AT&T’s DirecTV Now plans will get a $5 price hike

This comes a few days after the company unveiled its cheaper WatchTV plan.

Marrian Zhou Staff Reporter

Marrian Zhou is a Beijing-born Californian living in New York City. She joined CNET as a staff reporter upon graduation from Columbia Journalism School. When Marrian is not reporting, she is probably binge watching, playing saxophone or eating hot pot.

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Marrian Zhou

July 2, 2018 9:03 p.m. PT

DirecTV Now's price will go up by $5 per month starting August 1.
Sarah Tew/CNET

AT&T's DirecTV Now streaming video service will soon hit your wallet harder.

Starting Aug. 1, the price of all of AT&T's DirecTV Now's plans will go up by $5 apiece. The plans start at $35, but will cost $40 next month, according to a company spokesman. The only exception is the $45 Spanish language "Todos y Mas" plan, which doesn't get the price increase.

This comes after AT&T launched its new WatchTV service with two rebooted unlimited data plans last month. The service, which non-AT&T customers can purchase for $15 a month, comes with more than 30 live channels but strips out news and sports programs.

AT&T justified the price hike through the introduction of its cloud DVR service and the addition of more than 200 local channels nationwide.

"In order to ensure DIRECTV NOW can continue to bring both new and existing customers the best possible streaming experience, we need to bring this service in line with the live TV streaming market," said a DirecTV spokesperson in an email statement. "This small increase helps ensure we can deliver an even better streaming service into the future."

First published on July 2, 8:36 a.m. PT.

Updates, 9:03 a.m. PT: Adds DirecTV spokesperson statement.