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File-October 24, 2016, the AT & T logo in the file photo is located above one of New York's retail stores. AT & T is raising prices for streaming TV services for the second time this year. lessFile-October 24, 2016, the AT & T logo in the file photo is located above one of New York's retail stores. AT & T is raising the price of its second streaming TV service this time … More
Mark Lennihan, Associated Press
Mark Lennihan, Associated Press
AT & T TV Now, the carrier's online television service, is raising prices again.
A notice is coming out this week notifying AT & T Inc. about 1.3 million customers that their prices are up 30{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5} from next month. Subscribers who pay $ 50 a month with the “Plus” package will rise to $ 65, while subscribers who pay $ 70 with the 65-channel “Max” package will be charged $ 80 per month.
With the second price increase this year, after acquiring DirecTV and Time Warner, it highlighted AT & T's top priority to increase margins and reduce the debt burden of $ 190 billion. To relieve this burden, AT & T stepped down from competitive prices and said goodbye to more than 2.3 million TV subscribers last year.
The company, headquartered in Dallas, is also under pressure from activist investor Elliott Management Corp. to sell some businesses and make money.
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AT & T said in a Friday statement that "the price is adjusted to reflect the cost of delivering content to customers."
Subscriber Exodus, which reached nearly a million TV customers in the second quarter, is expected to accelerate due to rising prices. Analysts expect AT & T to lose 671,000 TV subscribers when it reports financial results for the third quarter of October 28. The price change does not apply to Ureverse TV customers of DirecTV or AT & T.
AT & T TV Now, formerly known as DirecTV Now, is a live TV channel package available online. The idea is to attract cord cutters to abandon traditional satellite and cable packages.
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But AT & T TV Now competes with Sling TV, Google's YouTube TV, and Hulu's live service, which has attracted millions of customers. These services all compete with on-demand video services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
For AT & T customers receiving a price increase notification, the company offered two choices: payment or cancellation.
AT & T may email the customer “As always, you can cancel the package and pricing options if you do not want to review or continue your subscription.
-With the help of Vincent Cinella.
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