Comcast will raise its rates for TV and internet service by about 3% in 2022, the company said Monday, in line with increases in previous years.
News of the price increases, most of which will take effect on Jan. 1, was first reported by TVAnswerman.com.
According to Comcast, the average Broadcast TV Fee, the surcharge levied to help cover the costs of retransmission consent payments the operator makes to TV stations, and its Regional Sports Fee, a separate charge to cover its costs for regional sports networks, will not rise by more than $7 per month combined.
Charges for wireline voice service will not be affected, the company said.
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Not every market will see the same increases. For example, in parts of New Jersey and Connecticut that lost access to regional sports channel MSG Networks in October, customers won’t see an increase in their regional sports surcharge, a Comcast spokesperson said.
In a statement, MSG Networks said Comcast should go further and refund customers the $10 per month they were paying for the channels they are no longer receiving.
“Comcast said they won’t increase their RSN fee for customers who no longer receive MSG Networks. Then how do they explain keeping their customers’ money for the last two months," MSG Networks said in the statement. "It’s simple: they charged more than $10 for MSG Networks, and rebated $3, which leaves more than $7 that they continue to pocket every month. Don’t be fooled: that’s a rate increase.”
According to a Reddit.com post by a Chicago Comcast customer, Broadcast TV Fees will rise by about 21% ($3.50 per month) to $19.75; while the Regional Sports Fee will increase about 20% to $17.30 from $14.45 per month in that city. Other areas will see bigger and smaller increases. For example, in Sandown, New Hampshire, the Broadcast TV Fee will rise by about 28% ($5) to $24.95 per month from $19.45, and the Regional Sports Fee will increase 10% ($1.10) to $11.85 from $10.75 per month.
Internet-only customers will see the prices for various speed packages rise by about $3 per month. Some bundled internet customers won’t see as much of an increase for that service, but overall charges for bundled packages will be about 3% higher, a Comcast spokesperson said.
“Content providers continue to increase the costs they charge us to carry their content, with broadcast TV and sports being the biggest drivers of price increases,” a Comcast spokesperson said in an email message to Multichannel News. “We’re continuing to work hard to manage these costs for our customers while investing in our network to provide the best, most reliable broadband service in the country. Customers also have the flexibility to choose our industry-leading video platform with X1 or the highest quality streaming product with Flex, the only free streaming TV device with voice remote that’s included with broadband service.”
Comcast’s decision comes on the heels of a $5 per month price hike from Dish Network that became effective to the satellite TV company’s customers in mid-November, and a similar increase for customers of Hulu Plus Live TV that takes effect on Dec. 21 and includes Disney Plus and ESPN Plus. ■
