Time Warner Cable "will soon charge its 15 million customers for watching sports as the major cable provider tries compensating for the rising costs of broadcasting local channels and athletic programming," according to Jonathan McFadden of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Effective Jan. 1, the cable company "will charge subscribers a new $2.75-per-month fee for sports programming." Customers only with TWC’s Internet services "will not have to pay the broadcasting TV or sports programming fees, and vice versa for customers only with TV services." TWC Dir of PR for the Eastern U.S. Scott Pryzwansky said that the higher leasing fee "helps pay for the new equipment and for maintenance on modems that malfunction." McFadden noted there is "no opting out of the sports programming fees." Pryzwansky said that the sports fee and increased broadcasting TV surcharge "are the results of rising costs in how much local and sports channels charge cable providers." The cost to TWC for carrying sports networks "has gone up" by 91% since '08. Data from SNL Kagan predicts that ESPN "will charge cable providers more than $8 per customer" by '18. Pryzwansky said that about 30% of TWC’s TV customers "will not see the sports programming or broadcast TV surcharge increases immediately because their service is part of a promotional package." But those customers "will find new fees on their bills" once their deals end (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/20).
