DirecTV Now on Roku release date latest rumors: Q1 launch now changed to 'in 2017'

A promotional image for streaming service DirecTV. Facebook/direcTV

Launched in November 2016, DirecTV Now has become a popular streaming service and cable alternative, offering four different subscription plans with 60 to more than a hundred channels, as well as several movies and television shows that subscribers can view anytime, anywhere, on multiple devices.

Since it is quite new, it still does not have the kind of platform support that competitors like Sling TV and PlayStation Vue have. However, this will change sometime this year. According to a blog post on Roku's official website, a new DirecTV Now Roku app is currently in the works and is slated to come out this year. However, there had been talks that DirecTV Now on Roku will be launched in the first quarter of 2017, but that did not materialize. In fact, the said blog post was originally titled "DIRECTV NOW coming to the Roku platform in Q1 2017," but it has been edited and now it only says "DIRECTV NOW coming to the Roku platform in 2017."

The post also indicates that DirecTV Now subscriptions will range between $35 and $70 per month.

A lot of people have been looking forward to DirecTV support becoming available on the Roku streaming platform this year, but the company has yet to give a specific date for the launch.

As to why the release has been taking too long, according to Streaming Observer, there could be various factors to blame, such as some errors and glitches in DirecTV Now when it was launched. Although these have already been fixed and the service has been running smoothly since, the publication thinks these may have exhausted DirecTV Now's resources more than expected, which led to the development of the Roku app being pushed to the backseat for a while.

Although DirecTV Now is new, it has also received positive reviews. Cordcutting.com has praised the streaming service for its "pleasant user interface and huge channel selection."

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