DirecTV, AT&T’s satellite TV provider, is again switching up its pricing and this time removing its least expensive video tier for new subscribers.
TV Answer Man spotted the change, which took away DirecTV’s $59.99/month Select plan as an option for incoming customers. AT&T confirmed the changes.
“We’ve stopped offering the Select package for new DirecTV customers in an effort to align package offerings across DirecTV and AT&T TV,” said AT&T Spokesperson Jim Kimberly.
The least expensive option for new DirecTV subscribers is now the Entertainment package, which costs $64.99/month for the first year of a two-year agreement before jumping up to $97/month.
The shift follows AT&T’s move earlier this summer to raise the first-year monthly rates by $10 for new customers on DirecTV’s Select, Choice and Ultimate packages.
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"We offer a variety of promotional initiatives including pricing, reward cards and other offers. We’ve recently increased the introductory rate for new customers on those video products. Our pricing is still in line with others in the industry and reflects our continued commitment to provide high-quality content at a fair price," AT&T said in a statement.
Late last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that AT&T is once again looking into a deal to offload DirecTV, which lost another 846,000 subscribers in the second quarter, according to Leichtman Research Group. AT&T and its advisers have been discussing a possible deal with private equity firms including Apollo Global Management and Platinum Equity.
AT&T is reportedly looking to sell a little more than 50% of the business so it can remove it from its financial reports but still hang onto its distribution network. However, any potential deal for DirecTV likely won’t value the company near the $49 billion that AT&T paid for it.