AT&T to Acquire Quickplay for Powering OTT Video

AT&T will acquire Quickplay Media, a start-up that supplies software for powering over-the-top (OTT) video and TV Everywhere services, including AT&T’s U-verse TV Everywhere offering.  AT&T plans to use the software to support DIRECTV Now, DIRECTV Mobile and DIRECTV Preview — all of which are slated for introduction later this year. These new plans will let viewers stream DIRECTV content over the Internet to virtually any device.

Quickplay Media is currently owned by Madison Dearborn Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed. The company is based in Toronto.

AT&T plans to retain Quickplay’s more than 350 employees and contractors. In addition, AT&T said it will maintain Quickplay's high level of service and continue to support and expand its global customer base, grow its managed platform services and continue to enable other companies — from video providers to content distributors — to deliver premium video to any device and over any network.

“Our strategy is to deliver video content however, whenever and wherever,” said John Stankey, CEO, AT&T Entertainment Group. “Quickplay's multitenant IP distribution infrastructure, combined with AT&T's leading scale in IP connected end points, will allow us to host and distribute all forms of video traffic. We intend to scale and operate an industry-leading video distribution platform, and viewers will get the high-quality online video viewing experience they desire."

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