This afternoon, AT&T has made it official announcing two new DIRECTV NOW plans launching tomorrow. The new plans called DIRECTV NOW PLUS ($50) and DIRECTV NOW MAX ($70) gain HBO, but lose almost 18 Top Cable Channels from A+E, Viacom, Discovery/Scripps, and AMC. Both plans includes locals and cable channels from Disney, NBCU, FOX/FX, and Hallmark.
Statement from AT&T on New Plans
We know you love HBO—and NOW you won’t miss a moment when you stream with DIRECTV NOW! Tomorrow we’re debuting two new AT&T* video packages that include premium access to HBO. With HBO, customers can now enjoy every episode of the best shows like Game of Thrones, Veep and Big Little Lies, plus blockbuster movies, family favorites, documentaries and more – live, streaming and on demand.
In addition to HBO, our new DIRECTV NOW PLUS (for $50) and MAX (for $70) packages come with dozens of live TV channels, including local ones,** and an extensive on-demand library of great movies and TV shows. Both new packages provide slimmer, quality-driven content lineups at competitive prices and with no annual contract. With the MAX package, you get more live sports channels, video-on-demand choices and HBO and Cinemax® included.
DIRECTV NOW PLUS and MAX are just two of the choices we provide for live TV and great video-on-demand. Existing DIRECTV NOW customers can continue to enjoy their current lineup of channels, if they prefer. At launch, more details on DIRECTV NOW PLUS and MAX and other video entertainment choices we offer will be available.
It is expected that later today, existing customers will be notified of a price increase. Current Live a Little, Just Right, Go Big, and Gotta Have It subscribers will be able to keep their plans, but with a $10 price increase. New subscribers will only be able to select from the new DIRECTV NOW PLUS ($50) and DIRECTV NOW MAX ($70) plans.
The news follows a $5 price increase across plans last June. With the price increases, a current Live a Little subscriber will see a 42% increase in the price of their streaming plan in just 9 months.
This should not come as a surprise. At the UBS Global Media & Communications Conference in December, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson hinted that customers might be seeing a smaller, more expensive bundle from DIRECTV NOW in 2019.
Stephenson shared that he expects DIRECTV NOW to “thin the content out, get content that’s really relevant to a particular customer segment.” While the service launched in November 2016 at $35 a month, he thinks the target market is a “lower priced offering” targeting a “$50-60 price.”