Are you ready to pay more for DISH’s satellite TV service? Recently, DISH updated its website to notify customers that on September 19, the price of their TV service will be going up as much as $8 a month. This will include fees on locals, surcharges, and more, including a jump in its package prices.
This will be DISH’s second price hike in just the last 12 months.
Update: DISH has supplied Cord Cutters News this statement from a DISH Spokesperson:
At DISH, our commitment to delivering the best TV viewing experience at the best value remains unwavering. We continually invest in enhancing your service and technology to provide you with the entertainment you love. However, the cost of programming has been steadily increasing across the industry.
The fees we pay to programmers and local broadcasters for content are rising faster than any other costs, impacting not just traditional TV providers like DISH and our competitors, but also streaming services, who are all facing similar pressures and adjusting their prices.
Despite these challenges, our priority remains keeping your costs as low as possible while continuing to deliver the quality and variety of programming you expect from us.
Sling TV pricing remains the same.
Here is what DISH said about why the cost of the service is going up:
We value you as a customer. The price we pay to provide you with the programming you enjoy continues to increase well above the pace of inflation. We actively fight every day on your behalf to keep costs as low as possible. However, due to these rising costs, effective 9/19/2024, DISH is changing prices on select local, core programming, fees and surcharges, resulting in up to an $8 increase per month.
There are two primary reasons for this increase:
- First, the local broadcasters of ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC stations continually force us to pay more for their channels or threaten to remove them from our customers. The cost for these channels has risen over 200% over the past 5 years.
- Second, there are just a couple of large programmers that own most of the channels you enjoy. You may only watch a few channels, but these large conglomerates require you to subscribe to all their channels.
We will continue to work hard for fair deals with these programmers to keep channel costs and the price you pay as low as possible.
Here are the new TV package prices before you add in the fees, taxes, and surcharges:
| Smart Pack | $65.99 |
| Flex Pack | $67.99 |
| DISH America | $82.99 |
| America’s Top 120 | $97.99 |
| America’s Top 120+ | $102.99 |
| America’s Top 200 | $112.99 |
| America’s Top 250 | $122.99 |
| America’s Everything Pack | $147.99 |
Some of the additional fees currently include a $15-a-month DVR fee for its Hopper or ViP DVR. Also, after the first receiver, each additional recovery can cost as much as $15 a month. So, if you have two extra TVs in your house, that will be up to an extra $30 a month. Other fees include DISH Protect for $30 a month but that is removed after 180 days. You can find all of these fees on DISH’s website HERE. Lastly, you also have a $12-a-month local TV fee.
Cord Cutters News is reaching out to DISH for comment and to ask about the future of Sling TV’s price.
Correction: DISH refers to its Broadcast TV fee as a local TV fee so we updated our story with the correct fee name.