Many Comcast (CMCSA) customers have little decent choice when it comes to internet, and while streaming seems to have made a cable subscription optional, that's not entirely true.
If you want the full array of local channels and access to all the broadcast networks for sports, you pretty much need a traditional cable subscription.
Yes, streaming services like Walt Disney's (DIS) Hulu Live or Dish Network's (DISH) Sling offer some local stations/broadcast networks in some markets, but not all and not everywhere. It may be due entirely to legacy contracts, but the big cable players still have a lot of leverage because while they have lost a lot of customers to cord-cutting, they remain the biggest players in the television space by far.
With broadband internet, Comcast still has a functional monopoly in much of the country if you want (or need) the fastest possible service. You could opt for T-Mobile's (TMUS) 5G service or various DSL options, but many Americans have to stick with Comcast not matter how badly the company treats its customers.
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Comcast Raises Cable, Internet Prices
Anyone who has been forced to subscribe to Comcast for internet and/or cable knows that pricing generally moves only in one direction.
"On average, nationally, Comcast customers will see their combined cable and internet bills increase by a rate of 3.8%. That's higher than the average increase of 3% heading into 2022," PhillyVoice reported.
The problem isn't its core fees, where a 3% price increase may be unwanted but is not outrageous. A bigger issue is the double-digit hikes the company is making to its broadcast-TV fee and its regional-sports fee in many parts of the country.
"Comcast is raising its broadcast TV fee from $19.15 to $23.20 and its regional sports fee from $15 to $17.25, according to customer bills," PennLive reported. Those are increases of 21% and 15% respectively.
The broadcast-TV fee covers ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox, networks, which really should be considered part of a basic broadcast package. Comcast breaks out this fee so it can pass the blame for rising prices to its partners.
"TV networks and other video programmers continue to raise their prices, with broadcast television and sports being the biggest drivers of increases in customers’ bills," Comcast spokesperson Jennifer Bilotta told Philly Voice.
That may be true, but the cable giant negotiates those deals and has a lot of leverage. The reality is that all those broadcast networks have cut back on programming as the cable world has shrunk, yet they're demanding more money and Comcast readily accepts those higher prices, marks them up, then passes that on to customers.
Comcast Needs Transparency
When you eat dinner at Olive Garden, the chain offers unlimited soup or salad and breadsticks. That's included when you pay the menu price for an entree.
Imagine if you ordered the chicken parmigiana, ate some salad and a few breadsticks, then when your bill arrives you're charged for your entree and a second "salad and breadsticks" fee. It's maybe not a exact analogy but that's more or less what Comcast is doing.
Cable and internet customers have always had to deal with pseudo-monopolies that play games with pricing. Comcast advertises one price and charges another. That's not something consumers should have to put up with, but in many cases they have no choice.
Charging tacked-on fees for services that aren't optional is at best customer unfriendly. We all know what a cable bundle includes. If we can't decline fees and the associated services that they allegedly pay for, then they should be part of the core bill.
