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Bloomberg
AT&T Inc is putting its new Time Warner arsenal of media properties to work, unveiling plans to roll out a three-tiered streaming-video service to compete with Netflix Inc.
One of the new products launching late next year will be a movies-only plan, the company said. Another will have original programming as well as blockbuster films. And the highest-priced choice will include content licensed from other companies.
AT&T will have plenty of competition. Walt Disney Co is introducing an online service with Star Wars and Marvel shows around the same time, and Jeffrey Katzenberg has a new short-form video project in the works. But AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephe-nson has to find new ways to retain TV viewers: His DirecTV Now online streaming service is going to lose subscribers this quarter and next, AT&T said.
The telecom giant provided the latest details as part of a presentation to analysts and investors, who are looking for signs that the company can get a payoff from its $85 billion Time Warner deal.
A surprising loss of both TV and wireless subscribers in third-quarter raised concerns about company’s core business and drew attention to its $183 billion debt load and a costly 5G network
expansion ahead.