Expanding its partnerships with OTT TV providers, Consolidated Communications said this week it is offering DirecTV Now, AT&T’s OTT TV service, across its service area.
A website for the partnership has been set up, offering new customers a free seven-day trial to DirecTV Now, a no-contract service that starts at $35 per month. Those customers may also be in line for a free 4K-capable Amazon Fire TV stick with a prepaid subscription. DirecTV Now is also starting to promote a “True Cloud DVR” beta offering that is “coming soon” and can record up to 20 hours of programming.
Financial terms were not disclosed, though it’s possible that Consolidated is getting a share of revenue, or at least a bounty, for any new DirecTV Now customers that come through its door.
The DirecTV Now deal also expands Consolidated’s strategy to offer video options to broadband-only customers, following a deal to sell fuboTV, the sports-oriented virtual MVPD, as well as HBO Now, HBO’s standalone, direct-to-consumer offering that does not require a separate pay TV service.
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Consolidated, which provides services, in parts of a 24-state area, ended 2017 with 783,682 data and internet connections, 103,313 video connections, and a grand total of 671,300 consumer customers.
For DirecTV Now, the marketing deal with Consolidated provides another subscriber-acquisition channel, and builds on an earlier one with Windstream. CenturyLink, which is in the process of closing down its CenturyLink Stream service, is now seeking out third-party OTT partnerships, and DirecTV Now is a logical candidate.
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DirecTV Now ended 2017 with 1.15 million subscribers, but hasn’t broken down how many have come through telco distribution partnerships in the early going.
