# 2021 Price Increase for DirecTV and U-Verse TV



## the future is now (Jun 10, 2010)

TV Price Changes for 2021

Starting on January 17, 2021, your monthly DIRECTV bill will include a Federal Cost Recovery Fee of $0.19 per month. This fee used to be charged once a year.

It covers regulatory fee expenses that DIRECTV pays to the Federal Communications Commission. Plus, the fee may include outstanding regulatory costs incurred in prior years that are not yet fully recovered. The fee isn't a tax or surcharge that the government requires DIRECTV to collect if you have a DIRECTV account.


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## the future is now (Jun 10, 2010)

Another helpful link: AT&T raises DirecTV prices again amid customer losses and possible sale

On the plus side, AT&T's announcement did not include any increases for the Regional Sports Network (RSN) and Broadcast TV fees, which were both raised a year ago. When contacted by Ars today, AT&T confirmed that the "RSN fees and broadcast fees remain unchanged."


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## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

Great- my Premier package along with taxes goes up another $10/month and I still don’t get HD Extra Pack channels.


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## techguy88 (Mar 19, 2015)

the future is now said:


> Another helpful link: AT&T raises DirecTV prices again amid customer losses and possible sale
> 
> On the plus side, AT&T's announcement did not include any increases for the Regional Sports Network (RSN) and Broadcast TV fees, which were both raised a year ago. When contacted by Ars today, AT&T confirmed that the "RSN fees and broadcast fees remain unchanged."


RSN fee applies to DirecTV / Broadcast TV Fee applies to U-Verse TV. According to this the price increase only applies to DirecTV and U-Verse TV and not AT&T TV/AT&T TV Now



codespy said:


> Great- my Premier package along with taxes goes up another $10/month and I still don't get HD Extra Pack channels.


You should get Smithsonian Channel at least without the Movies Extra Pack


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## techguy88 (Mar 19, 2015)

Here is the annual chart with all the packages and premiums


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

codespy said:


> Great- my Premier package along with taxes goes up another $10/month and I still don't get HD Extra Pack channels.


Yearly price increase goes without saying. No surprise there. You can get "Movies Extra Pack" by subscribing to it for $4.99 a month.


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## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

$8 increase for Preferred Xtra? Unbelievable! I really wish there was a viable alternative.


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## the future is now (Jun 10, 2010)

Thanks for the spreadsheet techguy88!


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## techguy88 (Mar 19, 2015)

Well if someone doesn't want Sports Pack but want Premier they could do this (depending on pkg structure):

Xtra $116.99 + ARS ($23) + 1 TV ($0.00) + HBO Max, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime ($50.96) = $190.95
Xtra $116.99 + ARS ($25) + 1 TV ($0.00) + HBO Max, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime ($50.96) = $192.95

Xtra $116.99 + ARS ($15) + 1 TV ($7.00) + HBO Max, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime ($50.96) = $189.95

Xtra (All Included, 1 TV) $139.00 + HBO Max, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime ($50.96) = $189.96
This would save about $16/mo. Also if someone doesn't want Cinemax they could get Movies Extra Pack & Epix in its place. In fact getting Xtra + all 5 premiums is about $2/mo cheaper than getting Premier and all you would miss is Cowboy Channel rofl.



the future is now said:


> Thanks for the spreadsheet techguy88!


Your welcome


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

the future is now said:


> Thanks for the spreadsheet techguy88!


A labor of love to be sure.


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## CTJon (Feb 5, 2007)

Remember the suppliers (networks, sports stuff) raise prices at least every year. That is why you read about channels disappearing for a while occasionally. Not that DirecTv doesn't raise prices but their costs go up all the time also


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## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

MysteryMan said:


> Yearly price increase goes without saying. No surprise there. You can get "Movies Extra Pack" by subscribing to it for $4.99 a month.


I get that, been with them for 22 years. Increases on Premier before AT&T use to be $5 every other year, now it's been $9 yearly if my memory serves me correctly.

I use to do the free HD EP game online for years every 3 months until ATT killed that too, and I will never ever pay extra for those, will just use them during the freeviews. If everyone decided to unsubscribe to those, eventually they would get tossed into the main package(s).

