Cable price rise is less where competition exists

This week, the FCC Media Bureau released its annual Report on Cable Industry Prices for the period ending January 1, 2014.

As usual, cable prices continue to rise, reflecting the long-term trend. Expanded basic cable rates tripled since 1995, at an annual increase of 5.9%, more than twice the overall rate of inflation (2.4% annual average).

Specifically, “The average monthly price of expanded basic service (the combined price of basic service and the most subscribed cable programming service tier excluding taxes, fees and equipment charges) for all communities surveyed increased by 3.1 percent over the 12 months ending January 1, 2014, to $66.61, compared to an annual increase of 1.6 percent in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).”

But, price rises are not evenly distributed throughout the country; it depends to a large degree on competition. As the report said, “The price per channel is 14.7 percent lower in effective competition communities than in communities without a finding of effective competition... ”

Read the full report here.

FCC Report on Cable Industry Prices (FCC report, Dec. 15, 2014)