DIRECTV NOW is a popular streaming service and cable alternative that was launched in late 2016. It has made waves in the cord-cutting community because of its excellent channel selection, cutting-edge features, and reasonable price tag. However, there’s been a handful of issues with the service, one big one being that there is no DIRECTV NOW Roku app!
It seems like an odd move for a big streaming service to launch without support of one of the most popular streaming platforms out there. Roku boasts millions of users worldwide, and they offer both standalone Roku players and Roku technology integrated into smart TVs. Now, 4 months after launch, Roku DIRECTV NOW support is still not available; but it should be coming soon.
DIRECTV NOW Roku App: What’s Going On?
To put a long story short, DIRECTV NOW launched in November 2016. It supported most major streaming devices at the time, with one notable exception: Roku. The company made it clear in January at a CES Conference press briefing that DIRECTV NOW Roku support would be coming “in the next few weeks”. However, now that it’s months later and the device is still not supported, some cord-cutters have expressed frustration.
To add to the confusion, over the last few weeks, customer service representatives from DIRECTV NOW have stated that DIRECTV NOW on Roku should be available by the end of March. That would coincide with the Roku.com blog post that stated that Roku support would be added in “Q1 2017”. But as you can see, that blog post was edited a few days ago to simply say “in 2017”. This leads us to believe that the DIRECTV NOW Roku app will most likely not be launched before the end of March.
When Will We Be Able to Use DIRECTV NOW on Roku?
If you’ve been holding out trying DIRECTV NOW due to its lack of Roku support, you’ll be disappointed to hear that we really don’t know when the DIRECTV NOW Roku channel will be coming. The fact that Roku.com edited their blog post to change “Q1 2017” to just “2017” is not promising, and likely means that the app is still in development.
There’s still a good possibility that the device support will launch on March 31st or April 1st, but it’s seeming fairly unlikely at this point. At this point in time, we cannot give a definitive answer as to when Roku DIRECTV NOW support will be available.
Why the Delay?
Many folks might be wondering – what’s taking so long? There are a variety of factors that could be to blame. For one, DIRECTV NOW had some issues at launch, leading to errors and glitches. These kinks have all been ironed out at this point, and the service is running smoothly. However, those issues might have eaten up more of DIRECTV NOW’s resources than planned, leading to the delay in the development of the Roku app.
It could also be that DIRECTV NOW has completed the Roku app, but it is still in testing mode. This is a likely scenario, as it would make sense for the company to want to ensure a stable launch. If that’s the case, hopefully the app is released soon! We will keep you posted.
