Houston’s biggest cable TV providers are increasing their prices, continuing a trend as the cost of providing programming rises and customers flee to streaming video services.

Comcast hiked the price of its basic cable TV fee by $5 a month, and its Broadcast TV fee — a line item related to transmitting local broadcast TV stations over cable — went up by $4.95.

Comcast also raised the rental fees for its voice and internet modem/routers by $1 a month. Most of its internet speed tiers increased by $3 a month.

The increases took effect at the end of December.

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Comcast had previously said it was making its Flex streaming box free to home internet subscribers. And at CES, the Las Vegas consumer electronics show, the company said it was making network security features available to its internet customers for free. Those plans remain unchanged.

AT&T also will increase prices starting Jan. 19, according to a statement on its website, for its U-verse and DirecTV products. Pricing for its various DirecTV tiers will go up between $1 and $8 a month, while U-verse packages will go up between $3 and $7.

AT&T is also increasing its broadcast fee by up to $2, and pricing for some regional sports channels are going up by as much as $2.

Both companies cited the increasing costs of paying for TV shows and movies they provide. A Comcast spokesperson specifically cited “broadcast TV and sports” as among the biggest factors in the increases.

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Most cable TV providers, including Comcast and AT&T, have been steadily losing subscribers who drop their services and switch to streaming content, often because they are fed up with such price hikes.

But streaming services, particularly those that mimic cable TV channel bundles, are becoming less of a haven. Many hiked their subscription fees last year, and AT&T TV Now had two price increases in 2019. Sony’s PlayStation Vue is exiting the market completely, shutting down at the end of this month.

Most recently, Sling TV, long the least expensive streaming cable alternative, raised prices for its tiers by $5 each. Sling also added content, including Fox News and MSNBC in its “blue” option, and gave all subscribers 10 free hours of cloud DVR storage.

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