The cable television industry’s top executive warned cable operators Tuesday to keep rate increases to a minimum. If they don’t, they run the risk of inviting government re-regulation of cable TV.
“There is not a speech I give or a meeting I have in which I don’t say to the industry: `Look, you need to be really, really careful about price increases,’ ” Decker Anstrom, president of the National Cable Television Association, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We know there is a sensitivity there both with our customers as well as policymakers.”
One of those policymakers, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Bill Kennard, reminded the companies Tuesday at their annual convention that his agency has an obligation to protect consumers. Kennard urged the companies to “show restraint” in rate increases.
According to the government’s most recent figures, cable TV prices rose 7.9 percent for the 12 months ended March 31.
Overall inflation was just 1.4 percent during the same time period.
The average monthly rate, including a remote and converter, was $28.83 as of July 1, according to FCC figures.
