page_title: DirecTV
section_title: Subsidiary of AT&T (2015–present)
hierarchical_section_title: DirecTV / History / Subsidiary of AT&T (2015–present)
caption_attribution_description: English: Directv logo
context_page_description: DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider based in El Segundo, California and is a subsidiary of AT&T. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Its primary competitors are Dish Network and cable television providers. On July 24, 2015, after receiving approval from the United States Federal Communications Commission and United States Department of Justice, AT&T acquired DirecTV in a transaction valued at $67.1 billion.
  As of the end of Q3 2020, AT&T had 18.4 million pay TV customers, including DirecTV, U-Verse, AT&T TV and AT&T TV Now subscribers.
context_section_description: On May 18, 2014, AT&T announced that it would purchase DirecTV. In the deal, which had been approved by boards of both companies, DirecTV stockholders received $95 a share in cash and stock, valuing the deal at $48.5 billion. Including assumed debt, the total purchase price was about $67.1 billion.  The deal was aimed at increasing AT&T's market share in the pay-TV sector; its existing U-verse brand had modest market share (5.7 million users compared to DirecTV's 20 million US customers as of 2014) and operates in only 22 states. It also gave AT&T access to fast-growing Latin American markets, where DirecTV has 18 million subscribers.
  The deal faced regulatory approval by the FCC, the U.S. Department of Justice, and some Latin American governments. It was expected to take about 12 months to complete.  The deal was also contingent on the combined company's ability to renew its exclusive rights to carry the NFL Sunday Ticket service beyond the 2015 NFL season on "substantially the terms discussed between the parties."
  The acquisition was officially approved by the FCC on July 24, 2015; it is subject to conditions for four years, requiring AT&T to expand its fiber-optic broadband service to additional customers, public libraries, and schools, and to "refrain from imposing discriminatory usage-based allowances or other discriminatory retail terms and conditions on its broadband internet service".
  At an analyst meeting in August 2015, AT&T announced plans to converge DirecTV and its IPTV-based U-verse service around a common "home entertainment gateway" platform based upon DirecTV hardware, with "very thin hardware profiles". AT&T Entertainment and Internet Services CEO John Stankey explained that the new platform would offer "single truck roll installation for multiple products, live local streaming, improved content portability, over-the-top integration for mobile broadband, and user interface re-engineering. All of these are steps that are planned to deliver that premium effortless entertainment experience anywhere."
  In September 2015, AT&T selected Ericsson to be hardware provider for the new platform, and hired former Sirius XM, Cisco Systems and Microsoft executive VP Enrique Rodriguez to be vice president and CTO of the AT&T Entertainment and Internet Services division.
  On December 2, 2015, AT&T announced plans to phase out the DirecTV brand as part of the introduction of the new platform, which will be marketed as AT&T Entertainment. The company also adopted a new logo, replacing its previous emblem with that of AT&T.
  In February 2016, Bloomberg reported that AT&T was in the process of phasing out the U-verse IPTV service by encouraging new customers to purchase DirecTV satellite service instead, and by ending the production of new set-top boxes for the service. An AT&T spokesperson denied that U-verse was being shut down, and explained that the company was "leading its video marketing approach with DirecTV" to "realize the many benefits" of the purchase, but would still recommend U-verse TV if it better-suited a customer's needs. AT&T CFO John Stephens had also previously stated that DirecTV's larger subscriber base as a national service gave the service a higher degree of leverage in negotiating carriage deals, thus resulting in lower content costs.
  On October 20, 2016, it was reported that AT&T was in talks to acquire Time Warner, in an effort to increase its media holdings. On October 22, 2016, AT&T reached a deal to buy Time Warner for over $80 billion. If approved by federal regulators, the merger would bring DirecTV under the same umbrella as HBO, Cinemax, Turner Broadcasting System, Warner Bros. and Telepictures. The acquisition was completed on June 14, 2018 and Time Warner was delisted from the stock market, the following day, Time Warner became WarnerMedia.
  On April 25, 2017, it was reported that AT&T dropped over 230,000 U-verse subscribers.
  On July 13, 2017, it was reported that AT&T is going to introduce a cloud-based DVR streaming service as part of its effort to create a unified platform across DirecTV
caption: DirecTV transitional logo following purchase by AT&T
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