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Monday, January 08, 2018

Cable TV prices keep going up as more people cut the cord

Cable and satellite TV providers are ringing in the new year with an unwelcome gift: higher cable bills.

Comcast, for instance, says customer bills will rise 2.2 percent, on average, in 2018. AT&T is raising DirecTV’s prices by up to $8 a month in mid-January. Smaller providers are planning increases, too.

Over the past decade, prices for TV service have risen almost twice as fast as inflation, according to an analysis of government data. Data provider S&P Global Market Intelligence says customers’ cable and satellite TV bills have soared 53 percent since 2007, to $100.98 in 2017.

Annual rate hikes are as guaranteed as death and taxes. But you can push back and trim your bill.

Why prices rise

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

We cut Comcast about a year ago. Since about 4 months after we cut them we've been getting offers. They are now down $60.00 a month for the same service we had when we cancelled. Down to $130.00 a month for internet, cable with about 200 channels and phone with all the bells and whistles. Might hook back up for a year. Also Has free cancellation any time in the year, with no contract and is a one year deal.
They know the end is near. In our case, we cut the cable, and they've come crawling back to get our business.
But then again, using an antenna is free and we go out more often.

Anonymous said...

Screw TV ..Pick up A Book !

Anonymous said...

Comcast has an aggressive Board of Directors that are real think tank minds. Comcast has been one of the most innovative companies since they purchased the Panama Canal. They recently moved into the vending business. My wife and I don't go out to local restaurants anymore because Comcast's vending machine off of rt 50 is so fabulous. Our long term goal is to vacation at the Panama Canal and sample Comcast's vending machines there!

Anonymous said...

10:09 AM, Kudos!!!!! You are about the only smart person left on this eastern shore!!!! And of course, the prices will rise, they have to cover the cost of people like you leaving... Just shows you how greedy they all are... Instead of at least making a 2% profit they have to go for the 10% profit always!!!!! IT is how they work... My numbers are fake and arbitrary, the point is, most companies have a certain percent profit they want and no matter how much the manufacturing side goes up or down, they have to make that certain percent on top of it all... Even if it means losing more customers...

Give it a little while, soon your ISP will throttle you and make you pay more for that too, and after they start to block websites and the like, maybe then the rest of the population who thinks nothing ever affects them, will see the true reason why everything is going to shit...

Anonymous said...

And get this now a lot of ISP's are starting to charge more for if you only have internet and no other service with them... Like Comcast and Mediacom, they will charge you extra for not having a phone service or TV service, but just to have an internet service...

Anonymous said...

Meh... cancel the tv.. not worth it. You can negotiate a deal for high speed cable - DON'T pay full price - I've been spending one third of the full price for high speed internet for years.

Just watch Netflix or Amazon instead. The cable companies business model is garbage.. cancel them.

Consider the absurdity of paying to be advertised to. Nope, not me.

Anonymous said...

A big reason prices keep going up is that government makes Comcast give away Television and internet as one of the entitlements for people on welfare with free computers.

Anonymous said...

Between Apple TV, Amazon Prime and Google, if you have internet, you have access to all transmitted TV signals.
The beginning of the end for cable companies

Anonymous said...

11:39 so who do you get your internet through?

Anonymous said...

12:29 PM - they also have to give $$ back to the community for public access TV stations, just as they do for PAC14.

Anonymous said...

Went to internet only, a couple of years ago. It was $75 per month. Now it is $105.

Anonymous said...

Comcast just raised my bill another $9.00 after a $15.00 increase in Sept.

Social Security recipients got a 2% raise that was erased by the 23% increase in Medicare.

When it comes to pay raises, everyone is told there is no inflation so no need for a raise.
However, Comcast and medical companies say inflation is rampant and that is why they need the cost increases.

Big government and companies are robbing the citizens.