There's been a lot of attention paid to the recent launch of DIRECTV Now, the company's OTT streaming service. And indeed it looks like a compelling lineup for those folks that have decided, for various reasons, to "cut the cord".

DIRECTV Now is not the first to enter the market, nor will it be the last. Rumors still swirl about new multi-channel OTT bundles coming from Apple and Google in the near future (although they've been saying that about Apple for years).

CNET has a great article that does a side-by-side comparison of the lineups of each of these three competitors. CLICK HERE to take a look.

As far as the dreamed of "skinny bundle", it appears that Sling TV still meets the definition best, offering around 20 channels for around $20.  

The advent of OTT providers has caused a lot of hand-wringing among cable operators. And indeed some erosion of customers is likely. However, having so many choices (not counting others to follow) may actually help cable providers.  Consumers may become so overwhelmed by their options that they decide to go with the easiest option...to keep getting video from the same company that they always have.

There is a lot of action right now in the booming OTT video market. DIRECTV Now is getting ready to launch; new product offerings are being prepared by various other players.  Will the offering that started it all nearly two years ago be able to survive the onslaught of new competition?  CLICK HERE for an interesting article at Bloomberg about the changing OTT pay TV landscape.

Small cable operators may be tempted to hit the PANIC button about these new competitive threats to their pay TV business. And yes, it seems that cord-cutting is a real and growing threat. But keep in mind that a large majority of people still subscribe to a traditional pay TV service (cable or satellite) and are likely to do so for years to come. So...
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As AT&T gets closer to a launch date for it's new OTT service, DIRECTV Now, a few more details about the planned service are leaking out.  CLICK HERE to read an article from Variety that includes a list of some of the channels they plan to offer.

A glance at that list shows a limited package of channels that will be offered for $35 a month. Clearly AT&T does not want to make their offering too compelling, lest they cannibalize their own DIRECTV satellite customers who are paying over $100 a month in many cases.  It looks closer to the Sling Television service launched by Dish Network a couple of years ago, and with an overall less robust lineup than what Sony offers on their PlayStation Vue service.  Expect the final channel list to look a bit different.