Cable Prices Have Risen Four Times the Price of Inflation

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dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
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www.alienbabeltech.com
5-19-2014

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Cable-Prices-Have-Risen-Four-Times-the-Price-of-Inflation-129012

Cable Prices Have Risen Four Times the Price of Inflation

A new report by the FCC (pdf) on the cost of television services in the United States found that prices have risen four times the price of inflation over a one year span.

The report notes that basic cable prices jumped 6.5% during 2012 while expanded basic cable prices rose by 5.1%. The rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index was 1.6% during that same period.
 
Brovane

Brovane

Diamond Member
Dec 18, 2001
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The real issue with the rising prices is the price of re-Transimision fees for sports channels and the requring of bundling by major media companies.
 
KB

KB

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 1999
5,406
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All of these company mergers aren't helping the price either.
The good news is that there are alternatives. Rememeber you can still get TV OTA, and you can get TV over the internet. No ones forces you to buy cable. I am far more concerned about limited options and rising prices on internet access, as many alternatives to cable require internet access. Internet access is a necessity in this day and age.
 
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realibrad

Lifer
Oct 18, 2013
12,337
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The only reason prices are so high, is because the government enforces the monopoly that the cable companies have in their areas.

There has not been a monopoly in US history that did not need US government regulation to stay alive. All have needed the US government to keep out their competitors.

You want lower prices, get the government out of cable...
 
S

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
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Who cares? I knew what the price was when I agreed to get Directv. I have a year left on my contract and I'll reevaluate it closer to then. If I feel it is too much money for what I get in return, I'll look at other options.
 
MomentsofSanity

MomentsofSanity

Lifer
Jan 25, 2011
16,984
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Do people actually pay market rates for cell phone/cable/internet after 6 months? Everything I have is on sharply discounted retention plans. Be a fool to just pay what they advertise.
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
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economics5.gif
 
fleshconsumed

fleshconsumed

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2002
6,486
2,363
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Don't care about cable, do not subscribe to it. However, internet prices seem to be following the trend. Sure, we get more speed ever so slowly, but the prices never go down, instead the "you get more speed" is used as justification for charging more... Sigh...
 
Oldgamer

Oldgamer

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2013
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Kadarin said:
I haven't had cable for years, and don't miss it.
Click to expand...


Yea, I got rid of my cable TV a long while ago to. It was just too expensive. I can watch regular TV and my DVD collection. I can stream Netflix or Vudu or other things if I want on my TV's or computer.
 
Brovane

Brovane

Diamond Member
Dec 18, 2001
6,092
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realibrad said:
The only reason prices are so high, is because the government enforces the monopoly that the cable companies have in their areas.

There has not been a monopoly in US history that did not need US government regulation to stay alive. All have needed the US government to keep out their competitors.

You want lower prices, get the government out of cable...
Click to expand...

How is their a monopoly? Consumers have choices to go with other providers.
 
Londo_Jowo

Londo_Jowo

Lifer
Jan 31, 2010
17,303
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londojowo.hypermart.net
eskimospy said:
Cable is not a competitive marketplace.
Click to expand...

Maybe not where some people live but places such as the Houston area has many different cable providers. In the neighborhood were I live both Comcast and AT&T Uverse was prewired to the houses, just a matter of connecting the respective company's cable and activating service. Of course you can chose to go with Dish TV or DirectTV or local OTA programming (approximately 24 channels).
 
F

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
87,342
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Londo_Jowo said:
Maybe not where some people live but places such as the Houston area has many different cable providers. In the neighborhood were I live both Comcast and AT&T Uverse was prewired to the houses, just a matter of connecting the respective company's cable and activating service. Of course you can chose to go with Dish TV or DirectTV or local OTA programming (approximately 24 channels).
Click to expand...

It depends on the area, but the big problem is that cable TV is quite frequently bundled with internet service. I know that for my area there is only one cable internet provider, as is the case in a lot of neighborhoods in NYC. For me and a lot of other people it doesn't matter how many operators are offering cable TV, if they can't offer real high speed internet it's a non-starter.

While McOwned posts a lot of stupid threads on here I think his complaint about cable being noncompetitive and shitty is a decent one.
 
Brovane

Brovane

Diamond Member
Dec 18, 2001
6,092
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eskimospy said:
It depends on the area, but the big problem is that cable TV is quite frequently bundled with internet service. I know that for my area there is only one cable internet provider, as is the case in a lot of neighborhoods in NYC. For me and a lot of other people it doesn't matter how many operators are offering cable TV, if they can't offer real high speed internet it's a non-starter.

While McOwned posts a lot of stupid threads on here I think his complaint about cable being noncompetitive and shitty is a decent one.
Click to expand...

The problem is the last mile into the residences. It takes a lot money to run cables into all the residences. It isn't really cost effective for a lot of different providers to each run their own cables into all the residences in a city so they don't.
 
F

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
87,342
53,946
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Brovane said:
The problem is the last mile into the residences. It takes a lot money to run cables into all the residences. It isn't really cost effective for a lot of different providers to each run their own cables into all the residences in a city so they don't.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. The thing is, if you have a situation where effective competition is unlikely or impossible, it needs to be regulated differently than a competitive marketplace.
 
S

squarecut1

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2013
2,230
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Doesn't matter if you don't have cable TV. The same people who own that own the ISPs too - which typically have a monopoly in a particular area. And those prices have been rising a lot too. They have got you, they know you don't have a choice. Free market.
 
R

realibrad

Lifer
Oct 18, 2013
12,337
898
126
Brovane said:
How is their a monopoly? Consumers have choices to go with other providers.
Click to expand...

If you do some research, you will see that cable companies have a lot of smaller local monopolies. They work with counties and cities to establish monopolies so as to keep out others. The argument is that a cable company wont expand into a city if they fear a competitor coming in and undercutting them ruining their investment.

It is true that there are multiple cable providers, but they do not overlap. You are usually stuck with X provider in City Y.
 
G

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
dmcowen674 said:
No need to regulate business.

The "Free" market always does the right thing, right?
Click to expand...

Your idiocy is on display again. Cable is regulated. As in regulated monopoly brought to you by local govt.
 
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