"Next Up on Cable TV, Higher Bill for Consumers"--that's the headline atop Brian Stelter's piece, appearing in The New York Times.
Brian quotes one expert:
Pay TV bills are a battleground for media companies. “Content providers are testing the limits — hoping to raise the bar as high as possible,” said Steve Ridge, the president of the media strategy group for the consulting firm Frank N. Magid Associates.
Of course, cable bills wouldn't be so high if the cable companies didn't insist on "bundling" all their cable offerings--forcing everyone to pay for channels they don't want. Indeed, it's usually only a few that many people want. Right, Cable Gamers?
But such "a la carte" cable offerings are anathema to the cable industry, which thrives on monopoly, and the political connections needed to keep those monopolies.
No wonder the average American's cable bill is $71 a month, and rising steadily, according to MultiChannelNews.
