DirecTv Now changes

[SagaciousTraveler]

Good morning,

With DirecTV Now switching to plans that offer less channels for more money, we have begun looking around for another service. We are aware that we can be grandfathered in with our current package but at a $10 a month increase. This is disappointing to us as we were early adopters of DirecTV Now and often praised for the price, that they had the best channel package out there.

After researching it looks like our choice is between Hulu Live TV and Spectrum's streaming option. While Spectrum's streaming option is limited with channels and devices it would benefit us cost wise to bundle our internet.

What is your plan if you have currently have DirecTv Now?

Thanks.

[Jags4186]

First I’ll be complaining to see if they lock in the lower rate for some period. People on reddit have said they’ve been successful.

If not, I’m switching to YouTube TV as it has most (all?)
of the channels we watch in the base package.

[R2P2]

I haven’t looked recently at comparing the options, but I use Sling TV (Blue package at $25/mo) coupled with an antenna (~30 channels).

I know many don’t receive a TV signal for the antenna, so just throwing it out there. Adding the Sling Orange package is an option and at a price point of $40/mo which hasn’t changed in some time.

[onourway]

YouTubeTV.

No contest.

[Howie]

It seems Philo is a nice relatively inexpensive complement to You Tube TV for channels YTTV doesn’t currently offer.

[bloom2708]

Sony Vue TV is better than Directv Now.

Aka PlayStation Vue.

We use on Amazon Fire TV boxes. On iPhone and iPad.

3 years on the service. Try out the 5 day free trial. You won’t go back.

[il0kin]

I bailed for the same reason and I’ve decided to just be done with “cable” altogether. Wife and I compromised and will retain our Netflix and CBS All access subscriptions and pick up a Hulu subscription at $5.99/mo.

I am definitely getting subscription fatigue. DTV Now was great at $35/mo, but $60... nah.

[vasaver]

Even with the $10 increase I think it is still provides the most channels we watch for the least cost.

$50/month grandfathered Go Big + $5 HBO = $55/month.

What channels do you actually watch? Our main channels are :

Discovery (HGTV & TLC)
Viacom (Nick Jr., Comedy Central)
A&E
MTV
Disney Junior
MSNBC
BBC America
CNBC/Bloomberg/Fox Business
HBO

[SagaciousTraveler]

Even with the $10 increase I think it is still provides the most channels we watch for the least cost.

$50/month grandfathered Go Big + $5 HBO = $55/month.

What channels do you actually watch? Our main channels are :

Discovery (HGTV & TLC)
Viacom (Nick Jr., Comedy Central)
A&E
MTV
Disney Junior
MSNBC
BBC America
CNBC/Bloomberg/Fox Business
HBO

We have their lowest tier and I was very excited to add HBO for $5 this April to watch GOT and Westworld. However, if you didn't currently have it, its now $15. Disappointing.

Outside of that, after researching this morning, you may be correct about staying. The only issue is, how long will we be grandfathered in?

So for our family watches:
-Locals live (ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS).
-Nick Jr
-Disney
-HGTV
-Hallmark
-TBS
-Discover
-AMC


Using Clark Howard's streaming comparison page, the grandfathered Directv Now is the only one that currently offers those.

I tried working with combinations of Philo, buying Hallmark separately and others but it turns out to be just as expensive.

I suppose we will sit tight until ATT raises prices again or gets ride of our Grandfathered channel selection.

[brcarls]

What channels do you actually watch?

People adapt to change very quickly. If you switch to a different service with a new channel lineup, your family will very quickly find new favorite channels and shows... And then if you were to want to switch you would rule out DirecTV Now because they don't have your future family's favorite channels.

So, if you can endure the whining and gripeing for a few weeks, just make whatever change you want.

[SmallCityDave]

We "cut the cord" about a month ago we had the Dish top 200 (or whatever it was) and I've been trying out different providers we bought the Hulu $1 per month plan I've been pleasantly surprised it may be good enough but I wanted to see what else is available, I bought Playon lifetime membership for $30 it's a great addition to Hulu. A couple weeks ago we tried Philo for $16/20 I'm very impressed it's better than Hulu but obviously more expensive.

