AT&T told customers today that the AT&T TV app is no longer available on Roku devices, effectively ending app support for virtual MVPD AT&T Now on the top OTT device ecosystem.
According to an AT&T customer support page, discovered by Cord Cutter News, the app became unavailable on Roku boxes, streaming sticks and enabled smart TVs yesterday, Jan. 1.
“Already have AT&T TV on your Roku device? You can keep using it as long as you don't delete the app. We're actively working on a new agreement with Roku and hope to resolve this soon,” the support page said.
AT&T TV supports AT&T Now, the vMVPD AT&T is quietly shoving aside to make room for the confusingly monikered AT&T TV, the live-streamed version of AT&T’s premium pay TV service.
AT&T TV is currently in beta and set to roll out nationwide in February, and the new service doesn’t have much need for living-room based OTT devices. Rather, AT&T TV requires a proprietary Android TV-powered set-top, rendering app-based viewing to iOS and Android mobile devices.
But this is certainly a major nail in the coffin for AT&T Now (formerly DirecTV Now), which was on the way to becoming the top virtual MVPD before AT&T suddenly stopped its aggressive loss-leader promotional support for the service in late 2018.
According to Strategy Analytics data released over the summer, Roku is the No. 1 OTT device ecosystem in the U.S., accounting for 15.2% of connected TVs.
