AT&T may be getting joining the premium mobile subscription video service fray. The telecommunications giant hinted at plans to release its own mobile entertainment service at some point in January 2016.
The unofficial announcement was made by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on December 8, 2015. According to a report from Deadline, Stephenson said his company plans to “turn some heads” with the service, which will include “new capabilities, integrated products, and pricing” built on AT&T’s owned property and pay-TV brand DirecTV. The AT&T CEO revealed little else about the mobile video service as of this writing.
However, Stephenson did point out the target market the telco giant is aiming to reach with its mobile entertainment platform. The CEO said AT&T wants to reach “value-conscious consumers,” like the millions of consumers who are cord-cutters and cord-nevers. “Putting together a bundle of DirecTV content they can acquire over a mobile device or a single screen in the home: that is something we are very interested in,” Stephenson said. “You should assume we’re doing something.”
Stephenson also pointed out AT&T already has as “robust an entertainment portfolio as any over-the-top provider” in terms of programming. Much of this is thanks to Otter Media, the telco’s joint venture alongside the Chernin Group. Through Otter, AT&T and Chernin run the Ellation brand, which combines several owned properties including anime video platform Crunchyroll. AT&T and Chernin also own controlling stakes in multi-channel network Fullscreen, and the two brands used Otter Media to invest in Supergravity Pictures, as well.
AT&T has also released its own branded original video programming in the past. The telco teamed with the Chernin Group for the web series Summer Break back in 2013. More recently, AT&T and Chernin worked on the Streamy Award-winning superhero-themed Snapchat series SnapperHero, starring several prominent YouTube and Vine stars like Freddie Wong and Simone Shepherd.
Stephenson noted that AT&T hasn’t released much content at the level of Netflix, but that doesn’t seem to phase him. In fact, the CEO said his company “might do more of that” Netflix-style of content in the future.
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