I also tried Prime Video it's been a let down it's worth what I'm paying for it I will not renew after the free trial period, I signed up for Sling blue @ $20 for 3 months with dvr it's good because I like to watch racing or at least I did but I'm not sure I'll keep it when the price goes up to $30 per month.

If I had to make a decision today I'd go with Philo for $16 and Hulu for $6 per month, I plan to try Youtube, Hulu Live, Netflix & Directv but I'm in no rush.

[beyou]

Either you need live tv (news, sports) or you don't.
A son and I love sports, I pay for live TV.
Have tried DTV, Sling and Hulu Live. I picked based on the package having the choices I want, the cost differences were not large enough to make the decision for me.

DTV had more of a feeling of just cable tv over the internet, whereas Hulu is more like Netflix, designed for streaming on demand, bolted on a cable like interface later. I rarely use the cable channel menu on Hulu live, but some customers clearly wanted to feel like they never left cable/DTV.

[ncbill]

I plan to keep my grandfathered DTVnow "Go Big" package for now, even with the price increase to $50/month.

And drop my cable "triple-play" for cable internet (no taxes here on broadband), antenna & Ooma.

Since my DTVnow package has more channels than I'm getting on my standard cable package!

[jpsfranks]

One nice thing about Google/YouTubeTV is that they have a history of honoring grandfathered prices as long as the subscription remains active. There was a $5/month YouTubeTV price increase to $40/month a while back but those already subscribed continue to pay $35/month. Google also grandfathered pricing when they raised the prices on Google Play Music.

I'm been happy with YouTubeTV and think it offers a pretty good price/channel package, particularly for sports.

[PaddyMac]

We ditched DTV for YouTubeTV recently and love it. You have unlimited DVR space and it includes the Golf channel. Each user has their own set of favorite shows, and it's easy to pull up the other account on an iPad and cast it to the TV.

We have a Roku on one TV and an Apple TV on the other, and prefer the Apple experience. For one, on the main screen, you see the "next episode" of the show you are watching on your streaming service, which saves remembering what you were watching and digging down the app to find it. It seems to work only with apps that are integrated with the Home screen, but it works for AcornTV and BritBox and since I'm constantly mixing up which show I'm watching on which service, this is handy.

The Irish network RTE has its own iPad app, so I can now watch the RTE Player all on the big TV by just clicking the AirPlay button. It takes over the screen, and when I quit it, the TV returns to YouTubeTV seamlessly. Not quite the same as having it on the AppleTV interface, but good enough.

Also, fast-forwarding through ads (after a little practice) on AppleTV is much faster than Roku on YouTubeTV. We also have added an older iPad to use as a remote (you add the AppleTV Remote app). Plus, Motortrend app on Roku is broken. So we use AppleTV on the main TV now.

If you are ditching DTV and sending back equipment, but sure to keep your Post Office receipt with the Tracking number, even though it says $0. They tried to claim that we hadn't returned it, and were billing us for the gear, but fortunately I hadn't thrown the receipt away.

[msi]

We have the grandfathered Go Big plan on DirecTV Now, but we're doing a trial of Sling Blue. So far, so good.

Philo is another one to look at depending on the channels you watch.

[Earl Lemongrab]

YouTubeTV.

I tested all the services a few months back. YTTV had one of the worst channel lineups. Yeah their cloud DVR was great, but if you're missing a bunch of channels then it's hardly worth it.

[Jags4186]

It is my understanding that no one is being grandfathered. I mean yes you can keep your plan but everyone’s price is increasing.

[vasaver]

It is my understanding that no one is being grandfathered. I mean yes you can keep your plan but everyone’s price is increasing.

ATT is grandfathering the $25/month discount. Plan prices can go up just like grandfathered unlimited data plans for cell phones. You can keep the plan, but the price might go up.

