Cable TV Prices Continue To Rise At Over Four Times The Rate Of Inflation

[Midpack]

We'll be cutting the cord within 6 months, and we have Dish Networks latest attempted price increase to thank! We got a 47% monthly cost decrease for 6 months instead. More and more good cable or satellite alternatives surface all the time.

And cable and satellite price increases have gotten worse, not better! Hello?

If cable prices increased consistently with the U.S. inflation rate over the past 18 years, you’d be paying $35 a month for about 165 channels and there would likely be a lot less cord cutting going on.

But to no one’s surprise, that isn’t the case.

According to the Federal Communication Commission’s most recent cable TV prices report, published in December 2014, the average price for “basic expanded cable service” — the most popular subscription among cable customers — is $66.61. In 1995, it was $22.35. That’s an average price increase of 5.9 percent each year for the past 19 years. The average U.S. inflation rate in that same time frame was 2.3 percent.

So, the price of basic expanded cable has increased more than 2.5 times the rate of inflation from 1995 to 2014.

But that's not even the worst of it.

That number is even higher with today’s average cable bill coming in at a hair under $100 a month, increasing by about 8 percent a year since 2010 when customers were paying $71.24 a month, based on information from the Leichtman Research Group. That’s almost 4 times the rate of inflation during that period of time, and things are only getting worse.

Hebert says cable companies need to “figure something out quickly,” or they’re going to see “customers leaving them in droves.”

That’s already happening. In the third quarter of 2015, pay TV lost 300,000 subscribers. Today, it’s estimated that 15 percent of American adults consider themselves cord cutters, opting to use more affordable streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and the live streaming service Sling TV.

https://www.cutcabletoday.com/cable-tv-prices-vs-inflation/

 

[MissMolly]

We cut the cord this past weekend. We now use an antenna for OTA which pulls in the major networks, PBS and some minor channels - about 21 in all. We put Roku sticks on all the TVs which gives us access to tons of free content. We have Amazon Prime and share our son's Netflix account. We tested for one month going without cable - just using the antenna and Roku, etc. Discovered we were able to access everything we needed/wanted. Bye-bye big cable bill. Hello extra $100/month in my bank account.

 

[CaptTom]

Some of it is pure greed. But I think another big factor contributing to this is actually the customers.

The average American seems perfectly content to pay $100-$150 and up every month for cable. Every time the companies offer more options, people sign up in droves.

Everyone wants "in" on this money-is-no-object marketplace. The cable companies, TV broadcasters, sports leagues and lots of private producers. Sports channels seem to be the biggest example of this. There seems to be no limit on what people will pay to watch the games.

I'm just an observer. We cut the cord before most people had even heard that phrase.

 

[Amethyst]

This topic interests me; the issue that keeps cropping up during research is:

NFL Football

Mr. A. wants the freedom to watch whatever NFL games are on, and that means either cable, or one of the costlier cable alternatives. Unless I'm missing something...

Amethyst

 

[GTFan]

Sounds about right, my double play bundle with Comcast goes up $10 every 2 years (I lock in a 2 year new customer renewal). My bill is now $110/mo. and was $100 before, so that's about 5% a year increase.

But if I only had HSI with them I'd pay about $75/mo, so I'm only paying $35 for TV (all channels + HBO). And I'd end up paying far more than that if I 'cut the cord' and subbed to all the stuff I wanted to get, which admittedly includes a lot of sports.

 

[Marita40]

So glad I cut the cord last month! I've not missed one thing. As I reported in another thread, my cheap Target antenna pulls in 43 stations with perfect clarity. Among them are several movie channels. I've still got the annoying dish on my garage roof and haven't yet decided whether to leave it until it rots or take it down. Assuming you can sell it on Craigslist??

 

[exnavynuke]

This topic interests me; the issue that keeps cropping up during research is:

NFL Football

Mr. A. wants the freedom to watch whatever NFL games are on, and that means either cable, or one of the costlier cable alternatives. Unless I'm missing something...

Amethyst

If he just wants to watch whatever NFL games are showing on the regular channels, then an over the air antenna can get those for free (after paying for the antenna/hookup). IF he want ANY game, then the only *legal* option I'm aware of right now is the NFL Sunday Ticket.