I'm still not leaving, since Spectrum would bankrupt me for my setup with all my DVR's.


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## Willh (Jan 1, 2009)

the annual "we had to pay for the retransmission rate increases to keep some channels on or get 'em back after a dispute caused a blackout" price hike.


Sent from my SM-A205U using Tapatalk


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

codespy said:


> Increases on Premier before AT&T use to be $5 every other year, now it's been $9 yearly if my memory serves me correctly.


I think you may be having romantic memories. Premier has been going up $5 or more per year since inception.

2012 $119.99
2013 $124.99 $5
2014 $129.99 $5
2015 $136.99 $7


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## Delroy E Walleye (Jun 9, 2012)

For whatever it's worth, Premier also has embedded "Advanced Service DVR" into the price for the last couple years - having increased enough to cover it of course.

(Advanced service HD and whole-home are still an additional $10.00 and $3.00 respectively.)


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## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

CTJon said:


> Remember the suppliers (networks, *sports stuff*) raise prices at least every year. That is why you read about channels disappearing for a while occasionally. Not that DirecTv doesn't raise prices but their costs go up all the time also


Ya, definitely. Cardboard cut outs are expensive AF!!


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## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

harsh said:


> I think you may be having romantic memories. Premier has been going up $5 or more per year since inception.
> 
> 2012 $119.99
> 2013 $124.99 $5
> ...


My memory is not as bad as you think (yes I was off a buck for a couple years if you want to get technical), and I've had Premier since basically the start- but here is from 2004 and on- I filled in some of the years you missed.

1998 to 2003 (cannot find my old bills).
2004 $90.99
2005 $93.99 $3
2006 $99.99 $6
2007 $99.99 $0
2008 $104.99 $5
2009 $109.99 $5
2010 $114.99 $5
2011 $114.99 $0
2012 $119.99 $5
2013 $124.99 $5
2014 $129.99 $5
2015 $136.99 $7

6/2015- ATT Takes the ship over

2016 $144.99 $8
2017 $150.99 $6
2018 $158.99 $8
2019 $166.99 $8
2020 $174.99 $8
2021 $183.99 $9


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## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

Delroy E Walleye said:


> For whatever it's worth, Premier also has embedded "Advanced Service DVR" into the price for the last couple years - having increased enough to cover it of course.
> 
> (Advanced service HD and whole-home are still an additional $10.00 and $3.00 respectively.)


I'm still Grandfathered Premier, so my DVR service is $0/month, but I still get charged the $10 and $3 hits. DirecTV did give me a 12 month credit about a year ago at $20/month to offset the HD Charge for two years due to a CSR error. That was nice.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

codespy said:


> My memory is not as bad as you think (yes I was off a buck for a couple years if you want to get technical), and I've had Premier since basically the start- but here is from 2004 and on-


And on the fourth year, they relented. Of those 17 years of pricing, there were only two years where the package price didn't take a hop. Not very much like "every other year".


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## Christopher Gould (Jan 14, 2007)

techguy88 said:


> Here is the annual chart with all the packages and premiums
> 
> View attachment 31056


the price of getting hbo, max, starz, sho seems wrong. 14.99+10.99+10.99+10.99= 47.96 not 50.96


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Christopher Gould said:


> the price of getting hbo, max, starz, sho seems wrong. 14.99+10.99+10.99+10.99= 47.96 not 50.96


The spreadsheet is correct. The discounts on Starz, SHO and Cinemax are NOT additive (probably because Cinemax is part of HBO Max). If you subscribe to one suite, the discount is $3. If you subscribe to two, it is $4.01 and if you subscribe to all three, it is $6.02

Here's the current AT&T Price Change Page (look quick, it may have moved later):

TV Price Changes for 2021


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## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

codespy said:


> My memory is not as bad as you think (yes I was off a buck for a couple years if you want to get technical), and I've had Premier since basically the start- but here is from 2004 and on- I filled in some of the years you missed.
> 
> 1998 to 2003 (cannot find my old bills).
> 2004 $90.99
> ...


