This package is one of the highest tiered packages offered by DIRECTV; a satellite television service provider based in the United States. The Ultimate features more than 330 channels to ensure that consumers have access to a wide variety of the most-watched programs, with categories including entertainment, movies, sports, news, and others. However, just how much will this broad approach to channel offerings cost on a monthly basis? The following provides an analysis of the regular pricing for the DIRECTV Ultimate package.
The DIRECTV Ultimate package is available at $135 every month, which is the full price without any discounts. This does make it DIRECTV’s most expensive programming package that is available for residential use. In comparison, DIRECTV’s basic offerings cost $69. 99 for the Entertainment package featuring 155+ channels. Thus, the Ultimate package costs almost twice the base price as offered by the company.
Additionally, it is crucial to point out that the $135 per month price for Ultimate also excludes taxes, fees, premium movie channel options, and equipment charges. These additional charges can be quite steep and added to the basic price, which may bring your first-year monthly bill to over $200, depending on your location and the setup chosen. Additional services such as high definition digital video recorder and extra television outlets are charged on monthly basis.
OK, let us take a closer glance at what exactly the $135 per month for the Ultimate package will bring to the viewer in terms of channels and content? As earlier mentioned, you are provided with 330+ channels in different categories. Here's a more detailed breakdown of some of the programming highlights:Here's a more detailed breakdown of some of the programming highlights:
More than 225 channels in HD including ESPN, TNT, Fox, AMC, HGTV and many others. This way you will be able to view most of the programs in high definition.
Everything you get with the Spectra fibre connection is free and this includes all the premium movie channels such as HBO, Cinemax, SHOWTIME, and STARZ among others. This is actually a product that if bought in the market individually would cost more than $50 per month.
More than 85 sporting channels featuring professional, college, and regional leagues’ games. This entails services like NFL Sunday Ticket, MLB Extra Innings, NBA League Pass, NHL Center Ice, and ESPN GamePlan.
More than 40 specialty entertainment channels including BBC America, Sundance TV, IFC, WE tv and many others.
More than 50 music channels ranging from pop music and other related genres as well as customized radio stations.
Hence the Ultimate package is designed to offer as much product differentiation in movies, shows, news, documentary, music, kids, sports and international channels within the price construct of the monthly bouquet. For those who love watching TV, especially the large screen, it provides a comprehensive channel package from the most-watched networks.
However, this cost may be quite expensive for some people to afford. The only consolation is that DIRECTV does give out some offers and deals quite frequently, although they are mostly for new customers. Although they entail a multi-year agreement, these offers can slash the monthly price by $30 or more but for one year only. Therefore, if the large channel access of Ultimate interests you but the $135 price cannot be justified, check for subscription offers at initial stages.
Furthermore, existing customers may be able to save money through attractive package deals where they sign up for both DIRECTV and other services from AT&T, such as mobile phone plans or Internet. Or it may offer lower subscription rates if you are willing to go paperless, and have subscriptions automatically deducted from your account. So check on these options if interested in adding or keeping Ultimate.
In sum, the DIRECTV Ultimate package offers a diverse package of 330+ channels including movies, sports, news, music and many others at $135 per month. The price is slightly higher than most of the other DIRECTV packages, but it offers the largest selection of the most-watched HD networks making it the best package for those who want to watch everything. If the organization decides to offer promotions, or to set up bundles where more options are cheaper than fewer ones, then price-sensitive consumers may be offered a lower price. So, reconsider all chances if you like abundant channels of Ultimate.