DIRECTV STREAM Raising Prices by as Much as $10 Next Month
A user on Reddit posted a communique from DIRECTV informing them of the latest price hike.
Announcing a price increase in the middle of a carriage dispute that has deprived customers of top channels like ABC, ESPN, and FX is a bold strategy, to say the least. But it appears to be exactly what DIRECTV is doing. The satellite and streaming company is reportedly planning to raise the subscription price of its live TV streaming service DIRECTV STREAM, with prices going up on all packages by at least $5 per month.
Key Details:
- DIRECTV STREAM’s cheapest “Entertainment” package is rising to $86.99 per month.
- The jump comes just days before Hulu + Live TV will increase its prices as well.
- An increase combined with the company’s carriage dispute with Disney could cause a big cancel reaction.
The price increase was first reported by Reddit user SirDuke5530, who posted a message from the company saying that prices for DIRECTV STREAM subscriptions will rise beginning on Sunday, Oct. 6. The Streamable was then able to confirm the increase from DIRECTV official sources.
Photo courtesy of SirDuke5530
As the notice states, prices will be rising for all DIRECTV STREAM packages by $5 to $10 per month. The announcement comes less than a year after DIRECTV last raised prices on its streaming service; DIRECTV STREAM’s last price hike came in November 2023, which also saw $5 to $10 rate hikes.
The new prices for DIRECTV STREAM packages are:
| Package Name | Current Monthly Price | New Price | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENTERTAINMENT | $79.99 | $86.99 | +$7 |
| CHOICE | $108.99 | $114.99 | +$6 |
| ULTIMATE | $119.99 | $129.99 | +$10 |
| PREMIER | $164.99 | $169.99 | +$5 |
DIRECTV STREAM isn’t the only live TV streaming service that will raise prices in October. Hulu + Live TV will also increase subscription rates during the month, as will almost all on-demand services and bundle options from Disney. Fubo also recently announced it was raising prices on some of its packages.
Will Price Increase Have Any Effect on Disney Carriage Dispute?
The new pricing announcement from DIRECTV likely won’t have any bearing on its ongoing carriage dispute with Disney. The entertainment conglomerate’s channels like ESPN have been unavailable for DIRECTV customers since Sunday, Sept. 1, and while the two companies have battled it out in the court of public opinion this week, there has been no word that they’ve made substantive progress toward a new deal.
The timing of that dispute becomes all the more unfortunate for DIRECTV, however. Informing customers who don’t have highly popular cable channels like ESPN available on their service that their price is about to go up anyway will likely worsen the cancel reaction DIRECTV sees, though from all the statements it has made about the carriage dispute it sounds as if DIRECTV is serious about carrying the battle through. However, the company is offering customers a $20 bill credit in exchange for the missing channels.
“We’re not playing a short-term game,” DIRECTV CFO Ray Carpenter said during a conference call on Tuesday. “We need something that is going to work for the long-term sustainability of our video customers … This is much more than a run-of-the-mill dispute; this is more existential for us. We would hate for our customers to not have access to any of the great content that is available via the Disney channels, but we’re not playing a short-term game.”
Perhaps the company is counting on getting access to smaller, cheaper channel packages from Disney in its new carriage deal, which could soften the blow of this latest round of price hikes. The goal of those prospective packages is to allow customers to select channel lineups that best suit their viewing needs without having to pay for channels that they don’t watch. This would eliminate the need to pay extra for things that they are uninterested in, lowering the cost of their total bill.
However, there’s no doubt that a large swath of DIRECTV STREAM customers will look askance at yet another jump in prices for any reason, especially since the service is currently missing some of the most in-demand channels on the market. For customers paying for the company’s top TV package, their price will have jumped by $20 in just over one year.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM is The Streamable’s choice for the best live TV streaming service for users who want the most channels. With an unbeatable lineup of local, news, sports, and entertainment channels, four main channel packages, an unlimited DVR, and 20 simultaneous streams at home, DIRECTV STREAM is a great choice for any cord-cutter.