AT&T TV Now Raises Subscriber Fees For Second Time This Year

AT&T’s streaming service will go from $50 to $65 per month for its basic package

AT&T

AT&T will be significantly increasing the price of its AT&T TV Now streaming service for the second time this year, the company said on Friday.

The service’s basic package, which offers about 45 channels, will now cost subscribers $65 per month instead of $50. AT&T had already hiked the price of its basic package $10 per month earlier this year when it was still under the DirecTV Now banner.

AT&T TV Now’s “Max” package, offering more than 60 channels, HBO and Cinemax, will also cost customers more, going from $70 to $85. The price increase will affect customers beginning in November.

In a letter to subscribers, AT&T said that it was increasing its subscriber fees “as programming costs continue to rise.”

The increased rates come as AT&T has struggled to keep both streaming and traditional TV customers. Last month, AT&T CFO John Stephens said  he expected the company to lose “300,000 to 350,000” more video subscribers in Q3 than the company shed in the second quarter. That forecast would push AT&T’s net subscriber losses to about 1.25 million customers this quarter.

On its own, AT&T’s streaming business lost 168,000 customers during the second quarter. Exacerbating those losses is the fact that the cable and satellite industry has experienced record losses of late, something DirecTV’s business has been unable to avoid.

AT&T is expected to report its Q3 earnings next week.

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