 

[Midpack]

This topic interests me; the issue that keeps cropping up during research is:

NFL Football

Mr. A. wants the freedom to watch whatever NFL games are on, and that means either cable, or one of the costlier cable alternatives. Unless I'm missing something...

Amethyst

If he just wants to watch whatever NFL games are showing on the regular channels, then an over the air antenna can get those for free (after paying for the antenna/hookup). IF he want ANY game, then the only *legal* option I'm aware of right now is the NFL Sunday Ticket.

Supposedly he can replay any game using NFL Game Pass, but even that is $49.99/mo (sounds crazy to me, and I enjoy football).

I am more than happy to settle for whatever's broadcast on major networks, Fox & ESPN. Cable and satellite still have a hold on folks who want more than that, and it ain't cheap. Sorry.

 

[euro]

My problem is that we are sitting in an OTA dead zone for some reason. In spite of living in the middle of the city and within walking distance to the TV studio, I can't get squat over the air. In my remote mountain cabin, I get 15 or so channels over the air. Go figure.

 

[Midpack]

My problem is that we are sitting in an OTA dead zone for some reason. In spite of living in the middle of the city and within walking distance to the TV studio, I can't get squat over the air. In my remote mountain cabin, I get 15 or so channels over the air. Go figure.

Help is on the way via streaming, though it will be later rather than sooner for remote locations.

 

[Amethyst]

That's OK. Mr. A. deserves a few luxuries that are just for him.

Supposedly he can replay any game using NFL Game Pass, but even that is $49.99/mo (sounds crazy to me, and I enjoy football).

I am more than happy to settle for whatever's broadcast on major networks, Fox & ESPN. Cable and satellite still have a hold on folks who want more than that, and it ain't cheap. Sorry.

 

[RunningBum]

So glad I cut the cord last month! I've not missed one thing. As I reported in another thread, my cheap Target antenna pulls in 43 stations with perfect clarity. Among them are several movie channels. I've still got the annoying dish on my garage roof and haven't yet decided whether to leave it until it rots or take it down. Assuming you can sell it on Craigslist??

I don't think there's any market for that dish.

 

[athena53]

With DH's departure from this world, I no longer need pro sports on TV. Roku and MagicJack are up and running and Google Fiber says I can connect in about a month. The final straw was that, although Comcast kept the price of my package constant (2 year contract expires this July), they increased the separate charges for HBO and broadcast TV y about $6 total. An increase is an increase. I'm now paying $136/month; Google Fiber Internet only will be 4X faster and about $75/month.

 

[explanade]

You might be able to save some money if you cut the cord and waiting for sales on box sets, so you'd be 1-3 years behind on the shows when they aired.

But this is considered something of a golden age for TV. There are more quality shows than there ever has been.

As long as I can afford it, I'll try to keep the bundle. There are a lot of things where even though I can afford them, I draw the line well below what I can afford because of some notion of value. Or maybe it's a lifetime of being a miser and that mindset still driving spending decisions despite having enough savings to up the spending.

What annoys me more is how little competition there is for broadband, limiting choice and eventually, features that we've come to take for granted. Because of telecom policy in this country, most markets have a dominant incumbent, usually the one that controls the coax. These incumbents can prevent competition using legal maneuvers, as Comcast and AT&T have done against Google Fiber in some cities by preventing Google access to utility poles, which makes deployment of fiber too prohibitive in cost.

But the problem is it can get a lot worse, with things like net neutrality or support for third-party devices eventually being yanked back. For instance, I would not be surprised if at some point, we end up losing some of the capabilities we have, such as recording shows to DVRs and keeping them indefinitely or streaming or downloading those recordings to other devices.

 

[W2R]

Not for me!

Like several others here, I am spending $0.00/year on television since I cut the cord. I love having that extra $110/month or more to spend as I wish, or to soften the pain from other increased expenses.

