Both Time Warner Cable and DirecTV are jacking their prices up, passing along higher channel rates to the customer. My, what a nice reminder this is that you really don't need to be paying for cable!


Yes, a late deal was struck between Fox and Time Warner Cable, but that deal involves Time Warner paying Fox more for the right to carry its stations. And guess who's paying for those rates? You are, sucker.


Meanwhile, the Food Network and HGTV are currently being blacked out for Cablevision customers while a similar dispute is going on. It will probably be resolved the same way: with higher costs for consumers.

Oh, and did I mention that DirecTV is increasing both its costs for basic service as well as for DVRs?

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Yes, it's getting ugly out there, folks. Or more ugly, I should say. Networks are threatened by cable, so they want more money to run on cable. Meanwhile, cable networks are getting more and more viewers and clout, so they want more money too. And in the middle are cable and satellite companies, who have no plans of giving up any of their profits to these bitchy networks. So that leaves you, the customer, holding the bill.

Luckily, it's never been easier to cut these guys loose, save yourself $100/month and never look back. Why not send them all a message? These guys just aren't as essential as they think they are. [NY Times; Consumerist]