The Streaming Better price increase tracker monitors all live TV streaming price increases to help consumers better understand the track record for the most popular services. The goal is not only to make consumers aware of the current prices before signing up, but also the price increase history of the services they are considering signing up to.
Nowadays, knowing the price history of a live TV service is just as important as the actual price.
- Price increase summary
- DirecTV Stream price increases
- Fubo price increases
- Hulu Live TV price increases
- Philo price increases
- Sling TV price increases
- Vidgo price increases
- YouTube TV price increases
Live TV streaming started out as a way to save money, and while that’s still true, today’s market is very different, and more expensive. With the arrival of so many new services and subscriptions, many might assume an increased level of competition would result in lower prices but nothing could be further from the truth.
Every major live TV streaming service has increased the price of its plans over the years. Some have not only increased the cost, but also decreased the number of channels, resulting in services that offer even less value than before.
While a consumer might be swayed by a service that’s currently accepting signups at a few dollars less than another, if the cheaper service has a history of increasing the cost, and the more expensive service only recently upped the price, the higher-priced service might actually be the better option.
Price increase summary
Disclaimer: The information and prices listed in this tracker relate to the entry-level plans for each service and do not take into account any additional charges, fees, taxes or add-ons. The purpose of this guide is to simply address the lowest advertised price for live TV streaming.
The table below provides a summary of the launch price of each service, the various increases over time, and the current cost. Prices are rounded to the nearest $1.
Price increase tracker summary: Updated Aug. 2024
| DirecTV Stream | Fubo | Hulu Live TV | Philo | Sling TV | Vidgo | YouTube TV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | $35 | $35 | $40 | $16 | $20 | $15 | $35 |
| Increase | $5 | $10 | $5 | $4 | $5 | $25 | $5 |
| Increase | $10 | $10 | $10 | $5 | $5 | $15 | $10 |
| Increase | $15 | $5 | $10 | $3 | $5 | $5 | $15 |
| Increase | -$10 | $5 | $5 | $5 | $5 | $8 | |
| Increase | $15 | $5 | $7 | $5 | |||
| Increase | $5 | $5 | |||||
| Increase | $5 | $5 | |||||
| Total | $80 | $80 | $77 | $28 | $40 | $70 | $73 |
While the table above provides good insight into the various price increases, the graph below offers a visual look at the price rise trend over time.
As the graph shows, live TV streaming prices remained steady right up until 2018. While there were some price increases in 2018, the more significant ones occurred in 2019 and 2020. There were also some increases in 2021, but these tended to be a little lower on average, and not every live TV service increased its price.
Price increases affected all live TV streaming services other than Philo and YouTube TV in 2022. The trend continued in 2023 with another round of price increases, and in the case of DirecTV Stream and Vidgo, two price increases in the same year. So far in 2024, both Fubo and Philo have increased in price.
DirecTV Stream price increases
DirecTV Stream’s no-contract service has gone through a number of rebrands over the years, resulting in more than one price increase while operating under DirectTV Now, AT&T TV Now and AT&T TV. The service was rebranded as DirecTV Stream in August 2021.
At launch, AT&T was offering one of its best plans (Go Big) for just $35 per month – the same price as the lesser Live a little plan. This was only an introductory price with the Go Big package listed at $60 a month. In January of 2017, the move from $35 to $60 for Go Big took effect and price increases have become a common occurrence ever since.
AT&T TV/DirecTV Stream price increase history
November 2016: DirecTV Now launched in the U.S. At the time, the cheapest available plan was Live a little, priced at $35 per month.
July 2018: AT&T upped the price of Live a little by $5 per month. This resulted in the entry-level live TV streaming plan costing $40 per month.
March 2019: Another price increase arrived, and this time the amount was $10 per month. As a result, Live a little climbed to $50 per month.
August 2019: The wider AT&T TV Now rebrand took effect, including a rebranding of the entry-level plan as Plus. This was more than a simple name-change as the Plus plan also contained fewer channels than Live a little.
November 2019: AT&T TV Now raised its prices once again with $15 added to the base cost. This was the second price rise to hit the service in the same year.
April 2020: In what was an unusual move for the company, AT&T lowered the price of its entry-level Plus plan down from $65 to $55 per month. However, the reduction also resulted in the removal of HBO, ahead of the launch of HBO Max (now Max).
January 2021: AT&T TV Now merged with AT&T TV resulting in what equated to a price increase. Following this change, the cheapest AT&T no-contract plan cost $69.99 a month.
January 2022: In August of 2021, AT&T TV was rebranded as DirecTV Stream, although the plans were unaffected by the change. In January 2022, DirecTV Stream did increase the cost, but the price increase only applied to the most expensive plans. As a result, the cheapest Entertainment plan remained the same price.
January 2023: DirecTV Stream started 2023 with a price increase. Unlike the January 2022 change, this price increase affected all plans including Entertainment, increasing the minimum price to $74.99 a month.
November 2023: For the second time in one year, DirecTV Stream increased the price of its plans. Following the November price increase, the cost of the cheapest DirecTV Stream plan increased to $79.99 a month. Those signed up to Choice saw their price increase by $9, while Ultimate and Premier subscribers ended up paying $10 more each month.
| Date | Increase p/m | Price p/m |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 2016 | Service launch | $35 |
| July 2018 | $5 | $40 |
| March 2019 | $10 | $50 |
| Nov. 2019 | $15 | $65 |
| April 2020 | -$10 | $55 |
| Jan. 2021 | $15 | $70 |
| Jan. 2023 | $5 | $75 |
| Nov. 2023 | $5 | $80 |
Fubo price increases
Technically, Fubo launched its streaming service back in 2015. Priced at just $7 a month at the time, it was a dedicated sports-streaming service. It wasn’t until 2017 when Fubo transformed into the robust live TV product it is today. Considering that’s when the current Fubo service was born, that’s also when we are tracking the price history from.
When Fubo launched in its current form, it was a competitively-priced live TV service. Over the years, however, the price increases have rolled through, with the cheapest plan now costing more than double the original price.
Fubo price increase history
April 2017: Fubo launched priced at just $34.99 a month. This was an introductory offer and always listed as a ‘limited-time deal.’ In spite of the company continually insisting the fubo Premier plan would eventually cost $49.99 a month, that never happened, due to a rebrand.
May 2018: fubo Premier became the fubo plan, increasing the price to $44.99 a month. While not an official price increase, it still felt like one. Along with the standard fubo plan, a new fubu Extra package was announced. fubo Extra was priced at $49.99 a month and came with a richer channel lineup.
March 2019: Fubo’s plans changed once again. This time there was only one plan available, fubo Standard, and this resulted in an official price rise that increased the cost of the base package to $54.99, a $10 increase. With the fubo Extra plan gone, new subscribers were given the option of upgrading the fubo Standard plan to either a Family or Ultra version, priced at $59.99 and $79.99, respectively. Although Fubo no longer offered the fubo Extra plan, existing subscribers were subjected to a $10 monthly price increase, taking the cost up to $59.99.
July 2020: Fubo announced its latest price increases, resulting in the fubo Standard plan rising to $59.99 and Family rising to $64.99 per month. Fubo also confirmed it was migrating all existing fubo Standard subscribers over to the Family plan, unless they requested otherwise. This amounted to another $10 monthly increase.
December 2020: Fubo didn’t implement a price increase, but did completely remove the option to sign up to the fubo Standard plan. This change resulted in the cheapest Fubo tier increasing to $65 a month.
March 2022: Similar to 2020 change, Fubo removed the Starter plan in 2022. The Starter plan was introduces in 2021 as a replacement for Family, and this change resulted in the cheapest Fubo plan increasing to $70 per month.
January 2023: All Fubo base packages increased in price, resulting in the Pro plan (its current cheapest plan) increasing to $74.99 a month. Fubo also increased the cost of its Regional Sports Fee to account for the addition of Bally Sports RSNs.
January 2024: Similar to the previous year, Fubo increased the price of all of its base plans in January 2024. This most recent price increase takes the cost of the cheapest Pro plan up to a minimum of $79.99 a month. At the same time, Fubo increased the price of its RSN fee by $1 a month.
| Date | Increase p/m | Price p/m |
|---|---|---|
| April 2017 | Service launch | $35 |
| May 2018 | Plan rebrand | $45 |
| March 2019 | $10 | $55 |
| July 2020 | $5 | $60 |
| Dec. 2020 | $5 | $65 |
| March 2022 | $5 | $70 |
| Jan. 2023 | $5 | $75 |
| Jan. 2024 | $5 | $80* |
Hulu Live TV price increases
Hulu Live TV is a very popular option for live TV streaming, but it hasn’t been without its price increases. In spite of the change in price over the years, the service has managed to maintain a healthy subscriber base. One of the reasons for this is the overall value on offer.
Previously, Hulu bundled its basic Hulu plan with its live TV service, creating the ‘Hulu plus live TV’ plan. Towards the end of 2021, Hulu also bundled both Disney+ and ESPN+ with the live TV plan. Although the price is now higher, the cost of access to the various live TV channels might actually be cheaper for some households, especially those already subscribed to these additional services at the same time.
Hulu Live TV price increase history
March 2017: Hulu entered the live TV market with the launch of Hulu + Live TV. The service initially launched in beta and was priced at $39.99 a month. Although the service did eventually leave its beta status behind, Hulu managed to maintain the same price point right up until 2019.
January 2019: Hulu announced a live TV price increase in January, due to take effect in February. The price increase equated to an additional $5 per month, bringing the cost of a Hulu Live TV subscription up from $39.99 to $44.99. Considering the price of basic Hulu went down at the same time, this technically resulted in a $7 price increase.
November 2019: In the same year that Hulu announced its first live TV price increase, it announced another. This time the increase was $10, bringing the cost of the base package up to $54.99 per month. The price increase came into effect on December 18 and affected both new and existing subscribers.
November 2020: Exactly one year later, the next Hulu Live TV price increase was announced. Similar to the previous once, Hulu increased the price of a subscription by $10, bringing the total to $64.99 a month. This was the second year in a row that a Hulu Live TV price increase took effect on December 18.
December 2021: For the third year in a row, Hulu Live TV encountered another price increase at the end of the calendar year. However, this one was a little different for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the increase was only $5 and not $10. Secondly, Disney+ and ESPN+ were also bundled with the live TV plan.
October 2023: It may have taken almost two years, but October 2023 saw the price of Hulu Live TV rise again. The price increase added $7 to the base plan, increasing the minimum cost to $76.99 a month.
| Date | Increase p/m | Price p/m |
|---|---|---|
| March 2017 | Service launch | $40 |
| Feb. 2019 | $5 | $45 |
| Dec. 2019 | $10 | $55 |
| Dec. 2020 | $10 | $65 |
| Dec. 2021 | $5 | $70 |
| Oct. 2023 | $7 | $77 |
Philo price increases
Philo entered the market in November 2017. Unlike a lot of the other services, Philo has always positioned itself as an extremely affordable live TV option. When Philo first launched, the price of its entry-level plan was just $16 a month. While it now costs more, it is still significantly cheaper than most other live TV streaming services.
The lower price does mean it is a slightly different live TV offering, with some consumers possibly finding the selection of channels too limiting. However, for many homes, the service might just strike the right balance between the channel lineup and the price per month.
Philo price increase history
November 2017: Philo launched a live TV service priced at $16 a month. Subscribers had the option to upgrade to a greater selection of channels for an extra $4 per month. This upgrade became unofficially known as the ‘$20 plan.’
May 2019: Philo deletes the $16 plan altogether, leaving new subscribers with no option other than the $20 plan.
June 2021: In a rare instance, Philo increased the price of its live TV plan by $5, taking the total up to $25 per month. This price increase only applied to new users, with existing subscribers locked in at the older $20 per month rate.
June 2024: After three years, Philo rebranded its base plan as Core and this resulted in a $3 increase, upping the price to $28 a month. However, Core subscribers also gained access to AMC+, potentially offsetting the cost for some homes.
| Date | Increase p/m | Price p/m |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 2017 | Service launch | $16 |
| May 2019 | $16 plan removed | $20 |
| June 2021 | $5 | $25 |
| June 2024 | $3 | $28 |
Sling TV price increases
Similar to Philo, Sling TV is another low-cost option and was actually one of the first ‘skinny’ live TV streaming services to launch in the U.S. In many ways, Sling TV helped to set the low-cost bar to begin with. Today it is best to consider Sling TV as more of a middle-ground service that bridges the gap between options like Philo and Hulu/YouTube TV.
While Sling TV rarely increases the cost, the base plans have continued to suffer in terms of the selection of channels. Sling TV looks to remedy this by adopting an a la carte approach where subscribers can add a variety of add-ons to their base plan at an additional cost. This fragmented approach not only helps to keep base prices low, but it also means that overall price increases tend to be less noticeable.
The various add-on packs have also seen their own increases, but as they only affect select subscribers, they don’t tend to make as many headlines.
Sling TV price increase history
February 2015: Sling TV launched, and following a brief invitation-only period, became available to the general public. The service was originally priced at $20 per month.
June 2018: Sling TV is a much-changed service by now and facing additional competition in the market. This, along with rising costs, resulted in Sling TV announcing a $5 price increase. This change increased the price of the Sling Orange and Sling Blue plans to $25 a month.
December 2019: Similar to most other live TV streaming services, Sling TV did not escape a 2019 price increase. On December 23, Sling confirmed an increase of $5 per month to all of its plans, bringing the cost up to $30 a month.
January 2021: At the start of 2021 Sling TV announced another $5 price increase. This one took immediate effect on January 27 for new subscribers but was delayed until July 2021 for those already signed up to the service. This price increase saw the cost of the Sling Orange and Sling Blue plans rising to $35 per month. The cost of the combined Sling Orange + Blue plan increased by the same amount, taking the total to $50 a month.
November 2022: After almost two years without a price increase, Sling TV increased the price of all of its plans by an additional $5 per month. This price rise resulted in the cost of the Sling Orange and Sling Blue plans increasing to $40 a month, and the combined Sling Orange + Blue plan increasing to $55 a month.
Note: Sling added local ABC stations to its Sling Blue plan in March 2023 in select markets and this resulted in a $5 price increase. However, as this fee is tied to ABC, not all subscribers in all areas are subjected to the $5 increase.
| Date | Increase p/m | Price p/m |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 2015 | Service launch | $20 |
| June 2018 | $5 | $25 |
| Dec. 2019 | $5 | $30 |
| Jan. 2021 | $5 | $35 |
| Nov. 2022 | $5 | $40 |
| March 2023 | $5* | $45* |
Vidgo price increases
Vidgo arrived to market a little later than many other services, but it does provide another alternative to the main live TV streaming services. Originally launched in 2019, Vidgo was offered at a highly discounted price during the initial soft launch period. The full launch took place later the same year, and the price increased to the standard rate.
Since then, Vidgo has somewhat played with its plans and prices, and this ultimately resulted in a fairly major price increase in 2021, followed by additional increases in 2022 and 2023.
While Vidgo hasn’t increased in price since early 2023, the service suffered an outage later the same year. Vidgo has remained offline ever since and currently doesn’t allow new sign-ups.
Vidgo price increase history
September 2019: Vidgo launches its National English Package in the US. The soft launch included an introductory rate that lowered the cost of its plan down to $14.99 a month.
December 2019: Vidgo’s proper launch in the U.S. takes place, with the price of the National English Package increasing to $39.99 a month. The National English Package was eventually rebranded as the Core plan.
Q2 2021: In 2021, Vidgo adjusted the price of its plans, as well as the plans themselves, appearing to settle on $55 per month for its English Plus (formerly Core) plan and $79.95 for its English Premium plan.
March 2022: While the English Premium plan remained unchanged, English Plus encountered a $4.95 increase in March of 2022. This resulted in the cheapest Vidgo plan rising to $60 a month.
January 2023: Vidgo quietly increased the cost of its base live TV package at the end of January. The January price increase resulted in the cost of the base plan rising from $59.95 to $64.95, an increase of $5.
March 2023: Very soon after its first price increase of 2023, Vidgo increased the price once again. This price increase pushed the price of the Plus base plan up to $69.99 a month, resulting in another $5 price increase.
September 2023: Vidgo suffers an outage taking the live TV service offline. Vidgo has yet to resume operations and currently doesn’t offer the option to sign up for a live TV plan.
| Date | Increase p/m | Price p/m |
|---|---|---|
| Sept. 2019 | Soft launch | $15 |
| Dec. 2019 | Full launch | $40 |
| Q2 2021 | $15 | $55 |
| March 2022 | $4.99 | $60 |
| Jan. 2023 | $5 | $65 |
| March 2023 | $5 | $70 |
| Sep. 2023 | Service offline | N/A |
YouTube TV price increases
Like Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV is another hugely popular live TV streaming service. While it may have taken YouTube TV some time to become available nationwide, it has gone on to attract plenty of subscribers over the years, and is now credited as being the most popular live TV streaming service in the United States.
One of the refreshing aspects of YouTube TV is that there are no complicated plans or options to choose from. Since the beginning there’s only ever been one main YouTube TV base plan, with all subscribers gaining access to the same channel lineup. Unfortunately, that plan has been the subject of multiple price increases over the years.
YouTube TV price increase history
February 2017: Google and YouTube launch YouTube TV. A new live TV streaming service priced at $34.99 a month.
March 2018: YouTube TV announced its first price increase. The additional $5 increased the cost to $39.99 a month. This price increase only affected new subscribers, with existing subscribers remaining locked in at $35 per month.
April 2019: YouTube TV announced its second price increase, and this time existing subscribers were not so lucky. The 2019 price increase totaled $10 a month, bringing the cost of the only YouTube TV plan up to $49.99. As existing subscribers were not exempt this time, their increase was equal to $15 a month.
June 2020: YouTube TV announced a major price increase by adding $15 to the monthly cost. This change saw the standard (and only) YouTube TV plan climb to $64.99 a month, making YouTube TV one of the more expensive services around. Similar to the April 2019 price increase, no subscribers were exempt from this one.
March 2023: YouTube TV announced its first price increase in almost three years, adding $8 to the monthly cost. This change took the price of the base plan up to $72.99 per month. The price increase went into effect March 16 for new subscribers and April 18 for existing subscribers. At the same time, YouTube TV reduced the cost of the 4K Plus add-on to $9.99 a month, down from its previous $19.99 price.
| Date | Increase p/m | Price p/m |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 2017 | Service launch | $35 |
| March 2018 | $5 | $40 |
| April 2019 | $10 | $50 |
| June 2020 | $15 | $65 |
| March 2023 | $8 | $73 |
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