Spectrum Imposes New Broadband Price Hikes, Fee Increases

Tuesday Jul 25 2017 14:00 EDT
Spectrum Cable is busy informing users about another round of rate hikes in the wake of the company’s $79 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. Users in our Charter forum say they’re being informed that many of the company’s broadband tiers will be hiked by $1 per month. But the company is informing users that it’s also jacking up a number of the company’s fees, including its “Broadcast TV fee,” a misleading fee that simply takes part of the cost of programming, then buries it below the line to help the company falsely advertise a lower rate.

“Just got my bill for next month and it says that the broadcast TV surcharge is going up to $7.50 next month from the current $6.05,” complains one customer. “It never ends.”
“It’s like watching a friend in an abusive relationship,” complains another. “You’ve been loyal, while they keep hitting you.”
These latest prices hikes come after many acquired Time Warner Cable and Bright House Network customers complained about seeing price hikes up to 40% after the merger was completed. Charter CEO Tom Rutledge, the highest paid executive in America last year at $98 million in compensation, recently proclaimed on an earnings call that these customers were simply “mispriced” by the previous companies, and were being shoved in what the CEO dubbed the “right direction.”
The problem, of course (aside from the rate hikes themselves) is that these increases have occurred as Charter has bungled the integration of the acquired systems, with many users stating that Charter’s already historically-awful customer service has somehow managed to get worse in the wake of the deal. This kind of treatment is why this quarter is expected to see the highest rate of TV cord cutting in recorded history.