I have a bill from 2002 when Choice Xtra Classic or whatever it was called back then was only $40!!


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## SledgeHammer (Dec 28, 2007)

codespy said:


> My memory is not as bad as you think (yes I was off a buck for a couple years if you want to get technical), and I've had Premier since basically the start- but here is from 2004 and on- I filled in some of the years you missed.
> 
> 1998 to 2003 (cannot find my old bills).
> 2004 $90.99
> ...


Ok, so 2004 -> 2021 your TV bill DOUBLED. Has your salary doubled in that time frame? Mines only gone up ~50% which is why I'm looking for a job now lol. Have any of your other bills doubled? Electricity, water, phone, etc. all pretty stable in that time frame. I don't remember what my internet bill was in 2004, but I'm pretty sure it was 150mbps still because I had that speed until Cox released 1Gbps maybe 3 - 5 years ago. So probably that bill has doubled on 6x the speed. We haven't gotten 6x the channels or 6x the PQ or 6x of anything. And really, TV shows shouldn't have gotten that much more expensive to produce. Actors don't get much of a salary unless they have a big hit, then you can maybe get up to 1M/ep towards the end.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

SledgeHammer said:


> Ok, so 2004 -> 2021 your TV bill DOUBLED. Has your salary doubled in that time frame? Mines only gone up ~50% which is why I'm looking for a job now lol. Have any of your other bills doubled? Electricity, water, phone, etc. all pretty stable in that time frame. I don't remember what my internet bill was in 2004, but I'm pretty sure it was 150mbps still because I had that speed until Cox released 1Gbps maybe 3 - 5 years ago. So probably that bill has doubled on 6x the speed. We haven't gotten 6x the channels or 6x the PQ or 6x of anything. And really, TV shows shouldn't have gotten that much more expensive to produce. Actors don't get much of a salary unless they have a big hit, then you can maybe get up to 1M/ep towards the end.


While I agree with you on most there (except my salary has tripled in that time frame) tv show costs are absolutely nuts Like some rival a movie production


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## mitchflorida (May 18, 2009)

You would think they would make locals optional. Lots of us now have antennas or Locast available. I think locals cost us about $15 a month now?


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## techguy88 (Mar 19, 2015)

harsh said:


> The spreadsheet is correct. The discounts on Starz, SHO and Cinemax are NOT additive (probably because Cinemax is part of HBO Max). If you subscribe to one suite, the discount is $3. If you subscribe to two, it is $4.01 and if you subscribe to all three, it is $6.02
> 
> Here's the current AT&T Price Change Page (look quick, it may have moved later):
> 
> TV Price Changes for 2021


Cinemax is sold as a standalone premium from HBO Max. Having HBO Max does not include Cinemax and vice versa.



Christopher Gould said:


> the price of getting hbo, max, starz, sho seems wrong. 14.99+10.99+10.99+10.99= 47.96 not 50.96


Ah I see what I did wrong. In the 2020 Price column I put the bundle price that existed from January - April 2020 (before HBO Max launched and when HBO was $17.99) when I should have used the May 2020-present bundle pricing (after HBO Max launched and AT&T decreased the price down to $14.99). My bad. Everything else is correct. I'm not used to AT&T doing mid-year price changes like they did with HBO Max this year.

Here is the corrected table. I also found the prices for the RSN fees.












techguy88 said:


> Well if someone doesn't want Sports Pack but want Premier they could do this (depending on pkg structure):
> 
> Xtra $116.99 + ARS ($23) + 1 TV ($0.00) + HBO Max, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime ($50.96) = $190.95
> Xtra $116.99 + ARS ($25) + 1 TV ($0.00) + HBO Max, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime ($50.96) = $192.95
> ...


