About $20 of Your Cable Bill is Sports -- You May Not Even Watch Sports now make up about 40% of programming costs paid by cable and satellite TV operators; costs that are passed on to cable customers regardless of whether they actually watch the content. The Los Angeles Times has an interesting look at the soaring cost of sports programming, noting that about $20 of your monthly cable bill is now thanks to sports programming you may or may not watch.

SNL Kagan estimates that pay-TV customers next year will chip in an average $18.37 a month for sports, up from $2.85 a month in 2001. In Los Angeles that's notably higher, with consumers spending $20 to $25 a month on sports they may not be watching. To be clear sports remains incredibly popular. Last year, Americans spent roughly 31 billion hours watching sports on television, a 40% bump from ten years earlier. The problem is that the typical US cable bill just jumped past $100 per month according to recent data by Leichtman Research Group. ESPN costs an average $7.20 a month, per subscriber home, and regional sports networks like SportsNet LA, which costs each consumer home about $4.50 a month, are among the biggest culprits in the slow and steady march of cable bills ever skyward. Sports programming used to be considered the holy grail of must have programming, but this belief has been shaken recently as many consumers make it clear they're tired of paying for content they no longer watch. ESPN has been the hardest hit by this ratings decline, losing more than a million subscribers in just the last month, and more than 7 million over the last several years. As customers have more options for skinny bundles and streaming alternatives, sports will no longer be subsidized by all cable customers. Yet the costs to obtain licensing for the sports programming continues to skyrocket. Something has to break in this equation moving forward. As customers have more options for skinny bundles and streaming alternatives, sports will no longer be subsidized bycable customers. Yet the costs to obtain licensing for the sports programming continues to skyrocket. Something has to break in this equation moving forward.







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Most recommended from 56 comments

techguru308

join:2016-05-19

Cincinnati, OH 43 recommendations techguru308 Member Sports channels need to be an add on option for channel package They need to make sports channel an add on package if they keep raising prices on Sports Channels. Gerard1234

join:2012-04-03 10 recommendations Gerard1234 Member Stop paying the athletes all the millions of dollars It cost everyone lots of money all the way from what they wear etc. Trickle down effect.

HaloFans

join:2006-12-18 2 recommendations HaloFans Member Pay money and time to watch Ads? Who wants to pay money to watch ads?



Ads on TV are now louder and longer than ever.



No content to watch.