[brewcrewfan]

I used to have Spectrum internet/TV in 2017 (old Time Warner package).

I cut the cord in 2018 and have had spectrum 200 meg only. I wanted to see about a bundle and an online chat with an agent said that Spectrum Silver would run 74.99 plus equipment, taxes and Broadcast charge of $17.99. I remember the Broadcast fee was about $5.00 under Time Warner. When did that increase??

Also is it true Cable Companies are no longer required to support cable cards?

 

[302481]

Broadcast fee has been going up every year for years. It’s the reason I cut the cord years ago. Pay $18 for channels I already get for free? No way.

Yes, it’s true about cable card support.

 

[pl1]

I cut the cord in 2018 and have had spectrum 200 meg only. I wanted to see about a bundle and an online chat with an agent said that Spectrum Silver would run 74.99 plus equipment, taxes and Broadcast charge of $17.99. I remember the Broadcast fee was about $5.00 under Time Warner. When did that increase??

When I was with Comcast, the fees when I left in March or were:

Plus another $5.00 in taxes. TOTAL $35/month. This is from a billing rate sheet dated 12/20/20, so it could be higher now.

I'm currently with Fios and they eliminated all of those fees for new customers. I pay $121/mo for 200/200 (provisioned as 300/300), and the middle TV package which includes my RSN, NHL, NBA, and NFL channels, and my cableCARD ($5). Of course they raised the rates to include those fees, but, I really resented paying Comcast $20/mo for OTA when I get OTA free where I live. Even if I still am paying those fees, it feels better.

Also is it true Cable Companies are no longer required to support cable cards?

While it is true that they are not "required" to support cableCARDS, it seems it would be foolish for cableco's to stop supporting them since they are already losing customers to streaming. When I signed up with Fios, they had no problem setting me up with my TiVo. Where I can see potential problems down the road, is that some cableco's (like Comcast) are moving their programming from QAM (which TiVo records) to IP, and there are no DVR's besides the cableco's own DVR that will work at this time. So, THAT could be a problem.

 

[MrDell]

Unfortunately these fees have been going up every time you turn around! Sports fees are ridiculous and it’s really unfortunate that customers have to pay transmission fees for local stations that we can receive over the air! Any way to get a buck from people!! You really can’t blame people for getting fed up and just cutting the cord. All these fees and taxes add up to well over $20.00 to a monthly bill.

 

[chiguy50]

When I was with Comcast, the fees when I left in March or were:

View attachment 63217
View attachment 63216

Plus another $5.00 in taxes. TOTAL $35/month. This is from a billing rate sheet dated 12/20/20, so it could be higher now.

That figure of $35 in total add-on fees and taxes is still pretty accurate, generally speaking.

OTOH, Comcast has been periodically increasing the download speeds of their HSI tiers without raising the price (not to say that future price increases are not in the cards). Here in the Central Division under the Simple & Easy structure, the tiers are now:

Performance Starter: 50Mbps ($20)
Performance: 100Mbps ($40)
Blast!: 300Mbps ($50)
Extreme: 600Mbps ($50)
Extreme Pro (soon to be renamed Ultrafast): 900Mbps ($60)
Gigabit: 1200Mbps ($70)

Prices shown are available with a one- or two-year agreement. And the top three tiers also qualify for an additional $10 discount if the account includes Xfinity Mobile service.