To fix this post that pricing would be even cheaper for Xtra (w/1 Genie WH-DVR) + all 4 movie premiums vs having DirecTV Premier

Xtra $116.99 + ARS ($23) + 1 TV ($0.00) + HBO Max, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime ($47.96) = $187.95
Xtra $116.99 + ARS ($25) + 1 TV ($0.00) + HBO Max, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime ($47.96) = $189.95

Xtra $116.99 + ARS ($15) + 1 TV ($7.00) + HBO Max, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime ($47.96) = $186.95

Xtra (All Included, 1 TV) $139.00 + HBO Max, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime ($47.96) = $186.96
So... for someone not wanting Sports Pack & Cowboy Channel going to Xtra + 4 movie premiums would actually be $19.05 cheaper than DirecTV Premier. This actually would bring the cost closer to AT&T TV Premier & AT&T TV Now Premier which are both $183/mo (due to AT&T TV and AT&T TV Now lacking their own Sports Pack.) 

Getting Xtra + all 5 premiums is actually $5.05 cheaper than DirecTV Premier (which is the difference of Movies Extra Pack or would cover most of the cost of Epix.) The only channels lost doing Xtra + all 5 premiums is Cowboy Channel & TUDN (formerly Univision Deportes).



codespy said:


> I'm still Grandfathered Premier, so my DVR service is $0/month, but I still get charged the $10 and $3 hits. DirecTV did give me a 12 month credit about a year ago at $20/month to offset the HD Charge for two years due to a CSR error. That was nice.


Yeah in your case it wouldn't make sense going from Premier due to the $0/mo DVR service unless you wanted to actually drop a premium.


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## krel (Mar 20, 2013)

codespy said:


> I get that, been with them for 22 years. Increases on Premier before AT&T use to be $5 every other year, now it's been $9 yearly if my memory serves me correctly.
> 
> I use to do the free HD EP game online for years every 3 months until ATT killed that too, and I will never ever pay extra for those, will just use them during the freeviews. If everyone decided to unsubscribe to those, eventually they would get tossed into the main package(s).
> 
> I'm still not leaving, since Spectrum would bankrupt me for my setup with all my DVR's.


spectrum charges 19.99 for 4 dvr's in the home vs the 12.99 for one dvr. but the spectrum PQ is just awful and the world box is crap with all of it's software bugs and glitches and the guide being up in the cloud for that box. it was all of the taxes and fees with spectrum that was bankrupting me. spectrum is only good for the promo deals then after that run like hell!!!


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## krel (Mar 20, 2013)

mitchflorida said:


> You would think they would make locals optional. Lots of us now have antennas or Locast available. I think locals cost us about $15 a month now?


as far as i know dish is the only provider that lets you drop the locals and save 12.99 a month. i think that spectrum charges 16.99 a month for locals DTV keeps the cost hidden and says there included in all packages


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## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

My yearly Christmas card came in the mail today from DirecTV.....

If you live in Wisconsin (like me) and are under contract, no early termination, disconnect, or service fees will occur should you decide to cancel due to the price increase. You have to cancel by 2/17/2021.

On a different note, after upgrading my iPhone a couple weeks ago, Apple sent me a notice that I get Apple TV+ free for a year! So another streaming service added to our household besides Disney, Amazon Prime and HBO Max.


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## Teetertotter (Jul 23, 2020)

Yupper, I live in WI too, and read that fine print, but, I will be keeping my Ultimate Package + DSL internet. We use Roku for Netflix movies. Wife does all her recording of major network show series more less. Keeps the DVR going every day...lol and watch the recorded shows, whenever. DTV is for us.


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## GLJones (Feb 12, 2008)

I have been with DirecTV since the beginning with a one year gap when we couldn't have a dish. I go back to the early USSB days with the Sony receivers.
I am increasingly on the edge of cancelling. There are so many streaming alternatives now and I have most of the services like HBO-MAX, Disney+, AppleTV+, Hulu, Netflix and others. I cannot think of anything I would be missing without DirecTV if I get a service with live TV of the cable channels.
My mom just dropped DirecTV and got the Spectrum streaming service through their Ruku stick app. It seems to work well and the picture looks good. They even have DVR functionality stored on their servers. No help if the Internet is down, but that is what an antenna is for. She pays a fraction of what DirecTV charges.
I am just not seeing the value anymore and these constant price increases just put an emphasis on that. I already pay for 100mbps+ Internet for work so dropping my $230+ monthly DirecTV bill would be hard to match even if I have to have a couple more streaming services to get everything I want. I have Premier with everything except the sports and porn packages. 
I am not looking for temporary discounts or having to negotiate every 6-12 months...I am just done. It hasn't been the same since AT&T bout it anyway. I am very close to pulling the plug.


