Cable companies are ringing in the new year with price hikes on their TV packages and extra fees. Let’s take a look at how prices are changing for Comcast, AT&T, Spectrum, and Dish customers.
Spectrum was the first to alert customers of price changes in the most recent round of increases. Spectrum raised their prices in October, marking the third price hike within 12 months.
Comcast was next with a price increase mid-December. At that time, the broadcast TV price went up about $5/month, along with an increase on the basic TV package, and small increases on various fees that come with Comcast’s TV packages.
“Rising programming costs—most notably for broadcast TV and sports—continue to be the biggest factors driving price increases for all content distributors and their customers,” Comcast said in a statement, according to Consumer Reports. “While we absorb some of the increased programming costs, they have a significant impact on the cost of our services.”
In mid-January, Dish and AT&T customers will also see price hikes.
Dish sent a statement to Cord Cutters News, explaining that TV packages will go up by $5/month due to increased programming costs. Dish points to increases in regional sports network fees as the cause of the increase, which will go into effect in mid-January.
AT&T also named increased programming costs as the cause of their price hike when they explained the changes to customers on their website. According to their chart, TV packages will go up in price anywhere from $1-8/month, along with increases in fees associated with those packages.
While we’ve seen some streaming services increase their prices recently, it’s important to note that cable companies are also implementing price hikes and, in most cases, more frequently and with higher costs.
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