Cable Providers Surprise No One By Raising Rates for No Reason
Three major cable television providers have a message for their customers this holiday season: bah humbug!
The cable providers are all raising their rates across the board in 2016, many upwards of $10 per month, all in all.
DirecTV and AT&T Uverse, which are owned by the same company, announced price hikes this week of between $2 and $8 per month, plus a “broadcast surcharge” rate hike of $2 per month. AT&T voice is tacking on an additional $2 per month, reports Consumerist. Dish Network is also raising rates by roughly the same amount.
Time Warner Cable, meanwhile, is raising rates for its TV channel bundles and premium channels but also hiking the fee for "free" broadcast TV channels by $1 and its cable modem rental by $2, as well as raising the costs for digital adapters, remote controls, DVRs and DVR service.
As Consumerist says, with rate hikes across the board there’s not a lot consumers can do to avoid the rate hikes. Except, perhaps, abandoning the cable providers all together and upgrading their online streaming service subscriptions.
Marry Christmas?