DirecTV is embarking on its first major CPE refresh in eight years, introducing its new Android TV-powered "Gemini" set-tops for its satellite TV homes.
The 4K-capable boxes, which come with Google Voice, access to the Google Play store and other Android TV accoutrements, will be available, at least for now, to new DirecTV customers only ... with the loyal, existing customer base staring Jealously through the glass, and holding onto their legacy "Genie" receivers, old-world pay TV style.
The good news for existing DirecTV subscribers: They won't see the "Advanced Receiver Fee & Taxes" line item on their monthly increase from $10 - $15.
For additional rooms in the home, DirecTV said its new Gemini receivers will work with existing Genie 2 client devices.
Meanwhile, for DirecTV Stream customers, DirecTV is ditching its proprietary "Stream" Android TV set-top, first introduced back in 2018 with the DirecTV Stream service and originally known as "Osprey."
DirecTV has been letting customers bring their own streaming devices to the service for some time, just as any vMVPD would. (DirecTV Stream has supported Roku, Amazon, Google, Apple and most other CTV device OS standards for several years.)
But DirecTV will be providing a device option for customers who don't have a stick, dongle or enabled smart TV.
Notably, images and consumer testing info related to a new DirecTV "Gemini Air" dongle have leaked very recently. This product hasn't been officially introduced by DirecTV yet, but it will ostensibly be offered to DirecTV Stream customers as a streaming device option at some point at an as-of-yet-determined price.
An image of the Gemini Air dongle leaked earlier this week via a customer sharing solicitation on Reddit. (DirecTV had sent out email correspondence to customers seeking 1,000 testers for its new dongle, which looks quite a bit like Google's Chromecast with Google TV.)
DirecTV said it will have a "renewed focus" on DirecTV Stream going forward, directing us to what appears to be an updated landing page that a spokesman said will make "it easier for people to find the brand and know what it means."
Given that DirecTV, which was spun off by AT&T into a JV with private equity firm TPG Capital in 2021, is no longer launching new satellites, it makes sense that it's migrating its delivery method of video for its 13.1 million remaining customers to the internet.
Finally, perhaps driven by its love of HBO's Succession, DirecTV wants to say "f*** off" to the video competition by hiring show star Brian Cox for a series of upcoming DirecTV commercials.
Channeling his best Logan Roy, Cox will serve as DirecTVs "Overly Direct Spokesman," telling non-DirecTV customers exactly what he thinks in his very on-brand unvarnished way.
Here's one of the spots:
