Report: Average Cable Bill May Top $140 By 2020 At a time when customers are leaving cable in droves, the average cable bill continues to climb at a staggering pace. And according to a new report over at CutCableToday.com, if prices continue climbing at the current rate of 8% per year, the average cable bill will eclipse $140 by 2020. The report puts the climbing price into perspective by comparing to the rate of inflation, which is 1.93%. In other words, the price of cable has been climbing at 4x the rate of inflation.

What does that rate of increase look like? Well, in 2016, the average price of cable broke $100 a month (at about $103 per month). Just five years before in 2011, the average cable bill was only $73 per month. To be more specific, the story points to another report from Consumer Reports, which breaks down some of the price increases we will see throughout this year. AT&T plans an increase of $2 to $8 a month this year, plus $5 to $6 a month for local broadcast television fees. Comcast has already increased their prices by 4 percent, with local broadcast fees of $5 to $7 expected there, plus $3 to $5 a month for regional sports networks. Cox customers are expected to take on a 2 percent increase in 2017, plus local broadcast fees of $3 to $4 a month and up to $6 a month for regional sports. And most analysis isn't even factoring in the bevy of sneaky fees providers use to jack up the advertised rate post sale. The cable companies are quick to pass the blame to broadcasters for the price increases, especially for local and regional programming (though they tend to downplay their own role in jacking up hardware rental and other additional costs). Regardless of who’s at fault, the point is customers are paying more. And as options for non traditional TV (mainly streaming services like Sling TV and YouTube TV) continue to rise, that’s not what customers want to hear. Many customers are taking this opportunity to finally cut cable. Another recent report predicts that 25% of US homes won't subscribe to traditional cable by next year. Not coincidentally, subscriptions to streaming television services are on the rise. Major players on the market now like Sling TV, DIRECTV NOW and PlayStation Vue offer no contract pricing that’s a third of the cable price with the same channels. While services are staying secretive about subscriber counts, it’s clear they’re growing rapidly. And with Hulu debuting its own live TV service soon, and YouTube TV’s planned expansion, it’s also clear that cable companies need to figure out a new strategy fast. And with Hulu debuting its own live TV service soon, and YouTube TV’s planned expansion, it’s also clear that cable companies need to figure out a new strategy fast.







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Most recommended from 66 comments



SteveV

join:2016-08-21

Williamsburg, VA 31 recommendations SteveV Member Morons The cable industry just doesn't get it. They raise prices and start loosing subscribers so they raise the price to offset lost revenue and more subscribers leave, so they raise the price to offset lost revenue and even more subscribers leave...



Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. margegenever

join:2010-08-19

USA 8 recommendations margegenever Member No worries for cable companies Cable companies aren't worried about "cord cutters" - they can't cut the cord that supplies broadband access. As TV revenue drops, companies will simply raise the rates for broadband access to make up for it. Without competition, consumers have little choice than to pay whatever the company charges for broadband.

ilikeme

Premium Member

join:2002-08-27

Stafford, TX ·Toast.net

7 recommendations ilikeme Premium Member I'm a new member to the cord cutting club My Directv bill has been constantly going up, and I have been getting tired of it. I've had PlayStation Vue now for a few days and been loving it. Directv just happened to send out a notice about changes to the terms of service. I used that as a free way to get out of the contract and surprisingly they canceled the service no problem and without trying to offer me all sorts of things and discounts. The boxes to send the gear back are coming next week. Bye bye cable tv/satellite, your killing yourselves by raising costs so much.



We are lucky enough to be able to get Gigapower here for internet, so we can stream multiple things at once without issue and no data cap!

tshirt

Premium Member

join:2004-07-11

Snohomish, WA 6 recommendations tshirt Premium Member And yet people keep paying.... ...as if they value the service more then they dislike the cost.

The majority of the increases continue to be CATV based.

...such packages can be trimmed or eliminated, IF the user so desires. axiomatic

join:2006-08-23

Tomball, TX 6 recommendations axiomatic Member NO CHOICE I have no choice but to cope. It sucks. There is only one provider for high speed for me to pick from in my area. So by all means Comcast. Let's make it $300 a month. Go for it. You have a literal CAPTIVE audience in me.