Charter’s Spectrum TV service is alerting video subscribers that it’s increasing the price of both its Broadcast TV fee and 125-channel Select TV plan effective January 17. A Charter spokesman tells the TV Answer Man that the price increase will be implemented in all Spectrum TV markets.
It’s unclear what the rate hikes will be in each market, but one TV Answer Man reader in Alabama says he has been alerted that his Broadcast TV fee will rise $1.20 a month while the Select package of channels will increase by $5 a month. The reader adds that his cable box fee will also increase by $1 a month.
The Spectrum TV Select plan now costs approximately $80 a month for existing customers while the Broadcast TV fee has been $21 a month. Cable operators say the Broadcast TV fee is necessary to offset the cost of carrying local channels.
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“TV programmers continue to raise fees annually to carry their content, driving higher costs across the entire industry. As a direct result of the growing cost of programming from the cable networks and local broadcast stations we carry, we are passing through these increased fees to viewers,” the Charter spokesman said when asked today about the price increase notice.
Charter joins Dish, DIRECTV and Comcast in raising prices at the beginning of the year. All four providers have blamed the increases on programmers raising their fees to carry their channels.
Charter, which last raised video prices last spring, raised the price of Internet service roughly two months ago.
The TV Answer Man will update this story if we get more information regarding the exact rate increases in the Spectrum TV markets.
Note: For Spectrum subscribers in promotional plans, the price increases will not take effect until the end of the promotional period.
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does the Internet price change for bundled customers? the Internet price increase from November only applied to Internet-only customers.
Our bill just went up $50.00..
Yep. Same. Not happy. I’ll be canceling and move to streaming subscriptions. Why don’t they like their customers?
Are they improving anything? Making changes? We’ve been loyal customers for 22 years. Ridiculous
Internet service alone is at $100 per month. Just talked to a rep and even they couldn’t explain the reasoning behind it other than “it’s business”. Well guess what Spectrum, you wouldn’t have a “business” if it weren’t for us customers, so how about stop giving us the shaft by continuously going up on rates! Three rate increases to internet in one year is ridiculous.
So the pandemic gave a ton of $$ to help low income households afford internet service…a whopping $30 off per month, which is great…really helps, however, Spectrum has managed to not only gobble up ALL of that but gone beyond to where that $30 offset along with the increases now put my internet bill at +$40 even with the $30 break…my broadcast etc. went from $2 to $21 another $5 a month raise in internet … this is just Spectrum price gouging cause we’re getting a little help.
Spectrum raises their rate at the customers expense because they can. The regulatory agency that oversees and gives permission for these exorbitant increases simply rubber stamps whatever increase is requested? The AG office sympathize with the customer but are powerless to do anything that would help the consumer? Sad