Monroe-based CenturyLink would consider offering a streaming-video service such as AT&T Inc.’s DirecTV Now, the latest sign of a changing media landscape, The Wall Street Journal reports.
On a call with analysts on Wednesday, CEO Glen Post detailed the rural telecommunications provider’s progress on its own TV offering, which would make channels more widely available to subscribers who live in areas with copper phone lines that are ill-equipped to handle traditional TV. An outside service like DirecTV Now, however, could help it keep a lid on the cost of carrying popular channels.
“Content costs have really gone out of sight in recent years,” Post said. “We are looking at every option. If we can get a better deal where we can get some of our content costs down with a DirecTV, we will certainly take a look at that. We’re talking to all the service providers.”
CenturyLink has grown from a small Louisiana phone provider into a corporate-focused internet carrier with about three-quarters of its revenue coming from business customers. It reached a cash-and-stock deal late last year to buy rival Level 3 Communications Inc. for roughly $25 billion.
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