Cable Companies Make $28B Yearly From Hidden Fees

The average cable customer pays $450 in hidden fees each year, and the unexpected charges add up to an estimated $28 billion for the cable industry annually, according to a new report from Consumer Reports.

Fox Business Network reports the nonprofit consumer advocacy group released its annual “CR Cable Bill Report” Thursday. Consumer Reports’ survey found that 85 percent of Americans have encountered an unexpected or hidden fee for a service they used in the past two years. Telecommunications providers, including cable companies, are the worse offenders when it comes to charging unexpected fees.

“What a cable company advertises to a consumer as a monthly price for services, and what the consumer actually ends up paying, can be dramatically different,” the group said in the report.

Company-imposed surcharges for services like broadcast TV, regional sports and set-top box rental add 24 percent on top of the average cable bill, Consumer Reports said. The national average monthly cable bill in 2018 had a base package of $156.71, but fees brought the total average bill to $217.42.

Cable companies are required by law to itemize these fees on customers’ bills. But Consumer Reports said the average cable bill contains more than a dozen line-item charges, creating a situation the group said is “ripe for consumer confusion.”

These fees have also been increasing. Consumer Reports’ survey found that 64 percent of respondents said they’re paying more in surprise charges now than they did five years ago.

For example, one company’s broadcast TV surcharge increased by 50 percent in a year. Another increased its fees for regional sports and broadcast TV by more than 600 percent over four years.

It’s legal for cable companies to charge these fees as long as they disclose them. But Consumer Reports said the companies aren’t all consistent. They’re recommending that the government require cable companies to include all fees be included in the advertised price.