The Complete History of DirecTV Price Hikes
Introduction
After being acquired by AT&T in 2016, satellite service DirecTV was one of the first traditional television providers to shift to streaming with DirecTV Stream.
Originally called DirecTV Now, the streaming service aimed to be an online-only version of DirecTV. What they offered on satellite, they offered online. Plans started at $35/month with 60+ channels and great freebies like Apple TV and HBO. However, the price drastically increased over the past eight years due to programming costs, rebrands, lawsuits, and the multiple mergers that shifted the company’s operations. AT&T started to divest from DirecTV altogether, in a deal with private equity firm TPG that’s expected to be completed by October 2025.
As of writing, the standard plans are now 250% higher than it was before, starting at around $84.99… without those pesky fees. Still, DirecTV Stream made a name for itself with its wide channel selection and cable-like experience. Depending on the TPG deal, DirecTV Stream’s future might still prove to be worth the cost.
DirecTV Stream Price Hikes
August 1, 2018. From $35 to $40/month (Live a Little package)
More than a year later after launch, DirecTV Now had its first major price hike, increasing by $5/month on all plans. To some extent, the increase was expected. The streamer just added its DVR feature and they also added 200+ channels to their selection.
- Live a Little: $40/month
- Just Right: $55/month
- Go Big: $65/month
- Gotta Have It: $75/month
This line-up also included HBO, CNN, and other media from Time Warner after AT&T’s 2016 merger with Warner Media. The acquisition aimed to combine AT&T’s user data and Time Warner’s massive media library to compete with major internet companies in digital advertising.
April 12, 2019. From $40 to $50/month (Plus package)
DirecTV Now altered significantly in 2019, rebranding to AT&T TV Now. Along with this rebrand came with a new package structure for new subscribers, listed below.
- AT&T TV Now Plus: $50 (New plan)
- AT&T TV Now Max: $70 (New plan)
Legacy subscribers were able to keep their old plans, however, they were not spared from the price hikes, which increased their rates by $10. AT&T TV Now also created a new Spanish-language base plan.
- Live a Little: $50/month
- Just Right: $65/month
- Go Big: $75/month
- Gotta Have it: $85/month
- Todo y Mas: $55/month (New plan)
2019 was a confusing year for DirecTV, not only because of the rebrand that clashed with AT&T TV (a smaller streaming service that later merged with DirecTV Stream), but also because of AT&T’s sign-up scandal, which led to a class action lawsuit. It’s possible that this was the reason behind the rise in prices.
Later that year, the streaming packages were revamped again to match the DirecTV’s satellite offers instead– Entertainment, Choice, Xtra, Ultimate, and Optimo Mas.
July 1, 2020. From $49.99 to $59.99/month (Entertainment package)
With the events of 2020, AT&T TV Now’s price increase slipped under the radar. The updated rates are listed below:
- Entertainment: $59.99/month (+$10)
- Choice: $64.99/month (no change)
- Xtra: $74.99/month (no change)
- Ultimate: $79.99/month (-$5)
- Optimo Mas: $64.99/month (+$10)
Legacy subscribers also had price hikes the same year, though the date when the rates increased depended on the month they signed up for. Most of the subscribers who signed up for DirecTV Now before 2018 had their rates increased by $10:
- Live a Little: $59.99/month
- Just Right: $74.99/month
- Go Big: $84.99/month
- Gotta Have it: $94.99
- Todo y mas: $64.99
Whereas 2019 AT&T TV Now subscribers now had to pay the following rates.
- Plus: $54.99/month (+$5)
- Max: $79.99/month (+$10)
Additionally, with HBO Max launching a month earlier, the WarnerMedia content every AT&T TV Now subscriber enjoyed was removed from the cheapest package, the Entertainment plan.
April 1, 2021. From $59.99 to $69.99/month (Entertainment package)
After the lengthy legal saga and costly rebrands, AT&T has started to divest from DirecTV, selling 30% of their stake to private equity firm TPG.
