AT&T is offering customers a new way to watch DirecTV and DirecTV Now, with a new tablet designed specially with video entertainment in mind.
Starting Friday, business and consumer customers can purchase a Primetime tablet for $10 per month for 20 months, or $29.99 with a two-year contract.
The 10-inch HD tablet features Dolby audio sound, split screen capabilities, and dual Bluetooth media streams so multiple users can tune in with different headsets. The device also has a TV Mode, where users can access apps like DirecTV and AT&T’s streaming service DirecTV Now, though they must have a subscription to the services.
“Whether you’re at home or on-the-go, the AT&T Primetime tablet offers and entertainment-first experience at a very affordable price,” Kevin Petersen, SVP of device and network services marketing at AT&T, comments. “Not only is this tablet priced competitively, but it is also packed with some of the latest and greatest audio and video features designed to deliver premium entertainment that is just one-touch away.”
AT&T Unlimited Plus or Unlimited Choice customers can add Primetime to their unlimited wireless plan for an additional $20 per month.
The new device could be a bid to add more DirecTV Now users to AT&T’s subscriber base, as the company reported losing 351,000 traditional TV subscribers in the second quarter of 2017. That loss was somewhat offset by adding 152,000 new DirecTV Now subscribers.
However, tablet-based viewing may not be a huge lure for adults. In May Nielsen reported that the amount of time adults spend watching video on TV screens dwarfs viewing on all other types of screens combined.
TV, including TV-connected devices, accounted for a 92.4 percent share of gross minutes in time spent viewing for the last quarter of 2016. Comparatively, smartphones, PCs, and tablets only had a combined share of 7.6 percent. Of that tablets only accounted for a 0.7 percent share of minutes watching video.
