As you see above, DIRECTV has completely transitioned from the old “cyclone” logo to the new AT&T ball logo. Yet, even the newest of the new hardware still says DIRECTV on the outside with the old logo, and the software is full of places where the old logo pops up. That may not bother you much, but for the more… OCD… of us, it’s a little unnerving. And it’s not likely to change really soon.
The boxes themselves
Unfortunately we’re going to see the DIRECTV logo on receivers and DVRs for a long time. The reason is simple: changing the logo would mean all new government compliance tests. I know it’s stupid, but when you make a material change to a piece of electronics, you have to submit it to the FCC again for testing. DIRECTV embosses their logo into the cases and it’s part of a mechanical power button on some of the receivers and clients. In others it’s part of the touch panel. If the logo were just silkscreened on, that wouldn’t be a problem, but when you’re making structural changes, the government needs to get involved. And that’s a drag.
The software
It’s… getting there. You’ve probably already noticed that the “cyclone” logo is gone from the startup screens and the screen saver now has the “part of the AT&T Family” text that was used in 2015. I would expect both those things to change in the next three months as they’re probably fairly simple changes. Surprisingly, the old logo is still there in the progress bar… maybe that’s a little harder to change. It’s funny because that’s one of the few places that just coincidentally includes the AT&T corporate orange color. I would expect that’s going to change in the next several months, as will the screen saver background on the music channels.
So we’re basically stuck… really until there’s a new generation of hardware. I think you’ll continue to see the logo creeping in here and there. It wouldn’t surprise me to see it on cardboard boxes, especially since the installer’s vans that hold those boxes are already changed. It’s possible that stuff like remotes could change quickly because the logos are just silkscreened on. You’ll probably also see the logos change on splitters and other hardware that is just identified by stickers, because in cases like that the FCC doesn’t need to be involved.
So yes, it’s going to be a long transition. Even putting aside all the new hardware, there are tens of millions of receivers and other parts that didn’t go bad the moment that AT&T took the reins, and they’ll stay in service for years to come. No one is going to go to each individual house and put a sticker or cover on each thing with the new logo. So unfortunately, we just have to sit and be patient.
