DISH is raising the prices of its satellite TV across the board. This price hike comes almost a year after the $5 monthly price increase in 2023. Starting from next month, the monthly bill will cost up to $8 more, according to Dish.
The satellite television company issued a notice to its customers that it’s raising the prices of “select local, core programming, fees and surcharges.” The price change will go into effect from September 19, 2024. These fees and surcharges include a DVR fee (at $15 a month), DISH Protect (at $30 a month for six months) and a broadcast TV fee (at $12 a month).
Excluding those surcharges and fees, here is how much each package will now cost:
- Smart Pack for $65.
- Flex Pack for $67.99.
- DISH America for $82.99.
- America’s Top 120 for $97.99.
- America’s Top 120+ for $102.99.
- America’s Top 200 for $112.99.
- America’s Top 250 for $122.99.
- America’s Everything for $147.99.
To give you context, America’s Top 120 pack costs $84.99 right now, which makes for a $13 hike. The cheapest $60.99 Smart Pack is now $5 extra. Clarifying the reason behind the price change, DISH claims broadcasters are twisting its arms to raise prices. “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,” the notification reads.
Also, DISH explained that you have to subscribe to all the channels that one company owns. “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,” the notification continues.
Source: Dish
