AT&T sounds chuffed about subscriber launch stats for its streaming DirecTV Now service, which it started offering to consumers last week. According to CEO Randall Stephenson, who was speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Tuesday, the company already hit the subscriber benchmark it had set for December. “The early demand has been rather dramatic,” Stephenson says. He did note that it’s early days, but add-ons to the service like HBO for $5 more a month over the base cost of the service are also showing positive signs.

Initial reviews that came out on the web this week after DirecTV Now launched have touted it as everything from a quick pay TV provider killer (heard that one before?) to not-so-impressive. The reality probably lies in between, of course, since DirecTV Now is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea but it will be for many others.

AT&T’s strategy for DirecTV Now is to take direct aim at consumers that do not currently have pay TV or dissatisfied subscribers of competing services. Cord cutters. Cord nevers. Cord-cutting considerers. Those people tend to be younger, or those that just can’t deal with the whole idea around a satellite dish or a cable contract.

“For the more than 20 million U.S. households who have dropped cable or are flirting with cutting the cord, we’re now delivering video over a technology platform that will have multiple product capabilities,” AT&T stressed in a statement put out around the launch.

The service began Nov. 30 with the as-promised price tag of $35/month for 60+ channels. Other options available include a $50/month option for 80+ channels, a $60/month offering for 100+ channels, and a $70/month option for 120+ channels.

Perhaps AT&T’s good initial sub showing includes the fact that early takers are being offered the 100-channel package for $35/month for as long as they keep it.