DirecTV Now has ended the beta test of its cloud DVR and, according to one published report, is preparing to launch 120-hour version of the product as an add-on service.
UPDATED: In May, parent company AT&T announced that it would debut an add-on cloud DVR for its virtual pay TV service that delivered 100 hours of storage for $10 a month. However, enthusiasts blog BestAppleTV.com is reporting that DirecTV Now will now offer multiple tiers of its add-on cloud DVR ranging from 50 hours of storage to 120 hours.
An AT&T rep denied that the company's DVR add-on plan has moved beyond the initial May announcement of a 100-hour, $10-a-month add-on.
The company recently began notifying customers participating in the beta test that, starting on August 29, their free 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
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 explained.
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.
