AT&T has quietly initiated cross-tier price increases for its new IP-based pay TV platform, AT&T TV, as well as its legacy satellite TV brand, DirecTV.
The base “Entertainment” package for AT&T TV will see its first-year promotional price shoot up $10 a month to $60. The mid-tier “Choice” plan is rising from $55 a month to $65; the Xtra bundle is going from $65 a month to $75; and the top-end “Ultimate” AT&T TV tier is rising from $70 a month to $80.
The price increases only apply to first-year promotional bills. For example, after the first 12 months, the price of the Android TV-based service’s base Entertainment package still increases to same $93 a month.
The price increases were first discovered by analyst Phillip Swann. They apply only to new customers.
AT&T TV launched nationwide March 2. The wireless giant has yet to disclose subscriber metrics for the new service, which has contracts, early termination fees and all the trappings of traditional pay TV, even though it’s delivered over the open internet to an Android TV device.
AT&T did disclose that it lost 897,000 customers in the first quarter across its linear pay TV platforms. Presumably, most of those losses came from DirecTV. But that isn’t stopping AT&T from upping its satellite TV pricing, too.
Also across tiers, new DirecTV customers are paying $10 a more a month, starting with the base 155-channel Select bundle, which is rising from $50 a month to $60.
AT&T has stopped soliciting new signups for its third traditional pay TV platform, U-verse.
Also read: YouTube TV Raises Price $15 After Adding ViacomCBS Channels
The AT&T TV and DirecTV bumps are only part of a video-industry-wide price-increase news cycle, with virtual pay TV operators YouTube TV and fuboTV also announcing monthly bill bumps.