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## Teetertotter (Jul 23, 2020)

@GLJones, You gotta do what you gotta do. Technology keeps changing/improving.


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## JMII (Jan 19, 2008)

I've been with DirecTV since '97 - and its getting way too expensive. Also the retention center isn't giving discounts anymore. Its clear AT&T has run this operation into the ground but doesn't care. In fact it appears to be their plan: raise prices to force people into streaming which is market they have more control over. Based on my last billing change with them I believe I have 11 months left on my contract.


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

JMII said:


> I've been with DirecTV since '97 - and its getting way too expensive. Also the retention center isn't giving discounts anymore. Its clear AT&T has run this operation into the ground but doesn't care. In fact it appears to be their plan: raise prices to force people into streaming which is market they have more control over. Based on my last billing change with them I believe I have 11 months left on my contract.


They do still give discounts. Last year I got a $120 off a month for a year and this year was $60 off a month for a year and free Sunday Ticket.


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

GLJones said:


> I have been with DirecTV since the beginning with a one year gap when we couldn't have a dish. I go back to the early USSB days with the Sony receivers.
> I am increasingly on the edge of cancelling. There are so many streaming alternatives now and I have most of the services like HBO-MAX, Disney+, AppleTV+, Hulu, Netflix and others. I cannot think of anything I would be missing without DirecTV if I get a service with live TV of the cable channels.
> My mom just dropped DirecTV and got the Spectrum streaming service through their Ruku stick app. It seems to work well and the picture looks good. They even have DVR functionality stored on their servers. No help if the Internet is down, but that is what an antenna is for. She pays a fraction of what DirecTV charges.
> I am just not seeing the value anymore and these constant price increases just put an emphasis on that. I already pay for 100mbps+ Internet for work so dropping my $230+ monthly DirecTV bill would be hard to match even if I have to have a couple more streaming services to get everything I want. I have Premier with everything except the sports and porn packages.
> I am not looking for temporary discounts or having to negotiate every 6-12 months...I am just done. It hasn't been the same since AT&T bout it anyway. I am very close to pulling the plug.


If your not into live sports then it probably would be cheaper to not have DirecTV. Only other thing would be the cost of streaming devices to every TV. Smart TVs are not the answer as they dont last long. Need a Roku or something. Firesticks suck to as Amazon admits that they only designed them to see the few lower 5G channels so if your router changes to any of the other channels on the 5G, the Firestick dont work and thats on all versions of the Firestick. Good luck, sounds like this could save you lots of money.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

joshjr said:


> They do still give discounts. Last year I got a $120 off a month for a year and this year was $60 off a month for a year and free Sunday Ticket.


How long ago? The well may be drying up. Your experience ($120 per month one year and $60 the next) seems to be an illustration of the decrease in discounts. (Sunday Ticket is an easy freebee since DIRECTV doesn't have to pay the NFL per viewer.)


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

joshjr said:


> Only other thing would be the cost of streaming devices to every TV.


Depending on the sophistication of the connected TV, you can get streaming sticks for not much money these days (unless you're an Apple fan).

You can pick and choose the capabilities of the box/stick to match the TV it will be used with. Prices for fully serviceable streamers are much cheaper than buying a new TV and they represent a one-time cost versus satellite or cable boxes that incur a monthly cost.


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## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

James Long said:


> How long ago? The well may be drying up. Your experience ($120 per month one year and $60 the next) seems to be an illustration of the decrease in discounts. (Sunday Ticket is an easy freebee since DIRECTV doesn't have to pay the NFL per viewer.)


Looking at his post he stated $120 last year and $60 this year. $120/mth for 12 months was pretty rare, and quite a deal. Most I ever got was $60/mth for a year and I was really happy with that.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

codespy said:


> Looking at his post he stated $120 last year and $60 this year. $120/mth for 12 months was pretty rare, and quite a deal. Most I ever got was $60/mth for a year and I was really happy with that.


