One of the most beneficial yet frustrating things you can do is to take a closer look at your cable bill. As much as they are making us pay for the number of junk stations they offer, you’d think they’d throw the consumer a bone rather than frustrate us more. Nevertheless, cable television has gotten so expensive in the past few years—but why?
Bogus Fees
You will likely find maintenance, DVR, and other fees you didn’t know existed. The only way to prevent cable companies from taking advantage of you is to buy the equipment yourself. There’s no need to rent a box or DVR and pay for maintenance if you own the necessary equipment. The same theory also applies to the internet and buying your modem and router.
The Downside of the Bundle
The cable companies have a stranglehold on us, not because of the hundreds of channels they offer but more the bundled pricing of cable and internet. Living in modern society without the internet is virtually impossible, so you cannot ignore its need. These companies have the leverage to put cable and internet together for a limited time price.
While paying $100 for 200 stations and high-speed internet is awesome, the astronomical price after the promotion ends is not. If you agree to a two-year contract, they lock you in for a year of crippling payments. Nothing sucks the life out of you quite as much as paying that bill, especially when you realize you stream more content than you watch on live TV.
Boo, Sports
The biggest culprit for the skyrocketing costs is sports. Even if you don’t know the difference between points and runs or touchdowns and goals, you are paying an exorbitant amount for stations like ESPN. Although ESPN isn’t the most watched television network, it’s dramatically more expensive than the second-highest station.
The reason for ESPN’s massive price is that live sports continue to be the most sought-after form of entertainment worldwide. Live sporting events are the true definition of reality television; thus, networks are willing to fork out billions to obtain the media rights. And the diehard sports fan has little issue paying the extra cost, particularly when they’re ready to spend a huge chunk of change for the best premium sports packages.
The Price Goes Up, and It Stays There
It’s no mystery how capitalism works, considering it’s one big game of “keeping up with the Joneses.” With the rising popularity of streaming content, cable companies must find a way to compensate for the revenue loss from the cord-cutters. The easiest way to do that is to bump up their current prices. There’s seemingly a new report every year that the major cable companies are hiking their prices, but there was hardly a public outcry for that like there was for Netflix’s password crackdown.
If you are on the fence about joining the millions of people who ditched their boxes for other means, knowing why cable television has gotten so expensive should open your eyes and make the decision clearer. Unless you are an avid sports fan, there is no advantage to subscribing to something that’s borderline archaic.