Dear Readers,

Topic:  Increased cable TV rates!

Your cable TV rates are increasing.   Two major cable operators in Connecticut (and nationally) have announced they are raising their prices.

Cox is increasing the basic portion of your bill (ie. channels 2 through 22 or thereabouts)  by approximately $3.
The expanded basic portion of your bill containing the most popular pay channels (such as ESPN, NESN, TNT, USA, etc.) will also be increasing by $3.    So if you only have analog service, expect your bill to increase by $6…..and even more if you subscribe to higher tiers of service.
After raising Standard Cable (basic + expanded basic) rates by $3.50 or more earlier in the year, Connecticut’s largest cable operator — Comcast — has decided to raise your bill by $1 because they are adding Sports Net New York to their offerings.   SNY has the exclusive rights to broadcast all New York Mets baseball games.   Now that the Metropolitans spend nearly as much as the Red Sox and Yankees on payroll,  they need their own network to help offset the high costs of doing business.    YOU are going to pay for it.

There are lots of hot button issues that will lead you to choose one political candidate or another this fall, but maybe you should really look into who supports “a la carte” cable pricing.     This solution would allow you to buy individual channels or small groups of channels sorted by theme.   Should we really have to pay $60 to watch a handful of channels that we truly enjoy?