business, both as a provider, through services like U-Verse and DirecTV, and as a content creator with networks like HBO and CNN.
I have to give the company credit: It’s usually out front in all the ways to distribute and sell TV service.
For years, AT&T and other TV providers made their money by running a cable to your house and putting a box at the end that was attached to your TV.
Those services are expensive to offer and to maintain. We’ve all seen white AT&T vans in our neighborhoods with the one orange cone on the street to keep the traffic back a bit.
Those vans carry technicians who make a lot of money to install and fix AT&T TV, phone and internet services.
More recently, AT&T has offered streaming services like DirecTV Now, which morphed into AT&T Now and a smaller, stripped-down service called AT&T Watch TV.
AT&T is not afraid to try things to see whether they work.
Their latest offering is a service called AT&T TV, which both delights and infuriates me.
Let’s dive into the particulars.
What is it?
AT&T TV is a Live TV streaming service that also includes an Android-powered set-top box with a pretty nice remote to connect to your TV.
You provide your own internet connection, from AT&T or anyone else.
AT&T wants users of this service to be able to install it themselves.
The box is very small. It resembles a drink coaster with connections on the back for power, ethernet and HDMI out to your TV. There are no buttons on the front. The interaction is through a remote control.
Unpack the set-top box, plug it in and connect it to your TV through an HDMI port. You can then use an ethernet cable or enter Wi-Fi credentials for your home network.
The box will start up, and after you enter your login, you’re connected.
AT&T wants this service to seem like the TV experience people have been used to all these years, so when you turn it on, the channel you were last watching starts playing immediately, which is different from every other streaming service I’ve used.
If you’ve ever had U-Verse or DirecTV, the interface will look pretty familiar — especially the remote, which has number keys (the channels are numbered) and a guide button.
AT&T TV has the most streaming channels of any service I’ve tried, but, unlike most other services, there are four bundles for you to choose, and, as you would expect, the bundles get more expensive as they add channels.
You can find a list of channels at www.att.com/channels/att-tv/.
There are also plenty of extra channels you can add on for a price.
I didn’t find much missing from AT&T TV’s channel lineup except for my local PBS station. All the other major local broadcast channels are there (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC), as are Telemundo and Univision.
The service has a DVR that records to the cloud. You can record as many shows as you like (I had 10 shows recording at once), but you have a 500-hour limit and shows expire after 90 days.
AT&T would like this to be the only box you need to watch TV, so it included the Android operating system, which opens up the Google app store. This lets you use all kinds of apps, including streaming services like YouTube, Disney+, HBO Now, Sling TV, Philo, PBS and dozens more.
I didn’t find Amazon Prime or Hulu.
Users can also purchase or rent movies from Google’s Movie and TV store.
AT&T TV users can also load music streaming services like Spotify and Pandora.
Easy to use
I had a good experience watching AT&T TV.
I have to say, AT&T TV has the easiest-to-use interface of any streaming service I’ve tried.
Picture quality is great.
The remote also has a microphone and the Google Assistant built in so you can speak commands to control the AT&T TV experience and any other skill that your Google Assistant is set up to do.
Recording was also easy. When you find a show you want to save, press the remote button with the red dot and recording begins. Pressing the record button a second time will record the series.