DirecTV to Raise Rates Next Month AT&T's DirecTV is preparing to impose a new round of rate hikes on the company's pay TV subscribers. The company's website and notices being sent to many subscribers (hat tip, TV Predictions ) state that nearly all of DirecTV's base programming packages will increase by between $2 and $6 a month starting on January 22, 2017. DirecTV blames the "the higher cost of programming" for the increases, which come on the heels of $2 to $8 per month increases the year before. DirecTV also states it's raising its regional sports channel fee to $2.56 per month, "depending on the market."







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Most recommended from 40 comments

afn06011

join:2012-10-15

Florida 22 recommendations afn06011 Member Merger was good for the customer how? So AT&T please tell us how the merger was good for the customer? Rate hikes? I see.

ilikeme

Premium Member

join:2002-08-27

Stafford, TX 16 recommendations ilikeme Premium Member Cutting the cord And they wonder why people keep cutting the cord. I'm considering it in the near future.

maartena

Elmo

Premium Member

join:2002-05-10

Orange, CA 6 recommendations maartena Premium Member And this is a surprise.... how? DirecTV will not be the only one. All subscriber based television companies will send you a notice for "changed rates for 2017", which basically stands for: Bend over a little more and take it like a man.



And the sad thing is... most people will. They can't imagine a world where linear TV with 200 channels (of which a 180 you probably don't ever watch for more than the time it takes to flip to the next channel you don't watch....) and they are willing to pay a high price to keep it. Conditioned to believe that you MUST have television to see the latest favorite show, and being held hostage by sports channels who will let go of standard cable with their cold dead hands....



There are people that understand and are considering cutting the cord, there are those who understand but can't let go because of sports, and there are those who think you give up watching something on a screen without cable, having never heard of Smart TV's or Roku/Apple TV devices. I get asked the "But how do you watch TV channels then?" question a lot when I say I don't pay for cable, having to explain to them how streaming services work.



In a nutshell cutting the cord comes down to a few considerations:



1) Sports? Don't bother. Keep paying the cable company. Although you can save a LOT of money if you only watch 1 or 2 sports (say NHL in the winter and MLB in the summer), but if you want all sports all the time, you will have to keep bending over.



2) Internet? If you don't have an internet connection of at least 15 Mbps, I'd think twice before cutting the cord. That'll give you a few HD streams without issue, but if you have family members using the internet it could mean trouble.



3) Must have now? If you MUST have your favorite show NOW, without wanting to wait for it to appear on streaming services, you will have to keep paying for cable. Popular shows will always show up on streaming services eventually, such as the Walking Dead. Shows like The Voice and other reality competitions are on Hulu the next day.



If you don't care about sports, have a decent internet connection, and don't care if you watch the Walking Dead now on cable or next spring 2017 in a marathon style..... than I have no idea why you still keep forking over money to a cable company. chgo_man99

join:2010-01-01

San Jose, CA 6 recommendations chgo_man99 Member Rent increase, grocery price increase, college tuition increase... insurance premium increase but wage pay increase 0 or measly 20 cents an hour. Whoopiee!!



This is how middle class in America is dying and Canada has already beaten us in number of wealthy middle-class people. xmarklive

join:2012-07-10

Lansing, MI 3 recommendations xmarklive Member Netflix Imaging if Netflix had a few dollar rate increases every year.

WHT

join:2010-03-26

Rosston, TX 2 recommendations WHT Member Rinse, wash, repeat Quoting:

AT&T's DirecTV is preparing to impose a new round of rate hikes on the company's pay TV subscribers



Wow...is it the first Monday of the month again? BiggA

Premium Member

join:2005-11-23

Central CT ·Cox HSI

ARRIS SB6141

Asus RT-AC68

2 recommendations BiggA Premium Member Insane DirecTV's rates are already the highest in the industry. Yes, they have the best service in most markets (maybe excepting FiOS markets) but at some point, how much are people willing to pay? The only way it's even semi-reasonable is if you live somewhere that has a cheap local ISP, or are in a location within AT&T's 21-state wireline territory that has internet that's fast enough for your needs from AT&T.