HBO Is Now Free for One Year to New AT&T TV, DirecTV Subscribers

By Todd Spangler

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The Great Pandemic Content Giveaway of 2020 continues: AT&T sweetened its pay-TV premium-content promotions to include HBO for no extra cost for 12 months to new subscribers of AT&T TV and DirecTV.

AT&T, of course, is the parent company of WarnerMedia, which owns HBO. The offer of one free year of HBO runs through June 27, 2020, for new AT&T TV and DirecTV customers. The free-HBO is on top of three months free of Cinemax, Showtime, Starz and Epix available to eligible pay-TV subscribers.

The catch? To get the free 12-month HBO deal (and the other premium channels), customers must lock in to a two-year contract for either the broadband-delivered AT&T TV service or DirecTV, with prices higher in the second year.

For example, AT&T TV’s entry-level Entertainment package , with about 70 cable channels plus locals, has a promotional rate of $49.99 per month for the first year. But starting in the 13th month, that jumps 86%, to $93 per month.

The telco’s move, aimed as bolstering its shrinking pay-TV biz, comes after HBO last week launched a free buffet of some 500 hours of premium content available in the U.S. without any subscription required. The free #StayHomeBoxOffice programming, available on HBO’s mobile apps, website and the Roku Channel , includes every episode of nine HBO series: “The Sopranos,” “Veep,” “Succession,” “Six Feet Under,” “The Wire,” “Ballers,” “Barry,” “Silicon Valley” and “True Blood.” Also available to watch for free are 20 movies from corporate sibling Warner Bros. and 10 HBO documentaries and docuseries.

In May, WarnerMedia is set to launch the HBO Max streaming service, which will include everything available on HBO plus a slate of originals, library titles and licensed content for the same $14.99 monthly price as the standalone HBO Now service.

(Pictured above: Evan Rachel Wood in HBO’s “Westworld” season 3)