CBS reaches deal to bring The CW, Showtime, & more to DirecTV Now

When DirecTV announced its streaming TV platform DirecTV Now last year, one notable network holdout was CBS. Today, however, AT&T has announced that CBS and its various other properties will be available on DirecTV Now sometime in the near future…

The partnership will see CBS bring its programming from CBS News, Showtime, The CW, CBS Sports Network, and Pop to DirecTV Now customers. This includes on-demand content from CBS, The CW, Pop and Showtime, as well.

As for pricing, AT&T says that CBS and The CW will be included in all DirecTV Now packages, while Pop will be available starting on the “Just Right” tier and CBS Sports Network starting on the “Go Big” tier. Showtime will be an add-on for $8 per month, which AT&T touts is the “lowest monthly rate from any streaming provider.”

As part of the agreement, DirecTV Now customers in 25 markets will get live local coverage to CBS affiliates and The CW:

New York
Los Angeles
Chicago
Philadelphia
Dallas – Ft. Worth
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
Boston
Detroit
Minneapolis-St. Paul
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
Denver
Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, Calif.
Pittsburgh
Baltimore

AT&T hasn’t yet confirmed when CBS will come to DirecTV Now, only saying that it’s “coming soon.” Here’s what AT&T had to say about its partnership with CBS:

“This is another key milestone in bringing DIRECTV NOW users access to their favorite entertainment, news and sports from all of the major broadcast networks,” said Daniel York, senior executive vice president and chief content officer – AT&T Entertainment Group.

“As we add more live national and local channels, we know even more people will choose DIRECTV NOW as their go-to streaming service.”

In addition to its partnership with DirecTV Now, CBS also today announced that it is expanding its All Access streaming service internationally. The service will be available in Canada sometime during the first half of 2018, while it will come to other markets after that:

“CBS All Access is growing faster than we anticipated domestically, and now represents a whole new opportunity internationally as well,” said Leslie Moonves, Chairman and CEO, CBS Corporation.

“By going direct-to-consumer around the world, we will facilitate new connections between the global audience and our industry-leading premium content. I look forward to introducing CBS All Access to Canada in early 2018, followed by a number of other markets in multiple continents around the world.”