120 off a month for a year doesn't sound right


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## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

It could’ve been a combination of discounts too for that time period, not just one. joshjr would know.


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## longhorn23 (Jan 19, 2019)

compnurd said:


> 120 off a month for a year doesn't sound right


When I first had directv, my bill showed discounts of $200+ a month. This was during the second year. I was also getting free Sunday Ticket. I was still getting the promos for being a new customer for the first two years and in the second year this customer service rep added additional discounts including 60 dollars a month plus discounts on all the premium channels. I was already on premier so the premium channels were all included. My bill for premier was sometimes only $15 dollars a month total. It was nuts. This was back in 2017-2018 when they were giving out discounts like crazy. Now I get about 65 dollars off a month plus the lifetime att/directv credit of 25 dollars and 13 dollars for directv and HBO.


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## krel (Mar 20, 2013)

JMII said:


> I've been with DirecTV since '97 - and its getting way too expensive. Also the retention center isn't giving discounts anymore. Its clear AT&T has run this operation into the ground but doesn't care. In fact it appears to be their plan: raise prices to force people into streaming which is market they have more control over. Based on my last billing change with them I believe I have 11 months left on my contract.


i'll qoute you!!! you said that ATT raised prices to force people to go streaming???
ATT is or was hoping to force everyone one off DTV and onto streaming there streaming service. it's cheaper to run than DTV no tech needed do it yourself install. i would not do ATT streaming because of the price hikes the 2 year contract involved and the crap CSR'S from another planet. i think that ATT plan is biting them in the ass now


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

From the equipment perspective there isn't anything cheaper than keeping existing customers on satellite. The satellites and uplink centers cost the same whether they are serving 100 customers or 100 million. Pushing existing customers away from satellite does not save any money. The signal isn't any weaker with 100 million people watching than it is with 100 people watching. Not the same for streaming where 100 million streams would put a much greater burden on their distribution network than 100 streams would.

Starting a new service from scratch? Yes, satellites in the sky and uplink centers are expensive and complicated dish installations and cabling costs more than shipping boxes to customers. But DIRECTV satellite is not starting from scratch. The satellites are launched, the uplink centers are running and the receive equipment is installed.

AT&T has sunk a lot of investment into developing their new streaming product. I'm sure they want to show some return on the investment and that may be the biggest reason why they push streaming - management wanting to make their investment look good. I suspect that is where much of the profit of DIRECTV satellite has been skimmed off - spending money on building the more expensive streaming operations.

Please do not buy in to the lie that streaming is cheap for the providers. If companies were forced to report the same statistics for streaming as satellite companies report (ARPU, SAC, etc) and if AT&T|DIRECTV would report their statistics for each service instead of combining subscribers, revenue and profits across different parts of the Entertainment Group we would see a clearer picture. Streaming services are creating an unsustainable level of debt.


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

Just out of curiosity, does AT&T allow DirecTv customers to switch to their streaming service under the contract should they want to?


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

James Long said:


> But DIRECTV satellite is not starting from scratch. The satellites are launched, the uplink centers are running and the receive equipment is installed.


It may seem like that until you look at the costs involved with trying to transition legacy subscribers to new technologies. DIRECTV has been talking for years about the MPEG4 transition and they still aren't there. Upgrading old receivers has costs and when that includes having to upgrade the antenna and/or switchgear, that can be almost as expensive as a new install (less programming credits).

Because their streaming services are unicast, the costs expand with each subscriber. If they were able to use a multicast model, they could significantly improve on that. I suspect that may have been the model that they wanted to adopt with AT&T TV Now but it didn't catch on as they had hoped.


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## CTJon (Feb 5, 2007)

At the rate that every network is creating a + version which will be a separate contract etc. and will soon be the only way to get new shows - our costs are going to go through the roof if we want to watch the shows we used to get from one source.


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

CTJon said:


> At the rate that every network is creating a + version which will be a separate contract etc. and will soon be the only way to get new shows - our costs are going to go through the roof if we want to watch the shows we used to get from one source.


