The Cost of Pay TV (revisited)

When I started this blog in 2011, I had just dumped DirecTV and put up an antenna. DirecTV was costing me about $70 a month. In my first post on the subject, I noted that this was pretty much average for Pay TV customers. I also calculated that this $70 a month added up to about $9000 over 10 years, and would only continue to rise over time.

So now just a few short years later in 2014 the average cost of pay TV is up to about $85 a month - over $1000 a year, over $10,000 over ten years. In fact, the average price of cable has been increasing at a rate of 6% annually. What is the cable company going to get from you over your lifetime? Let's assume that you start paying cable at age 20 for $85 a month and continue to pay until you are 70, a period of 50 years. If you were able to work out some magical deal with your provider to have no price increase for 50 years, you would spend $51,000 on TV during that time. Add taxes, Set Top Box rentals, and a 6% annual price increase, and your lifetime total for TV alone will approach $100,000.

The TRUE cost of Pay TV

*fine print: AFTER THE 6 MONTH PROMOTIONAL PERIOD, COMCAST’S REGULAR CHARGES APPLY UNLESS SERVICE IS CANCELLED. SERVICE MAY BE CANCELLED BY CALLING 1-800-COMCAST. Comcast’s current monthly service charge ranges from $56 to $62 for Digital Starter, $72 to $78 for Digital Preferred, and $105 to $130 for Digital Premier, depending on area. Limited to service to a single outlet. Equipment, installation, taxes and franchise fees extra. May not be combined with other offers. Certain services are available separately or as a part of other levels of service. Basic Service subscription required to receive other levels of service. On Demand selections subject to charge indicated at the time of purchase. Converter and remote required to receive certain services. HD choices include HD channel lineup and HD programming available from Comcast On Demand. Choices and availability may vary by market. Call Comcast for full details and restrictions. DVR service may require a deposit. DVR service requires an additional monthly DVR service fee. Number of recording hours varies by model. Please call your local Comcast office for restrictions and complete details about service, prices and equipment. Comcast ©2010. All rights reserved. HD choices based on a comparison of satellite’s HD channel lineup to the combination of Comcast HD channel lineup and Comcast HD programming available On Demand.

Sure, that $29.95 offer from the pay TV sevices looks inviting.
But once the "promo" expires, whats it really going to gost you? Recent Surveys indicate the average pay TV subscriber pays about $70 a month. This price generally does not include "premium" channels or packages, or even an occasional Pay-Per-View. Even HD is extra for some providers. About a hundred channels, including lots of infomercial-religious-and useless,and about 4 local stations.