 

[Midpack]

What annoys me more is how little competition there is for broadband, limiting choice and eventually, features that we've come to take for granted. Because of telecom policy in this country, most markets have a dominant incumbent, usually the one that controls the coax. These incumbents can prevent competition using legal maneuvers, as Comcast and AT&T have done against Google Fiber in some cities by preventing Google access to utility poles, which makes deployment of fiber too prohibitive in cost.

+1. There is only one cable modem provider where I am. The only alternative is DSL, and they're way way too slow for streaming.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

The NFL is happy with its monopoly, and people are willing to pay the outrageous prices of tickets and passes, so until people stop dropping the service, the price isn't going anywhere. It's the horrible catch 22 of I want it, I don't want to pay that much for it, but I'll keep paying it instead of putting up a fight because I want it now.

 

[gromit]

I recently solved a semi-dead zone problem for a new condo. I could only pick up 1/2 the local channels and the signal was spotty at times on those. The direction to the towers was 78 degrees, while 90 degrees was directly through the length of the condo building. After much pain of trial and error, I discovered that an antenna on a table just inside an upstairs dormer window would point towards 78 degrees and miss the rest of the building. I get great signal for all the local channels from that location.

Problem 2 was how to use that signal elsewhere in the condo. The condo had a cable TV input cable that attached to splitters to send the cable signal to coax outlets in multiple rooms. I connected the antenna to an RCA pre-amplifier and into the bedroom coax outlet. In the wire closet, I replaced the old cable TV input cable with the coax run coming from the bedroom with the antenna. So now signal comes in the antenna, down thru the old coax outlet to splitters that send it to the coax outlets in other rooms. I later added a splitter in the bedroom that has the antenna so that a TV could also be used in that room, even though the coax outlet is already in use as the antenna input.

I'm very happy with the result.

 

[Midpack]

The NFL is happy with its monopoly, and people are willing to pay the outrageous prices of tickets and passes, so until people stop dropping the service, the price isn't going anywhere. It's the horrible catch 22 of I want it, I don't want to pay that much for it, but I'll keep paying it instead of putting up a fight because I want it now.

It may have already begun.

The NFL has a ratings problem. Monday Night Football is down 24% from last year at this time, Sunday Night Football is down 19% and Thursday night is down 18%.

Just Google for many other references NFL's ratings decline, as explained by football fans | The MMQB with Peter King

Another good one http://www.denverpost.com/2017/02/0...-decline-first-this-message-from-our-sponsor/

 

[broadway]

Have only basic cable which both the NYC and Philadelphia major channels.
Good enough for us. $16.50
The price has been stable although the Broadcast TV Fee went up from $5 to $7 which is 40%.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We love our cable but are sick of the price increases. So I called and said we were on an fixed income, etc and then they wanted to drop our level of service. I said no I want the same price as you give to people that are new to the service. I have been a customer for 20 years. So they try all sorts of tactics but I am a broken record for about 30 minutes until they give me what I want for a year. I told my friend and they did the same thing.

 

[Gotadimple]

+1. There is only one cable modem provider where I am. The only alternative is DSL, and they're way way too slow for streaming.

Are you sure about DSL being too slow? I live in an area where DSL is as fast (or faster if you want to pay more) than cable.

- Rita

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I used to do the math where I'd figure out the season cost of a DVD per show that I thought I'd like. Add them all up together, and if they were less than the monthly cost of cable, I'd buy those instead.

They always added up to being significantly less. And commercial free. Win win. Even cheaper if they were bought used.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I remember back when Fraiser was in its heyday Kelsey Grammer was making over $1 million an episode. Same with Tim Allen on Home Improvement.

Yet Netflix is $11/month and they're putting out some quality content month after month. A few duds too.

 

[Chuckanut]

Netflix DVD rental (yes, so very old fashioned) is quite economical if you watch a lot movies and TV shows they offer.

CBS is going to offer the new version of Star Trek later this year and I understand it will only be available via the Internet subscription service. As much as I would like to see it, I am debating if I want to buy their service for just one show. I don't want to encourage this type of behavior. And besides who knows how good it will be. The recent incarnation of SuperGirl is turning out to be a huge disappointment, unless one is into relationship issues of all sorts, IMHO.