AT&T raises DirecTV Now subscription by $10, shakes up packages for new customers

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited March 2019
AT&T is making major changes to the pricing of DirecTV Now, with the streaming television service going up in price by $10 per month for new and existing customers starting in April, while at the same time cutting down the number of available packages for new customers.




The increase in DirecTV Now's subscription cost will hit all packages across the board, regardless of the number of channels. The lowest-cost Live a Little bundle, which provides at least 65 channels, will go up to $50 per month, while the Gotta Have It bundle on the other end of the spectrum, with more than 125 channels provided to customers, goes up to $85 per month.

The price of Spanish-language package Todo y Mas, which includes more than 90 channels, is also increasing to $55 per month, reports Variety. None of the plans will benefit from new additions, nor will any channels be taken away as part of the alterations.

DirecTV Now last hiked its prices in August 2018, raising the cost of all packages by $5 per month.

A second major change is that DirecTV Now will only offer two tiers of service for new customers, rather than the five that existing subscribers can choose from. The low-tier DirecTV Now Plus costs $50 per month for at least 40 channels, while DirecTV Now Max is $70 per month for at least 50 channels, including regional sports networks and other sports channels.

The new bundles differ greatly from the earlier packages, as they do not include channels from A+E Networks, AMC, Discovery or Viacom. The channel roster for the two packages do include offerings from Turner and HBO, both owned by AT&T.

Last week, DirecTV Now added a number of features to the Apple TV app to make it more useful to subscribers, including single sign-on support and live tune-in, enabling verbal requests to Siri to select specific channels provided by the service.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 40
    davgregdavgreg Posts: 1,036member
    Enjoy paying for AT&T's purchase of Time-Warner DTVN & DTV fans.
    chasmredgeminipa
  • Reply 2 of 40
    Wow... I hope this is not a yearly ritual.
    They should at least increase the number of simultaneous streams.
    I signed up on day 1 for the GoBig package for $35 and now it going to be $50.
    If more cable companies like FiOS and Comcast were to offer OTT streaming on AppleTV like Spectrum does, AT&T would lose a lot of customers.
    supadav03lordjohnwhorfinredgeminipa
  • Reply 3 of 40
    I'm wondering if all the streaming services are going to follow suit.  I hope not, because AT&T just lost me.  
    supadav03lordjohnwhorfinchasm
  • Reply 4 of 40
    tokoloshtokolosh Posts: 101member
    Randall Stephens, AT&T's CEO must have a really nice golden-parachute included in his contract and he's trying to get the board to exercise it. Why else would he look at a declining product and decide less choice and much higher pricing is the way to fix it?
    clegerchasmjbdragon
  • Reply 5 of 40
    I am a charter member of Direct TV Now and when I sign up they said my rates would not change unless I quit and subscribe sometime afterward.  We shall see in August!  If their is a bump up in August, I will file a class action lawsuit against AT&T and Direct TV Now!
    edited March 2019 supadav03gocolts1818chasm
  • Reply 6 of 40
    gutengelgutengel Posts: 363member
    But, but the point of the merger was to bring cost down to the customer! Who would have thought that the would increase prices... Or maybe they are just trying to compensate for all those customers that got a 40% Apple TV from them and didn't stay paying the subscription, I know a few lol
    edited March 2019 StrangeDaysmazda 3sjbdragon
  • Reply 7 of 40
    Idiots. DirecTV Now was already a no-go for me since they don’t offer AT&T Sportsnet, DESPITE BOTH BEING OWNED BY AT&T!!! Want to watch local sports teams? Too bad for you unless you want to sign up for cable or satellite. What a racket. Someone needs to file a class-action anti-trust lawsuit. 

    Seems the media cartel are simply trying to re-enslave cord-cutters to the onerous plans of yesteryear by offering their own price-attractive streaming subscription services and then ratcheting up the pricing over time. Just like the good-old days where you’d sign up for a cable/satellite plan for $89 a month only to realize two years later that you’re now paying $150 a month FOR EXACTLY THE SAME PLAN!

