SYRACUSE, NY — Spectrum customers will soon be paying more for cable TV.
The company has notified customers that it will raise its monthly “broadcast TV” fee by $3 from $18 to $21 starting March 18. This is a monthly fee that has grown 9 times since it was first introduced in 2014.
Spectrum will also raise its monthly hardware fee by $1 from $8.99 to $9.99 per HD receiver.
In addition, the company is cutting discounts on TV packages that customers receive. According to the company, the largest percentage of affected customers will see less than $5 a month increase in their bills due to this change.
For new customers who pay a promotional price for a Spectrum TV, Internet, or Voice plan, the higher regular plan price will not take effect until the end of the promotional period.
Spectrum spokesperson Lara Pritchard said the company is waiving higher fees charged for TV programming.
“Television programmers continue to raise their content fees every year, pushing up costs across the industry,” the statement said. “As a result of the rising cost of programming on the television networks we broadcast, we are passing these increased fees on to viewers.”
What is a “television broadcast” fee?
Spectrum’s predecessor, Time Warner Cable, introduced a “television broadcast” fee in 2014, setting it at $2.25 a month, and began raising it almost immediately.
TWC said the fee was designed to “educate” its cable subscribers about the rising cost of retransmission fees, the fees that cable companies pay local broadcasters (such as ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox) to rebroadcast their air. programming in their cable networks.
Spectrum continued to charge and increase fees annually when its parent company, Charter Communications, acquired Time Warner Cable in 2016.
Depending on how close they live to local broadcast towers, viewers can pick up over-the-air signals with a simple, inexpensive antenna. However, Spectrum customers will still have to pay an additional fee, as the company does not allow them to opt out of receiving local broadcast stations via the cable package.
The latest increase means the fee is now just over nine times what it was when it was introduced eight years ago.
The latest increase means that Spectrum customers will pay $36 more per broadcast fee per year. The fee will now be $252 per year.
Spectrum reports that the cost of TV programming is skyrocketing compared to many goods and services. He cited a report from SNL Kagan that showed TV program spending rose 179% between 2006 and 2021, while retransmission fees paid to local broadcast stations increased 850% over the same period.
Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Have a tip, comment, or idea for a story? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
.