Streaming Services Motto: Lure them in by feeding them molasses then give them the sulfur.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

harsh said:


> DIRECTV has been talking for years about the MPEG4 transition and they still aren't there.


Talk is cheap. As noted, talking for years. Not a lot of progress other than forcing new subscribers to get MPEG4 and the new equipment.


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## sticketfan (Apr 25, 2007)

I have 4 dvr and premier package would it be cheaper for me to get a different package plus all premiums including sports pak?


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

sticketfan said:


> I have 4 dvr and premier package would it be cheaper for me to get a different package plus all premiums including sports pak?


Not unless you want less channels from a cheaper package


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## Teetertotter (Jul 23, 2020)

My first year contract ends Jan 9, 21 and just talked to the Retention Dept with a wait of only 10 minutes this morning. Andria was really helpful.
In 2020 with the Ultimate Package, I was receiving a $45.00/mo discount. For the Internet, it was $20.00 Discount.

This morning for the remainder of 2021, my Ultimate Pkg discount is $35.00/month. The internet remains at the $20.00 month discount on the 100Mbps. 

This met my satisfaction to keep me a happy DTV customer and took but 5-10 minutes with her.


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## longhorn23 (Jan 19, 2019)

Teetertotter said:


> My first year contract ends Jan 9, 21 and just talked to the Retention Dept with a wait of only 10 minutes this morning. Andria was really helpful.
> In 2020 with the Ultimate Package, I was receiving a $45.00/mo discount. For the Internet, it was $20.00 Discount.
> 
> This morning for the remainder of 2021, my Ultimate Pkg discount is $35.00/month. The internet remains at the $20.00 month discount on the 100Mbps.
> ...


which number did you call?


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

longhorn23 said:


> which number did you call?


Remember that who you call depends on whether you're on DIRECTV's books or AT&T's books.

It used to be that asking to cancel would get you transferred to retention but now it may get you transferred to someone who will assist you in closing out your account.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

harsh said:


> Remember that who you call depends on whether you're on DIRECTV's books or AT&T's books.
> 
> It used to be that asking to cancel would get you transferred to retention but now it may get you transferred to someone who will assist you in closing out your account.


No it doesn't. Both can happen with either "book"


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

compnurd said:


> No it doesn't. Both can happen with either "book"


So if you're an AT&T account and you call DIRECTV Retention they might be able to give you discounts (and vice versa)?

Getting shuttled to disconnections is always a concern but that wasn't what the "book" part of my reply was about.


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## b4pjoe (Nov 20, 2010)

harsh said:


> So if you're an AT&T account and you call DIRECTV Retention they might be able to give you discounts (and vice versa)?
> 
> Getting shuttled to disconnections is always a concern but that wasn't what the "book" part of my reply was about.


If you're an AT&T account and you call DIRECTV Retention or any DIRECTV number you get transferred to AT&T with no idea which AT&T department you will be transferred to. I've been connected to both the U-Verse support and the Cellular support when being transferred. Then passed around for awhile and usually end up talking to someone I can't understand.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

harsh said:


> So if you're an AT&T account and you call DIRECTV Retention they might be able to give you discounts (and vice versa)?
> 
> Getting shuttled to disconnections is always a concern but that wasn't what the "book" part of my reply was about.


Yes and if you had Directv you would know this


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

compnurd said:


> Yes and if you had Directv you would know this


So you've converted your account to AT&T?


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## Teetertotter (Jul 23, 2020)

Retention Dept# 877.999.1083
If you want so called ATT PRES.Staff Office for Discounts: 678.917.1185 Frank Williams


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## longhorn23 (Jan 19, 2019)

Teetertotter said:


> Retention Dept# 877.999.1083
> If you want so called ATT PRES.Staff Office for Discounts: 678.917.1185 Frank Williams


Thanks for replying! What exactly is the second number you posted? And have you had success with that number as well?


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## Teetertotter (Jul 23, 2020)

The second number is another avenue to talk to another person to get any discounts, as mentioned. I have his e-mail address too, if you like.

I had also sent a msg to the ATT Pres office/investor relations Contacts | AT&T by filling out the form. I got an e-mail back with Frank telling me to wait a week before my contract is up or first year expires.


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