    Bastards.
  • Reply 8 of 40
    supadav03supadav03 Posts: 503member
    This is awful. Both the continued price hikes and these new package offerings. Why would I pay $70 for streaming TV? I can pay less for twice as many channels with U-verse. They are really sucking the value out of DirecTV Now. 
  • Reply 9 of 40
    seanismorrisseanismorris Posts: 1,624member
    You also get the “pleasure” of commercials to interrupt your viewing.

    AT&T is hoping their monopoly is going force consumers to pay up... unfortunately there are a few pesky competitors left.

    I’m sure investors appreciate AT&T loosing 30% of their value in the last 2 years...

    But not to worry, I’m sure the executives have golden parachutes as their backup plan.

  • Reply 10 of 40
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    It's still the only streaming service to offer the Tennis Channel.
    And it's free to stream over cellular if you're an AT&T Wireless customer.
    tylersdad
  • Reply 11 of 40
    AF_HittAF_Hitt Posts: 143member
    I'm wondering if all the streaming services are going to follow suit.  I hope not, because AT&T just lost me.  
    Hulu just raised their prices and YouTube TV did it a while ago. This is disappointing since it’s the second price hike in as many years for DirecTV Now, but especially with the early bird price, the competitors are still expensive relative to the number of channels provided.
  • Reply 12 of 40
    RLV2000RLV2000 Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    Canceling my service tonight !
    redgeminipa
  • Reply 13 of 40
    MhobMhob Posts: 3member

    My cable package is looking more attractive now, unless they hike the rates again too, which I am sure they will. I may just put up an antenna again. It's already to the point where I go to the library to get my movies since I can't/won't afford to subscribe to each an every service.


  • Reply 14 of 40
    What are the alternatives? I tried PlaystationVue and it sucked. Does Dish offer something comparable? I'd gladly switch just so that I don't have to give AT&T my money. Hate those aholes.
  • Reply 15 of 40
    Netflix recently hiked their prices in Canada also. Save us, Apple, with your upcoming rival service.
  • Reply 16 of 40
    clegercleger Posts: 17member
    Did I understand that correctly?  No A+E networks, no discovery networks, no Viacom networks? Wtf AT&T??  And what happened to $35 early bird special, that wouldn’t go up??
  • Reply 17 of 40
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Incidentally, the guy who was the head of HBO recently quit because AT&T didn’t share his view of HBO as a boutique high-quality entertainment company. They want HBO to be about VOLUME now, not just quality. If anyone can screw up Warner Bros. and HBO fast, it’ll be AT&T.
  • Reply 18 of 40
    smsmsmsm Posts: 12member
    Just checked my directvnow account and there is no change in billing for April. The notice on the account as to how much they plan to charge in my next billing cycle remains unchanged. Maybe this is starting in May not April.

    Their app frequently locks up and crashes on multiple devices. But the worst is the pop ups “Are You Still Watching?” Forcing me to respond and interrupting in the middle of a movie which ruins the experience. Sometimes I am listening to the news while exercising or cleaning up in the kitchen only to have the pop up force me to stop what I am doing in order to return to the remote in order to click the pop up closed. Other times the pop up comes on within just a few minutes of opening the app. Now they think their service is worth even more money! Bull tinkle I say.
    edited March 2019
  • Reply 19 of 40
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    How’s that cord cutting going, y’all?

    agilealtitude
    said:
    Netflix recently hiked their prices in Canada also. Save us, Apple, with your upcoming rival service.
    Not a chance. If Apple introduces a competing service at a lower price they will immediately be sued for collusion, anti-trust, price fixing or what ever the government can come up with.
    edited March 2019
  • Reply 20 of 40
    This is absolutely ludicrous. They're awful DVR is still in "beta" 12 months after it was released. It still records shows that I didn't set to record and forgets to record shows that I did set to record. The Roku and iOS apps are a complete disaster from a usability standpoint. Fast forwarding through commercials is a guessing game, since there's no preview of what you are fast forwarding over. The only way to find out if you have a series set to record is by searching for that series, clicking on the series, and then it will tell you if it's set to record or not. There's no list of series recordings. Deleting an existing recording often fails. Showing the guide often fails. The app crashes regularly. 

    The service is awful. It's not even worth what I'm currently paying. I could go on.

    I'm ready to ditch them and get an antenna and something to record OTA broadcasts. 
    smsm
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