Starting in next month, DirecTV will be raising rates for all of its customers. DirecTV is the second largest television provider in the United States, with over 20 million subscribers. This rise in subscription fees ismeant to offset a steady rise in programming costs.

According to Nasdaq, the cost for the baseline package will now be $59.99 per month, a rise of 3.5%, while the top-level package will now cost $86.99 per month, up 6%. The fees for add-ons like additional set-top boxes and regional sports networks will go up as well.

Subscription rate rises aren’t anything new to DirecTV subscribers, who have been used to rate hikes in recent years. It’s average monthly subscription fees have grown by 20% from $68.50 in 2009 to $82.00 in 2013. Yet at the same time, programming costs grew 45%. While the growth in revenue from fees has somewhat made up for the rise in programming costs, DirecTV’s estimated gross profit margins have taken a hit, down from 49% in 2009 to 46% in 2013.

Disruption in the programming industry caused by new consumption methods like subscription streaming internet video services are putting pressure on all television carriers, whether it be cable or satellite. Yet, DirecTV has managed to grow subscribers and avoid the knock down, drag-out programming fights that have plagued its chief satellite competitor Dish and Time Warner Cable in the past few years. Currently, Dish is in a protracted battle with Fox News over a contract extension and Time Warner most famously dropped CBS in major markets in 2013.

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While DirecTV isn’t losing subscribers (yet), one wonders how long its subscribers will stay if prices continue to rise, especially with the emergence of no or low cost a-la-carte internet streaming services like Amazon Prime, Netflix or the recent additions of streaming services from HBO, CBS, and ESPN. According to a Nielsen report,  Americans’ time spent streaming television online jumped 60% in the third quarter of 2014 alone.

Raising prices for any subscription service has its challenges and DirectTV faces even more as it tries to raise prices, grow customers and faces unprecedented competition from old and new video streaming players. Their eventual success or failure will be a lesson for all in the business of subscriptions.