Broadcast TV fee raised AGAIN!!!

Broadcast fees certainly sting with their ever increasing hikes.  I decided to do some research and see what is behind the scene so to speak.  Of course there is an absolute ton of information out there regarding retrans fees or retransmission fees which is what Broadcast TV fees really are.

It goes back to the federal law Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992.  This is where it started and forced cable operators and others to retransmit local stations.  This same law allowed those local stations to now demand payment for carrying their signal and ultimately also allowing cable providers to fully pass along those fees becoming known as the Broadcast TV Fee. 

I am not defending Comcast or any other provider but in some respects they are at the mercy of the behemoths that own these local stations and use their clout, blackouts etc...,  to demand more and more compensation from cable providers and thus we pay in the end.

I am not sure forum guidelines allow me to post links but I found an excellent set of articles called TV Ransom on the acaconnects website.

I agree with this being ridiculous (and misleading) 

The recent billing says  "Pricing Update: The monthly charge for the Broadcast TV Fee communicated on the recent Important Information Regarding Xfinity Services and Pricing notice has been reduced. Your current billing statement reflects the lower monthly fee"

1) Where was this notice communicated?

2) When was this fee reduced?

3)  My current bill shows quite an increase in the Broadcast TV Fee ($3.70);  not a decrease???

It's pretty funny, (NOT!) there was an insert a month or two ago about the fee being jacked up. It was to go from $8.25 to $12.70! Here's the funny part....the "decrease" they refer to in this month's bill must be that instead of going up to $12.70 it ONLY went up to $12.60! Yes, there was a decrease in the increase of  10 cents!!!

I recently filed a formal complaint with BBB. regarding the same issue.

my increase was almost as bad as yours... 6.75 to 12.00.

also...

the dvr increased from 12.68 to 15.00

the regional sports fee increased from 8.25 to 8.75

total increase 'outside my control' (?!?)

over $8/month.  

i'm 5 months into a 24 month contract.

assuming no more increases (lol) that's 19 x 8 = $152

will comcast work with us or do we have to resort to BBB?

Just checked my latest Comcast bill. The broadcast TV fee went up from $10 to $14.95 which is nearly 50%. OMG!!! I understand there are cost increases from the networks passed onto cable TV companies. However, this percentage increase is absurd. This needs to be addressed by the FCC or Congress. In a regulated industry like this there is no excuse for such ridiculous overcharging. 

Just another reason to cut the cord or see what Verizon FIOS can do for us. So many ways to stream TV and movies these days - i.e. YouTube TV and HULU to name just two. How much business will Comcast lose before they smarten up? They should bury these costs in the package prices or better yet just unbundle the services and let folks choose what they want/need. 

I Absolutely agree. It is absolutely ridiculous. and even worse that they did this in the middle of a contract. If I made a change in the middle of a contract they wouldn skewer me for the entire cost of the contract. Then when I call, they lie like rugs and act arrogant , rude and snooty. . My increase was about $7.00 which is a 10% increase because I only take minimunm TV and the internet. I dumped everything else because of their outrageous prices ( bill increased to well over $200.00, without any premium channels) . And if I dump the TV portion to cancel out the increase they take away ALL discount, and I still pay the BTF , even if I DONT USE TV!!!! Not only do they take the 2 product discount, they take my 2 product discount AND my contract discount. I had the same problem with their rude service at my last contract renewal. The only place I get decent service is at their service center, and thats only certain people. They can do this because they know there is no competition in my neighborhood. Horrible company. 

Our Broadcast TV fee just jumped from $10 to $14.95 and our "Regiona Sports Fee" jumped from $6.65 to $7.00.  

Contrary to what Xfinity (and some users) have argued, the overall jump from $16.65 to $21.95 has nothing to do with federal rules.  It is 100% Xfinity's decision to jack up the bill for people on a fixed contract.

If Xfinity wants to claim these are to cover rising charges from local stations, they should preset the bills.  Otherwise, just admit that they are violating fixed price contract agreements.

Easy to see why Comcast/Xfinity is among the most hated companies in America.

I just love how Xfinity loves to increase fees all the time. I have been with this cable company for over 25 years and I would think they would have some type of discount program for loyal customers. I'm on a fixed income and when prices increase, it taking out of my spending money for other things. I have been really thinking of going to a different company just because of the price increases.

This company needs to get under control and stop increasing prices. 

Grammyork

I am not a spokesperson for Comcast either. But this is a very good explanation as to why the costs keep going up. If you find a better way I would love to hear it. I have tried other options and looked into other companies. In the end they are all pretty much the same cost. If you think cutting the cord and going to streaming is going to save you big bucks and give you servce and content. Well good luck with that. So you go with the comapny that serves you best and gives you what you the content you want.  

I pay $35 between netflix ans sling and have plaenty of comtent. In addition I pay 85 for comcast internet, and am determined to get rifd of that as soon as I can get an alternative. I will NEVER pay comcast over $200 a month for a package that doesn't enven contain ANY premioum channels. 

My broadcast fees went from $8.50 to $14.95. About 80% increase, sports fees went up to $7 my bill went from $150 -$186 in 3 months and that's when I said I had it. The government has to intervene. It's absurd that America has the most expensive broadband costs in any developed nation. And our tv fees equally as high. . It's the american way. If someone provides you a service they will just charge more and more and more.  Yet they keep wages stagnant. This is not sustainable and will inevitably cause a catastrophic economic collapse.