[msi]

The channel lineups in the new plans are also pretty bad in comparison to the old Go Big plan.

But luckily, Sling offers all the channels we watch for slightly less money, and I'm not a fan of AT&T anyway. The only thing with Sling is that the guide/interface is a little awkward in comparison to DirecTV Now.

[macheta]

Blerd Vision Now
400+ channels for $30 per month

[jackets320]

Went to PlayStation Vue. It is much better than Directv now, better interface, better ever, better channel line up especially for sports.

[SagaciousTraveler]

Blerd Vision Now
400+ channels for $30 per month

This can’t possibly be legal.

This feels like a version of those cable boxes you pay a one time fee for every possible pirated channel.

Also the lack of information on it is a red flag.

[macheta]

Blerd Vision Now
400+ channels for $30 per month

This can’t possibly be legal.

This feels like a version of those cable boxes you pay a one time fee for every possible pirated channel.

Also the lack of information on it is a red flag.

Seems to be legit

[SmallCityDave]

Blerd Vision Now
400+ channels for $30 per month

This looks rather interesting, too bad there's no Roku support. Is there a way to dvr the shows?

[onourway]

Blerd Vision Now
400+ channels for $30 per month

This can’t possibly be legal.

This feels like a version of those cable boxes you pay a one time fee for every possible pirated channel.

Also the lack of information on it is a red flag.

Seems to be legit

There is essentially zero information available about this service other than their own site and some sketchy YouTube videos. Given that even the big players with millions of subscribers are losing money at their current prices, the chance of a service offering 400 channels starting at $5/month being legit is zero.

[BlueCable]

I was a Sling subscriber for several years, but switched to YouTube TV last fall. It has been a much better service. More reliable, great interface, DVR and on demand. Includes local channels.

Channel lineup is great for me: sports and movies.

[quantAndHold]

Blerd Vision Now
400+ channels for $30 per month

Given that there are absolutely no 3rd party reviews, and even their own Facebook page looks like it was cobbled together in about 5 minutes, I’m guessing this is some sort of scam.

[Gladiators2Swansons]

I signed up for Sling blue @ $20 for 3 months with dvr it's good because I like to watch racing or at least I did but I'm not sure I'll keep it when the price goes up to $30 per month.

Sorry if this is derailing the thread.

I'm a huge racing fan and YouTubeTV has pretty much every series I want to watch. It's ~$38/month including fees, and has Indycar, F1, IMSA, Nascar, World Challenge, and a bunch of European sports cars on CBS Sports Network (Blancpain, DTM, BTCC). About the only thing it doesn't have is WEC.

[SmallCityDave]

I signed up for Sling blue @ $20 for 3 months with dvr it's good because I like to watch racing or at least I did but I'm not sure I'll keep it when the price goes up to $30 per month.

Sorry if this is derailing the thread.

I'm a huge racing fan and YouTubeTV has pretty much every series I want to watch. It's ~$38/month including fees, and has Indycar, F1, IMSA, Nascar, World Challenge, and a bunch of European sports cars on CBS Sports Network (Blancpain, DTM, BTCC). About the only thing it doesn't have is WEC.

It looks like it's $40 now (plus fees?) the offering looks great but it's missing HGTV, History, A&E, Discovery. Youtube seems to be close to Sling but youtube has FoxNews, it's all about compromises.

[Earl Lemongrab]

Blerd Vision Now
400+ channels for $30 per month

It shows ABC, etc. but doesn't state whether those are local channels or some national feed. I don't see any mention of a DVR. If so, then that's a non-starter for me.

[SagaciousTraveler]

It is my understanding that no one is being grandfathered. I mean yes you can keep your plan but everyone’s price is increasing.

Yeah I meant the channel lineup not the price as a new customer can no longer get the old channel packages. However the option to get $5 HBO added to the grandfathered packages is no longer allowed. You have to pay $15 unless you already had it.

[miles monroe]

someone called clark howard last week about the directv price increase.

clark said to fire them and go with someone else.