They also rebranded their streaming arm as DirecTV Stream, which thankfully managed to stick to today. Unfortunately, this meant all plans made after 2020 increased by $10.
- Entertainment: $69.99/month
- Choice: $74.99/month
- Xtra: $84.99/month
- Ultimate: $89.99/month
- Optimo Mas: $74.99/month
The price hikes also affected legacy customers as well. Those who signed up for DirecTV Now before 2018 now had a $10 across all plans, except for Gotta Have It, which had no changes.
- Live a Little: $69.99/month
- Just Right: $84.99/month
- Go Big: $94.99/month
- Gotta Have it: $94.99/month (no change)
- Todo y mas: $74.99/month
2019 AT&T TV Now subscribers were also not spared– They too had a $10 increase.
- Plus: $64.99/month
- Max: $89.99/month
January 23, 2022. From $69.99 to $69.99/month (Entertainment package)
Less than a year later, DirecTV announced another price hike. Curiously enough, it seems that during this year, the plan structure quietly shifted for new customers while keeping similar names. That meant the former Xtra bundle replaced the Choice bundle but took on the former plan’s name, the Ultimate replaced the Xtra bundle but kept its name, and a new Premier tier replaced the Ultimate bundle.
- Entertainment: $69.99/month (no change)
- Choice: $89.99/month (+$5, roughly similar to Xtra or Just Right bundle)
- Ultimate: $104.99/month (+$15)
- Premier: $149.99/month (new plan)
The increase was due to “higher-than-normal” inflation, but to offset the cost, DirecTV offered unlimited cloud DVR instead of its usual 20 hour limit.
Legacy plans also increased by $10, except where otherwise noted.
DirecTV Stream (grandfathered plans)
- Legacy Entertainment: $74.99/month (+$5)
- Legacy Choice: $81.99/month (+$7)
- Legacy Xtra: $92.99/month (+$8)
- Legacy Ultimate: $99.99/month
- Optimo Mas: $78.99/month (+$4)
DirecTV Now
- Live a Little: $79.99/month
- Just Right: $94.99/month
- Go Big: $104.99/month
- Gotta Have it: $104.99/month
- Todo y mas: $84.99/month
AT&T TV Now
- Plus: $84.99/month
- Max: $99.99/month
January 22, 2023. From $69.99 to $74.99/month (Entertainment package)
DirecTV Stream increased prices by $5-10/month for all plans in 2023. Thankfully, new subscribers didn’t have to face a new package structure, so the plans for 2022 onwards faced the same rates.
- Entertainment: $74.99/month (+$5)
- Choice: $99.99/month (+$10)
- Ultimate: $109.99/month (+$5)
- Premier: $154.99/month (+$5)
Legacy plans also increased by $4-10.
- Legacy Entertainment: $79.99/month (+$5)
- Legacy Choice: $89.99/month (+$8)
- Legacy Xtra: $99.99/month (+$8)
- Legacy Ultimate: $109.99/month (+$5)
- Optimo Mas: $82.99/month (+$4)
This increase also included DirecTV Now plans:
- Live a Little: $84.99/month (+$5)
- Just Right: $102.99 per month (+$8)
- Go Big: $114.99 per month (+$10)
- Gotta Have It: $114.99/month (+$10)
- Todo y Mas: $88.99/month (+$4)
They haven’t left out AT&T Now legacy subscribers either:
- Plus: $94.99/month (+$10)
- Max: $109.99/month (+$10)
The streamer cites higher programming costs, which might have stemmed from the last-minute December deal with Fox Corporation. As mentioned, Fox’s RSNs adds an edge to DirecTV Stream’s channel line-up, making it a top pick for sports fans, but given the back-to-back yearly increases, even the legacy plans have become much pricier than other options in the market.
November 5, 2023. From $74.99 to $79.99/month (Entertainment package)
Before the year finished, DirecTV Stream increased prices again for all plans. The Entertainment plan increased by $5, but all the higher end plans increased by $9-10/month, with DirecTV citing higher network charges for both national and local programming.
