Comcast

Here's a gift many of us weren't hoping for in early 2020: price hikes on TV service from some of the biggest cable and satellite TV companies.

 

Just before the new year, Comcast and DirecTV announced they'll be raising prices.  

 

As with past price hikes, the TV companies blame the rising cost of programming for the increases.

"Rising programming costs—most notably for broadcast TV and sports—continue to be the biggest factors driving price increases for all content distributors and their customers, "Comcast said in a statement. "While we absorb some of the increased programming costs, they have a significant impact on the cost of our services."


Comcast customers got hit with higher advertised prices for TV service and higher add-on fees. The price for a basic TV package increased from $30 to $35 per month. The fee for broadcast TV is now 50 percent percent higher, going from $10 to $15 per month.

The company also increased its charge for internet service by up to $3 per month, which pales in comparison to the cost of a returned payment, which jumped from $10 to $30.

 

If you're considering a streaming alternative to a traditional pay-TV package, remember that all of those services have also instituted price hikes—sometimes several times—over the past year. And some now provide fewer channels and networks than when they launched.