AT&T Seeks to Shake Up Pay TV

After spending nearly $50 billion in the summer of 2015 to acquire DirecTV, AT&T is preparing to roll out an internet video service that could upend its satellite-television business along with the rest of the pay-TV industry.

The service, called DirecTV Now and expected to launch by year-end, will stream dozens of live channels to televisions and mobile devices without the need for a satellite dish, cable box or annual contract. Unlike Netflix or Hulu, this over-the-top service is intended to provide a full cablelike lineup for households. AT&T executives aren’t concerned that a lower-priced internet video service—observers expect around $50 a month—could eat into its existing TV business, which had 25.3 million subscribers who paid an average monthly bill of $117 in the latest quarter. “That means you have found something that the market really, really wants,” Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said.