AT&T will be increasing the prices of all plans offered by its DIRECTV NOW streaming service, the company revealed in an email sent to subscribers last week, having described the move as a continuation of its long-term strategy that’s meant to provide users with “the best possible” internet TV experience. A year and a half after introducing the cord-cutting service, the company appears to be pleased with the number of users it managed to attract and is now positioning DIRECTV NOW as a platform that isn’t as focused on growth at the expense of profits.
The new prices will be effective August 1, though some customers are reporting seeing other dates that are somewhat earlier; the exact day on which you can expect the price of your plans to go up most likely depends on your billing cycle. Following the pricing correction, the entry-level “Live a Little” plan will set one back $40 per month, up $5. The same increase will affect the “Just Right” bundle which will go from $50 to $55 per month, whereas the “Go Big” tier will be priced at $65, up from $60. Likewise, the ultimate “Gotta Have It” package will soon start being offered at $75 instead of $70 per month.
The change makes DIRECTV NOW priced identically to PlayStation Vue and also corrects its low-end price to that of YouTube TV. The price hikes that come shortly after AT&T completed its $85.6 billion acquisition of media giant Time Warner are being officially described as something the Dallas-based company has been planning for a while now in order to bring the cost of the service in line with the rest of the cord-cutting market. As the video streaming provider is selling its offerings on a no-contract basis, the increase will affect both new and existing customers. The latest update to DIRECTV NOW is also introducing parental controls, 80 additional hours of free cloud DVR storage, and extra local channels.