Comcast Just Raised Rates on Lowest Possible Tier by 15%

[Qs Laptop]

About two years ago we dumped all the Comcast cable TV tiers except for their lowest tier, which is "Comcast Limited Basic." Comcast Limited Basic gets you all the local over-the-air TV stations, TBS, PBS, C-Span, CNN, Fox News, a bunch of shopping channels, and a lot of those channels that play shows from the 1960's through 1980's, like MeTV, TBN, ISP, etc.

The cost was $24.95 but with taxes it came to $38.85.

The new price, including taxes, is now $44.70. That is a FIFTEEN PERCENT increase.

 

[Chuckanut]

Maybe this will help some people:

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I never cut the cable cord because I never had cable. Not one day of it. The closest I come to ‘cable’ TV is my FIOS internet service. I only get internet service.

I have a DVR that records over the air TV shows from a number of local broadcast channels. I use free streaming services such as PLUTO, FreeVee and more.

I subscribe to one streaming service at a time, watch as much as I find interesting, cancel the service, and move on to another one. I get DVDs free from my public library. I just finished the final season of ST -Discovery using the DVDs. I also get Kanopy free through my public library.

I would have a be 24/7 couch potato to come anywhere near watching 50% of what is of interest to me using the above services.

Sports fan? That’s the major weakness.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Sports fan? That’s the major weakness.

Yep, that's basically why I stayed on the lowest tier of Comcast. This tier comes with a DVR option. I record NFL games so I can skip commercials and skip the half times shows. Also, DW still likes to watch some over the air TV shows that she DVRs to skip commercials.

Yes, I know I can get a recorder for over the air TV but it would complicate my entire home theater setup and I doubt the DW would find it easy to use. Thus, I soldier on with cable TV's most basic service.

 

[GenXguy]

I recently posted about my 5.3% increase in Comcast service in the existing inflation thread.

Examples of current inflation - add yours!

Bummer. My AT&T internet bill just went up another $5. This is after a $5 increase last June, and another $15 before that over the previous year. So, $25 over 2 years. I am irritated at this 40% increase. Bet they will reduce lower than before if you make a credible threat to switch.

www.early-retirement.org

 

[mailbagman]

I recently posted about my 5.3% increase in Comcast service in the existing inflation thread.

Examples of current inflation - add yours!

Bummer. My AT&T internet bill just went up another $5. This is after a $5 increase last June, and another $15 before that over the previous year. So, $25 over 2 years. I am irritated at this 40% increase. Bet they will reduce lower than before if you make a credible threat to switch.

www.early-retirement.org

A year ago mine jumped $20. Went down that day and cut the cable. Saving about $50 a month. At comcast you can never talk to a person when you call customer service. There artificial Intelligence just keeps sending you around in circles.

 

[CaptTom]

Three days stand out as among the happiest in my life. The first was when we cut the cord on the wired "home" phone service. That was 2012. Next was when we cut the cable service to just internet only, getting rid of "cable TV" payments. We still had to keep paying whatever the monopoly cable company asked for internet service, since there were no other options in our town. Finally, last year I saw the guy stringing fiber along our road and started jumping for joy. Getting rid of the cable company bill was easily the best of those three days.

It's true that watching sports is one of those things that the majority of people put in the "money is no object" category. The cable companies certainly know this, and take full advantage of it. They'd be foolish not to.

 

[statsman]

Next was when we cut the cable service to just internet only, getting rid of "cable TV" payments. We still had to keep paying whatever the monopoly cable company asked for internet service, since there were no other options in our town. Finally, last year I saw the guy stringing fiber along our road and started jumping for joy. Getting rid of the cable company bill was easily the best of those three days.

We have no available cable Internet service. There aren't any cable lines in our neighborhood. 5G Internet is not reliable in our part of town. Heck, neither is 4G, which is why I am thankful for Wi-Fi Calling on our cellphones.

Our only real Internet options are two fiber companies who have colluded on pricing. Might as well consider them a monopoly. I wouldn't put a sole blame on cable companies for being a monopoly.