AT&T gives new DirecTV Now subscribers a year of HBO

AT&T is determined to build early momentum for DirecTV Now, and it just found another way to sweeten the pot. The telecom has launched a promo that gives you a year of HBO access if you sign up for Now's "Go Big" or "Gotta Have It" packages as a new customer by March 30th. And that's in addition to an existing deal that gives you a free Apple TV if you pre-pay for 3 months of service in a similar timeframe. It's not the most tempting deal, but it might be enough to bring you over if you like HBO and want to save a bit of cash versus alternative services.

It's hard to say whether or not this is indicative of sagging demand or just an attempt to give DirecTV Now the best possible start versus fierce competition. AT&T was quick to tout that Now had 200,000 subscribers by the end of 2016, but it's not clear how the viewer base has grown since then. This won't matter much if you're just looking for a sweet deal, of course, but you can expect to see more of these promos if it turns out that DirecTV Now isn't growing as quickly as AT&T would like.