Bloomberg is reporting Time Warner Cable is adding a $2.75 monthly charge for sports programming for the first time ever. Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC)’s bills first carried a specific fee for sports and broadcast channels in 2013, and that charge is rising by $1, to $6 a month. Subscribers to satellite-TV and phone companies’ TV services won’t escape the hikes either.
Sports is the most expensive programming because it draws large audiences to live events. For example, Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN and ABC and Time Warner Inc.’s TNT are paying $24 billion over nine years to carry National Basketball Association games. Those costs get passed along to distributors, such as cable companies, and then subscribers. Rising bills are already trying consumers’ patience, and now there are more alternatives than ever for customers ready to ditch traditional TV.
“At some point consumers will say ‘Enough is enough,’” when it comes to rising TV bills, said Dan Rayburn, a media analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
While cable providers say they are offering more services and channels than ever before, many consumers don’t want to pay for networks they don’t want to watch. The latest rate increases could prompt some to cancel their subscriptions, Rayburn said.
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