I don't know all the in's and out's of what's going on but, yes, AT&T bought DirecTV. DirecTV is still it's own thing but their practices are being modified to more closely resemble how AT&T does things.
And, as much as I've enjoyed DirecTV, they aren't above criticism either. They've been nickle and diming for a long time. Paying extra for HD service, totally random program packaging, etc.
Which was an annoyance every year for me. $400 for Sunday Ticket and that doesn't include MNF. You have to bump up to the 2nd or 3rd tier of packaging which doubles your base package price. Entry level is still $29.99 but you have to bump up to the $60.99 package to get ESPN. And with their random channel lineups for each package, each time you move "up", you'll likely lose a few channels that you had before. For me to get ESPN, NFL Channel and Boomerang for example, I had to be on the 3rd tier of packaging.
I'm used to cable service which is cumulative. If you have the base package and want to move up, you pay more and get channels added to what you had before. Which makes sense to me. It never sat right with me that I'd move up from the package I was on and then lose some of the channels I had.
Then there's the blackouts. I'm in a screwy situation where I live but I basically can't get Dodgers games. DirecTV won't carry the channel that broadcasts Dodgers games and they black out the games on League Pass. So apparently, they expect me to go with two carriers or pay a premium to go without.
I realize it is the day and age of the cell phone service and tv service. A billion dollar industry built on nothing. People paying hundreds of dollars a month of digital bits and getting gouged every step of the way. For me, it's just easier now to watch the few random things I watch online. I'm going to pair down my cable, internet, phone bills into just an internet bill and a very cheap phone service. Double and triple dipping on basically the same services is how they've got all of us.
