How's that cable bill looking lately? Satellite?
It's getting pretty expensive, huh?
Well, according to a report by Bob Menendez in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer, that's not likely to ease off anytime soon.
And, given the fact that Time Warner Cable recently began carrying NFL Network (at long last), the NFL has a new and ultra-expensive TV deal, and so does Major League Baseball, you can see why things have gotten more expensive and will continue to do so.
And that doesn't even include college sports, which have turned into a gold mine all on their own.
Menendez reports that sports fees now make up "about half" of the average American cable or satellite bill.
In less than two years, the major networks (broadcast AND cable) have forked over, he writes, some $72 BILLION to carry sporting events and other coverage. That's being passed on to you, the consumer.
"You think sooner or later we will hit a saturation point, but I'm starting to think there is no saturation point," Syracuse University professor of television and popular culture told Menendez. "People will pay for sports in their cable bill, and they will pay extra for sports."
And they're going to, if the latest projections are accurate. Back in April, I told you that the average cable bill, which stood at $86 a month at that point, will rise to more than $200 a month by 2020. At that point, I explained that retransmission fees will be a large factor in the coming increase. That's still true, but with the new costs of sports coverage being passed on too, who knows where the end might be?
We may never know.
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