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Cox Cable: No price hikes planned for 2010 yet

December 16th, 2009, 2:54 pm · 13 Comments · posted by

Cox Cable logoCox Communications customers in Orange County can hang on to their money for just a bit longer. The Rancho Santa Margarita cable TV provider said that no cable price increases are planned for 2010. At least not yet.

“As far as rates, at this point Cox has nothing set in stone regarding rate increases in 2010,” said spokeswoman Lana Ong in response to my query about 2010 price increases.

December and January tend to be prime time to notify customers of upcoming rate hikes. During these months a year ago, Time Warner, AT&T U-verse and Cox all told customers monthly bills were going up.

So far, for 2010, Time Warner has notified customers that some will see their monthly bills increase a few dollars in January. See the earlier story: “Time Warner 2010 price hikes mostly affect those who order the least.”

More on 2010 price increases:

Of course, this doesn’t mean Cox won’t raise its rates in 2010. This year, the company upped rates in March. Last year, rates also went up in March. The official word today, however, is no increases are planned.

Cable providers are losing subscribers and not making as much money as they used to. A big reason for annual price increases is because the TV networks they offer are asking for more money themselves.

The nation’s largest cable company, Comcast Corp., took steps this month to offset some of those rising costs by buying a TV network. The deal, valued at $30 billion, will make Comcast the owner of NBC, which includes the channels such as USA, Bravo, SyFy, CNBC, MSNBC and Universal.

Currently, Time Warner is negotiating with News Corp. (Fox TV) and Scripps Networks Interactive (Food Network, HGTV). In an effort to publicize what it considers unfair price hikes for the channels, Time Warner launched a marketing campaign asking customers whether it should cave to the increases or get tough, even if it means losing the channel. While the campaign is obviously a marketing tactic, it attracted 400,000 consumers who told Time Warner to get tough.

Cox, meanwhile, just let go of the Travel Channel, selling most of it to Scripps Networks. Cox kept a 35 percent ownership.

For their part, both Orange County cable providers have added several new channels this year. Most recently, Cox customers should have seen 15 new HD channels show up this week. See the earlier story, “Cox adding 15 HD channels in December.”

Related stories:

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 13 Comments

  • WhysoSlow says:
    December 16, 2009 at 4:04 pm

    I don’t see where they can raise prices with mediocre internet speed. I pay for premium and am at the mercy of a “local usage level” which affects my gaming speed. Weak sauce shouldn’t cost more. FIOS anybody?

    • Jim says:
      December 16, 2009 at 4:33 pm

      Verizon has a bottleneck cap on its service just like every company. Dont like the tricky name of FiOS trick you, they still use a Coax system and fiber network just like every cable company. Only difference is you pay more for “FIOS”.

      The channels are making a killing – Raising the price to advertise on the channel and how much the provider ends up paying them…

      • Kalibanos says:
        December 22, 2009 at 9:02 am

        Jim you are incorrect.FIOS is fiber from the customer ONT (Optical Network Terminal) directly to the serving central office. There is no shared COAX.

  • Dale says:
    December 16, 2009 at 6:13 pm

    Cox, you can be gauranteed that you will lose my business to ATT if your damn prices go any higher.

  • chocolite says:
    December 16, 2009 at 6:22 pm

    cox I hope you are reading this- the second I get a chance to go to ATT uverse I am outta here. You need to keep up with the competition re: pro and features and pricing, Especially multi room play back etc… I feel I am being held hostage.

  • Eric Cooper says:
    December 16, 2009 at 6:49 pm

    Anybody who believes Cox on this is believing a great big fib!

  • Bob says:
    December 16, 2009 at 7:07 pm

    Fortunately there is satellite TV.

  • Brett says:
    December 16, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    Cox’s prices are already unacceptably high. I cannot wait for ATT U-Verse to come to RSM. We’re gone COX.

  • john says:
    December 17, 2009 at 8:27 am

    Cox is the best….their customer service is the best…never talking to somebody overseas…the local an always their when i need help anytime…i don’t know what you guys are talking about…

  • eric smith says:
    January 26, 2010 at 6:58 am

    i will be heading up a group going to the city council to encourage them to find a different cable provider, Cox is the Worst. i have been able to get past the fact they treat customers as do the worst HMO, all about doing the least possible, programmed response people talking around the subject and bugging to spend more and on and on… the Last straw is the removal of TV Guide Channel from the lower tier service. it is now necessary to have their ‘box’ and pay more to get the guide, and yes i can get a guide on my mac at the cox website. for those of us that don’t watch alot of television, the TV Guide Channel was important and many times the only thing worth watching, seriously. Bring Back the Guide or LOSE Customers for good.

  • rafael says:
    January 26, 2010 at 8:29 am

    I was informed last night that rates are going up and was offered a “free” opportunity to lock my rates with a 2 year contract……….

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