LEAKED: DIRECTV NOW to Introduce PLUS and MAX Plans, Which Exclude Discovery & Viacom, Bundles HBO & Cinemax

The much rumored price hike and “thinning” of the DIRECTV NOW bundle appears to be on the verge of happening.

According to a leak on DirecTV website, DIRECTV NOW is planning to introduce two new plans, called DIRECTV NOW PLUS and DIRECTV MAX starting at $50. The most interesting feature is that both plans include HBO, and neither have channels from Discovery/Scripps (Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, etc), Viacom (MTV, VH1, etc.), or AMC (AMC, BBC America, etc.) — which are in all their current plans.

DIRECTV NOW PLUS

$50 / mo.

The DIRECTV NOW PLUS plan will cost $50 a month for 40+ channels including live locals, HBO, HBO Family, HBO Latino, Bravo, CNN, Cartoon Network, E!, Disney, Hallmark, ESPN, FS1, Fox News, NBCSN, FX, USA Network, TNT, and TBS.

DIRECTV NOW MAX

$70 / mo.

The DIRECTV NOW MAX plan will cost $70 a month for 50+ channels, adding Cinemax, and primarily sports channels like your local RSN, BTN, SEC Network, Golf Channel, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, FS2, and Olympic Channel.

There have been rumors that these two plans will be replacing the existing ones, but we have yet to confirm that is the case. It is possible that they will raise pricing on current users, but let them keep their plans.

In December, AT&T CEO Randall 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.”