Q. I have really had it with AT&T. I’ve had DIRECTV Now since the beginning, but they just raised the price of HBO from $5 a month to $15 a month. How could they do that? — Jen, Marina Del Rey, California.
Jen, that is both true and false. Let me explain.
Click Amazon: See Today’s Top-Selling TVs!
When AT&T decided to change its program packages for new customers, it included HBO for free in both the $50-a-month Plus plan and the $70-a-month Max plan. Previously, the live streaming service offered four different packages (starting at $40 a month) for new customers, which included an option to add HBO for $5 a month.
So for existing customers who now subscribe to HBO, your $5-a-month fee will not change, unless you decide to drop the premium channel and try to add it again later. If you do that, the price at that time will be $15 a month.
And if you don’t have HBO now and want to subscribe later, the price will be $15 a month as well.
These changes are expected to become effective for existing subscribers sometime this week. The two packages (and prices) for new customers went into effect last month.
So, bottom line: If you are an existing DIRECTV Now customer with HBO, don’t drop it unless you want to pay an additional $10 a month later.
Jen, hope that clarifies the situation. Happy Viewing!
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
And whatever you do, if you want HBO don’t change to Dish. I called Dish to sign up for HBO a couple of weeks ago so I could watch the new season of Barry and found that Dish hasn’t carried HBO for months. As of today, with Game of Thrones looming, they still aren’t offering HBO. Insane.
When I called to sign up, Dish told me that I could go to HBO’s website and sign up for HBO Go and watch it on my phone. Just what I wanted after buying a 4K OLED and paying $120 a month for satellite service from Dish.