- Entertainment: $79.99/month (+$5)
- Choice: $108.99/month (+$9)
- Ultimate: $119.99/month (+$10)
- Premier: $164.99/month (+$10)
It was also around this point that most media outlets stopped reporting on legacy plans (perhaps due to how many of them there are). Still, we heard reports of some users still clinging onto their legacy plans, and being bewildered as we are towards the way DirecTV Stream names their packages.
October 6, 2024. From $79.99 to $84.99/month (Entertainment package)
Programming continued to be the reason for DirecTV Stream’s customers woes in 2024, as another year brought in another price increase. However, the streamer was creative in presenting its rates, since they started to separate the cost of the subscription with the cost of its fees. For clarity’s sake, we included the fees in the fares.
- Entertainment: $89.99/month (+$10)
- Choice: $114.99/month (+$6)
- Ultimate: $139.99/month (+$20)
- Premier: $184.99/month (+$20)
While the fees surely had an impact in the price hike, 2024 was also the year AT&T completely divested from DirecTV, selling the remaining 70% to TPG. Divestments like these often come with organizational restructures and shifts, so the price hike might have been made to offset the cost this process takes.
However, 2024 was an especially terrible time because this scheduled rise coincided with a whole blackout. Disney pulled ESPN, ABC, NatGeo, and their other channels from the streaming service on September 7 just before the announcement. In response to the complaints, DirecTV offered a one-time $30 credit for the Disney blackout. Thankfully, all the Disney channels returned to the streamer September 14, just in time for college football and the Emmy Awards.
April 13, 2025. From $84.99 to $89.99/month (Entertainment package)
Finally, in April 2025, DirecTV consolidated their prices across their satellite and streaming offerings. That means those on a streaming plan have access to the satellite offerings and vice versa, though their new streaming device Gemini Air requires a rental fee. For the sake of simplicity, we’ve added both the highest RSN fee (which varies from state to state) and the Gemini rental fee:
- Entertainment: $94.99/month (+$5)
- Choice: $117.98/month (+$3)
- Ultimate: $147.98/month (+$9)
- Premier: $192.98/month (+$8)
They also started to offer smaller Genre Packs starting from $34.99/month. These packs include MyEntertainment (channels that only stream TV shows and movies), MySports (live sports), MyNews (national and international news) and MiEspañol (Spanish language channels).
Genre pack subscribers can also add the MyCinema add-on at $9.99/month, except for those subscribed exclusively to MiEspañol, which makes sense considering the language barrier. MySports base pack subscribers can also select a MySports Extra add-on for an additional $12.99/month, or a MyHome Team add-on for $19.99.
DirecTV Stream Future Price Hikes
As of writing, DirecTV Stream remains to be one of the priciest live streaming services in the market. So, like any regular human, we hope that the prices won’t go up. Sadly, we won’t be surprised if they decide to increase prices next year.
Why do we say that? For starters, since 2018, the streamer has consistently raised prices every year. They’ve also played around with their plan structure, offered rates with hidden fees, and switched up names and bundles ever so often that this article probably gave you a headache. It certainly gave us one. We can’t blame them for the rocky ownership issues, and we can’t blame them for the nifty 24-month price lock-in period, but my gosh. Don’t customers deserve some clarity over their bills?
The good news for DirecTV Stream subscribers: Genre Packs. Genre Packs at least show that DirecTV is willing to experiment with flexibility and customization to create cheaper plans for individual subscribers.
DirecTV has also now gone into free, ad-supported streaming with MyFree DirecTV. If all the price changes are overwhelming, and you really just want to save up, DirecTV now offers around 125 FAST channels through their streaming app.
Perhaps its cable roots with AT&T have been the reason behind prioritizing bigger and larger plans for families, but now that they’re completely out of the picture, it’s now time to offer something different. We’re hoping that the Genre Packs and FAST channels hint to more strategies without price hikes. Maybe even a price decrease? (Don’t be shy, DirecTV.) But either way, we’ll keep an eye out for all the changes your streaming bill might take, and who knows? Maybe it’ll change for the better.
About the author
