It’s that time of year again, when the previous year gets reviewed and consequently compared to the expectations of the upcoming year. No doubt, 2013 was a big year for the tech world, from mobile technology to innovative TVs—especially how we now watch TV. In the midst of all of that, satellite TV still sits at the forefront of our daily lives, being the main source of television for consumers.
In 2014, however, prices are set to increase on most packages offered by most providers. But before you panic and start flooding the customer service lines threatening to cancel your contract, it might be helpful to know where the costs are coming from, and what the costs are actually providing customers.
Some Key Facts about your Satellite TV in 2014:
- The increase is not directly related to you, the customer. While you might think that the price increase is out to get you and make money off of you because you are stuck in a contract, take a second and take a deep breath. The main cause of the price increase is because the price satellite companies pay for content is on the rise; simple as that.
- Service will not change. The increase in price will not affect the channels included in your TV package. All of your current channels will remain the same, so your Directv local offers, for example, will still be accessible in the coming year.
- In the end, satellite TV providers are here to work for you. If the increase is that dire to your wallet, you can more than likely negotiate your terms with a representative to work around any inconvenience this might be causing you.
- Reports say that you can find a way around the price increase altogether if absolutely necessary. As reported in The Verge, for example, “If you’re not thrilled by the changes, there’s always the option of cutting the cord entirely. Before taking that step, you may want to try calling DirecTV’s retentions department. The company’s customer service reps may be able to make you an offer that dampens the pain of those higher prices, which go into effect February 6th.”
- While this increase seems inconvenient, the truth is that you are able to access your satellite TV channels in more locations (TV, mobile, tablet, etc), which make the increased price (no more than $5) a drop in the bucket of the overall cost of your package.
Increasing the price of satellite TV is nothing new to many providers. This has been happening for the last several years, and hardly affects current customers. Providers are simply changing to meet the growing demands of rising programming fees from content providers and television networks. The customer is seeing an increase in cost, but it is fractional to the cost that TV providers are incurring in the grand scheme.
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