If you have a Cable or Satellite provider for your TV, then I am sure you love getting your monthly bill each month and sending them you’re hard earned money.
But have you ever sat down and really looked at your Cable TV Bill closely? You have probably glanced at it and noticed that there are about 15 mines items on each bill. Seems a little bit odd considering you only get cable and internet form them right? So what are all of those other lines items on your bill? These are what the Cable and Satellite companies call “Additional Services.” But you only get TV and Internet right? So what additional services are you paying for each and every month? Keep reading to find out.
The first line item on your bill is probably your handy dandy TV bundle. This is your monthly cost for standard channels, basic channels, digital services and Channel Guide. Please keep in mind that this is usually your promotional package price. This line item is normally the one that goes up each and every year. Also keep in mind if you got a promotional offer for 12 or 24 months that this price is guaranteed to go up dramatically after that period of time is over.
The second line item on your Cable or Satellite TV bill is usually your “Ultra Super Mega Turbo Lighting High Speed Broadband Internet.” This is the service that they call and send you fliers for trying to get you to upgrade for a nominally monthly charge of over $15.
So that should sum up your bill right? That’s all you should be paying for right? Not exactly, the cable company needs to make a larger profit so they nickel and dime you to death so they can post record profits. But what else can they charge me for each month? I only get TV and Internet? Read on and I’ll tell you.
HD Channels – You think your TV provider is giving you all of those great HD channels for free? Think again. You are probably paying an extra $8-15 extra per month for those HD channels. I bet you thought that was included in your bundle. Think again.
HD Receiver – How do you receive those HD channels you are paying for each month? With a premium HD receiver of course. What is premium about it? It’s premium because you pay an $8-15 premium for the privilege to use the cable company’s hardware necessary to receive their services.
DVR – You’ve got your HD Channels, and your HD receiver but how are you going to record your favorite shows? With an upgraded Premium DVR Box courtesy of your cable or satellite TV provider of course. Your premium DVR HD Ultra Premium box will normally set you back $5-10 each month.
Additional Boxes – You probably have more than one TV in your house. So how are you going to enjoy all of your HD channels on every TV in your house? With additional DVRHD Ultra Premium Boxes of course. These additional boxes will normally set you back an additional $3-10 each month. If you have 3 or 4 TV’s in your house you can see how this quickly gets expensive.
Internet Modem – So you are paying $60-100 each month for premium internet speeds so you and your family can zoom through the internet, download music, play games and watch streaming videos. But how does that internet get to all of your devices? Through a proprietary high speed internet modem is how. This should be included in your internet fee right? Wrong! Your internet provider also charges you a monthly rental fee of $3-7 dollars for the privilege of being able to use their internet connection. We are sure all of your internet devices plug directly into the numerous Ethernet ports that the proprietary modem has right? What was that you say? 90% of your devices you use the internet on are wireless?
Wi-Fi – Your proprietary internet modem will most likely arrive with antennas and wifi capabilities. So you’re all set to blast your ultra lightning turbo internet throughout the house for all of your wireless devices to devour. Not so fast there tough guy. Even though you’re Modem has antennas, wifi capability and is ready to blast wifi throughout the house, for some reason none of your devices are picking up wifi. The reason is because your internet/Cable/Satellite provider wants to charge you an extra $7-15 for the privilege of using all of the feature that are available on the modem that you are already renting from them for $7 a month.
I’m sure buy now you are seeing a picture being painted. Your Television / Internet provider is nickel and diming you each and every month for every dollar they can extract from your bank account.
But there are still more line items on your bill. What else can they possibly extract from you each month? Taxes and more taxes!
State Communications Service Tax – I have no idea what this is and I bet no one else does either. But whether or not you know what is, you will still being paying $3-8 each month for it.
Local Communications Service Tax – No idea what it is for, but it costs $3-6 each month.
State Sales Tax – Can’t blame your provider for this one. But it will still cost you a dollar or two each month.
FCC Regulatory Fee – This one only costs about $0.10 a month. But it is still money.
So there you go. A more in depth view into how your cable / satellite TV and internet bill has grown out of control. And it’s only going to get more and more expensive each and every year. Somehow your provider will find a way to milk you out of more of your money while providing decent service with horrible customer service.
So if you’re sick of being nickel and dimed each and every month by your greedy cable or satellite provider I urge you to get yourself a SkyStream Android TV Box and stop the insanity of paying hundreds of dollars each month. Your wallet will thank you and you’ll feel better knowing that you aren’t getting robbed each month.
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