Despite losing millions of customers the last time it did this, AT&T decided to once again raise the price of DirecTV. Monthly rates will increase by US$8/mo starting on January 19, 2020.
The $8-per-month increase will apply to the DirecTV Premier plan that currently costs $189. A $7 increase will apply to the Ultimate package that costs $135 and to the Xtra package that costs $124; a $5 increase will apply to the Choice plan that costs $110; a $4 increase will apply to the Select package that costs $81 a month and to the Entertainment package that costs $93; and increases of $1 or $3 will apply to basic plans.
Amidst all the fuss about iOS 13/13.1 and new iPhones, John found some real gems in this week’s news roundup.
Are robocall-blocking apps on your iPhone trustworthy? It seems some have bypassed Apple’s scrutiny.
John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to discuss the evolution of the CBS/DirecTV standoff, and a new ad from Microsoft.
John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to talk about the latest in John’s MacBook saga, and the CBS/DirecTV kerfuffle.
CBS has blocked DirecTV’s CBS feed since July 19. Customers are angered. CBS All Access subscriptions have surged.( Duh.) Finger pointing abounds. Bloomberg writes: “CBS Blackout on DirecTV Is What’s Wrong With the TV Market.”
If the market for television and video-streaming services wasn’t frustrating enough for consumers, now comes news that millions paying for DirecTV suddenly can’t watch CBS, the most popular TV network in the U.S., due to a contract dispute between the media giants. The good news is that it’s not yet football season, and it’s also in both companies’ interests to reach an agreement soon. The bad news is that the channel-blackout trend is only getting worse.
I’d love to see Stephen Colbert’s take on this. If I could watch him.
Back in December AT&T CEO Randal Stephenson said that it would hike the DirecTV price and adjust the content available.
AT&T has integrated DIRECTV with Apple TV. Users can now discover content on the service via the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.
Good news, procrastinators! If you’ve been planning on signing up for DirecTV NOW and taking advantage of the free Apple TV 4K offer, you have an extra week. The promotion was supposed to end, but DirecTV is extending it out to June 8th. You have to pre-pay for three months service, and you have to be a new subscriber. If that’s you, and you didn’t get around to signing up during the initial deal now you have a second chance to either take advantage of the offer or procrastinate a few more days.
AT&T is pushing DirecTV subscriptions with a new promotion where customers can buy an iPhone 7 and get a second for free, or get a 9.7-inch iPad for US$0.99.