Every new year seems to mean a new rate hike or new fees for pay-TV providers. This year so many of them came so quickly we missed several of them. Here is a breakdown of new fees and rate hikes from many of the big cable TV services.
AT&T
If you have AT&T U-verse video you will now pay $2 to $8 more per month on most TV packages. AT&T also boosted its broadcast TV surcharge from $5 to $6 per month.
Cablevision/Altice
The average customer will see an increase of 3.4 percent, mostly from increases in broadcast and regional sports fees.
Comcast
Comcast raised prices by an average of 3.8 percent depending on what package you have. On top of that 3.8 rate increase you will also see a jump in fees. Comcast raised its broadcast TV fee from $5 to $7 each month and the regional sports fee from $3 to $5 per month. If you combine these two fees, the add-ons total $12, which represents a hefty 50 percent increase from last year.
Charter/Time Warner Cable
Charter, fresh off of buying Time Warner Cable, is adding a new broadcast TV fee. This fee covers your ability to get local channels and is on top of your advertised rate. Now you will pay $4.47 a month for the right to get broadcast TV channels that are free over the air.
Cox Communications
On average Cox TV customers will see a total price increase of 2 percent in their TV packages. Cox is also bumping itemized broadcast fees from $3 to $4 across the board, and customers will be paying regional sports network fees that range from $2.60 to $6 per month, depending on the market.
DIRECTV
DIRECTV raised the price of nearly all its base programming packages between $2 and $6 per month. DIRECTV’s Family plan is the only base package that will not see an increase. DIRECTV is now also imposing a monthly regional sports channel fee up to $2.56 but not in every market.
Dish Network
The average Dish customer will probably see a $5 increase in their total monthly bill. To offset this change, Dish has cut the cost of its core programming packages by $5 per month, but a Dish rep says the combined impact of these changes will result in a $5 increase to the monthly bill.
Verizon
Verizon instituted a $3-per-month price hike in FiOS TV plans for customers who aren’t locked into a contract or taking advantage of a price-guaranteed term of service.
RCN
If you have RCN’s most popular TV package, the Signature Digital TV plan, you will see a rate hike of $5 to $98.50 a month. That means over the year you will pay an extra $60, or over the life of a 2-year contract you will pay an extra $120.
It is also raising fees because its broadcast TV surcharge is going up an extra $1.25 a month. The sports fee is increasing by $2.25 a month, and the entertainment network fee is going up by $2.50 a month. That is an extra $6 a month you will pay in fees.
So if you have not become a cord cutter yet maybe 2017 is the year you should look at the benefits of becoming a cord cutter. You can find our Cord Cutting 101 Guide HERE. It may also be time to give a free trial from Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, or DIRECTV NOW a try.
Source: Consumer Reports
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