Well, poop. Following in the recent footsteps of live-TV streaming services DirecTV Now, Hulu and YouTube TV, cord-cutter favorite Philo is raising prices.
Sort of. Starting May 6, the company's $16-per-month plan is going away, leaving only the $20-per-month option.
That's the bad news. The good news is that if you're already a subscriber at the lower tier or you sign up before that date, you can keep the $16 plan.
Everything else remains pretty much the same. The $16 tier includes the following 45 channels:
- A&E
- AMC
- Animal Planet
- AXS TV
- BBC America
- BBC World News
- BET
- Cheddar Business
- Cheddar News
- CMT
- CLEO TV
- Comedy Central
- Discovery
- DIY
- Food Network
- FYI
- Game Show Network
- Hallmark Channel
- Hallmark Drama
- Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
- HGTV
- IFC
- ID
- Lifetime
- Lifetime Movies
- Motor Trend
- MTV
- MTV 2
- MTV Classic
- Nickelodeon
- OWN
- Paramount
- People TV
- Sci
- Sundance TV
- Nick Jr
- Teen Nick
- History
- Tastemade
- TLC
- Travel
- TV Land
- VH1
- Viceland
- WE TV
The $20 plan adds 12 more:
- American Heroes
- Aspire
- BET Her
- Cooking
- Destination America
- Discovery Family
- Discovery Life
- Logo
- MTV Live
- Nick Toons
- Revolt
- UP TV
Although the bump to $20 from $16 represents a 25% increase, Philo remains one of the cheapest live-TV streaming services. Both tiers include three simultaneous streams and unlimited DVR.
AT&T Watch currently charges $15 per month, but that package includes only 34 channels and doesn't include a DVR option. Sling TV starts at $25 (though a current promotion drops that to $15 per month for the first three months), with one to three simultaneous streams depending on the package. If you want DVR, that adds an extra $5.
Neither AT&T Watch nor Philo offers local or sports channels. Sling has lots of the latter, but a limited number of local stations.
No one ever said cord-cutting would be easy -- or cheap. Although Philo remains a great deal, the handwriting is on the wall: Streaming prices will continue to rise.
Read more: The best live-TV streaming services for cord cutters
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