DirecTV has ended the beta test of its cloud DVR and is preparing to launch a 120-hour version of the product as an add-on service.
Parent company AT&T has said the move is coming in recent quarterly earnings reports. And the company recently began notifying customers participating in the beta test that, starting on Aug. 29, their 100-hour True Cloud DVR beta will be converted to the 20-hour version that will be a standard offering on all DirecTV Now subscriptions going forward.
For those customers, AT&T said it will erase any content more than 30 days old. It will keep up to 20 hours of the most recently recorded video.
Related: DirecTV Now Seeking Cloud DVR Testers
Meanwhile, company insiders say they’re getting set to offer several tiers of True Cloud DVR service that will be sold as an add-on, with tiers ranging from 50 hours of HD recording time to 120 hours. AT&T has not disclosed what the additional fee for the service will be.
Speaking during AT&T’s first quarter earnings call in April, AT&T CFO John Stephens said new features like cloud DVR and pay per view will help enhance the margins of DirecTV Now, which analysts suspect loses money in its current iteration.
“These new services will add new revenue streams and help counter some of the revenue and margin pressure we are dealing with,” Stephens said.
AT&T launched its cloud DVR beta in the third quarter of last year. It’s unclear as to how many subscribers it hooked into the program.
