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Comcast: Sneaky 'Broadcast TV Fee' Is Just Us Being Transparent

As I mentioned recently and several times over the last year, cable operators and broadband ISPs have started placing a sneaky "broadcast TV surcharge" below the line on customer bills. Companies are doing this as a way to pass on retransmission fee hikes from broadcasters below the line, so they can increase your bill without increasing their advertised rates.

It's a sneaky practice on several fronts. One, because it's technically false advertising, and two, because it's really just duplicating the costs you're already supposed to be paying via your consistently-skyrocketing cable TV bill. That's why it's so amusing to see Comcast tell Geekwire that the fee is Comcast's way of being "transparent":

quote:
In a statement, Comcast spokesman Steve Kipp said the charge is due to broadcast “retransmission costs,” which have more than doubled in recent years. "Beginning in 2014, we will itemize a portion of broadcast retransmission costs as a separate line item to be more transparent with our customers about the factors that drive price changes," he said. “In 2014, we will not increase the price of Limited Basic or Digital Preferred video service, and adjustments to other video service prices will be lower than they would have been without the Broadcast TV Fee.”
Nothing quite says "transparency" like sneaking a fee onto your bill that distorts the advertised price. Programming hikes are a cost of doing business, and should be included in your overall bill. Comcast's not the only one doing this: Verizon covertly jacks up the price of voice service via an "FDV Administrative Charge" that covers retrans hikes. AT&T takes things even further, charging U-Verse users two completely different fees for this same purpose.

As previously noted, despite a professed dedication to "transparency," the FCC has turned a blind eye to this practice for most of the last decade.

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karpodiem
Hail to The Victors
Premium Member
join:2008-05-20
Troy, MI

6 recommendations

karpodiem

Premium Member

Give us real transparency - line item details

Tell us what you are paying each broadcaster to carry their channel. Then people can finally put a dollar amount on the channels they have no interest in.