The future, if you want to call it that, of traditional, linear subscription television services will depend on customers who don’t understand, and consequently fear, online video services. Martin Peers, a reporter for The Information, looked at his mother-in-law’s Comcast bill and discovered a stack of add on fees and increasing monthly rates for services that can be had for less money via over-the-top video platforms.
The reason she’s writing unnecessarily high checks each month? “She’s nervous of changing what she’s got”, Peers writes, and that fear is at the base of the profit-maximising strategies adopted by Comcast, Charter Communications, DirecTv and DISH…
[Comcast chief financial officer Michael] Cavanagh acknowledged that recent price rises imposed by Comcast will drive an increased rate of subscriber losses this year. Comcast’s average customer bill rose 3.6% this year, a little more than last year…
Comcast is not alone in focusing more on customers willing to pony up for cable and letting others in search of budget solutions cancel. DirecTV’s owner, AT&T, has had fewer price promotions for the satellite TV service as it focuses on high-value customers. Charter, the third biggest cable service, has a similar philosophy. Comcast, Charter, DirecTV and Dish lost a combined 5.1 million subscribers in 2019, 71% higher than the losses of 2018.
It’s a classic case of haves and have nots. Consumers who feel comfortable navigating the online world can take advantage of competitive video pricing. Those who don’t share that awareness – a group that disproportionately includes low income and elderly people – get soaked for high monthly subscription fees that include a raft of services they don’t need or use.
That strategy is the driving motivation behind the scorched earth tactics cable companies use to defend their grasp on low income communities. Maintaining effective monopolies isn’t just about blocking competitive broadband providers. It’s also about keeping vulnerable customers fenced in.