AT&T hikes TV Now prices by as much as $15 per month
It now costs at least $65 per month to watch.
Yes, AT&T is raising prices for its TV Now service for the second time this year -- and it's not a small hike. The telecom is notifying subscribers that the Plus tier will jump from $50 to $65 per month on November 19th, while the Max plan will leap from $70 to $80 per month at the same time. That makes the base service nearly twice as expensive as it was on launch in 2016, when it cost $35.
Service prices are climbing to "reflect the cost to deliver content to our customers," AT&T said in a statement to Engadget. It's not clear if this reflects higher channel carriage rates, AT&T's infrastructure costs or a combination of both.
A price increase seemed likely regardless of those costs. The carrier is focused more on making AT&T TV Now profitable than on racking up subscribers, and it's been losing subscribers in recent months -- 168,000 just in the second quarter of this year. A rate increase theoretically makes up for that loss. As you might guess, though, this also risks alienating subscribers who balk at the new prices and don't care for AT&T's particular channel offerings. Rivals are raising prices as well, but the gap could be large enough now that viewers might be tempted to switch.
