Spectrum hikes prices for 2nd time in 6 months. Here’s how to avoid some of the increases

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Spectrum is raising its prices for the second time in six months, but it’s also giving its TV customers Disney+ at no extra charge.

Cord Cutters reports that Spectrum, the nation’s second largest cable operator, has quietly notified some of its customers that it will raise the price of some of its services starting Jan. 31:

Spectrum’s mandatory broadcast TV surcharge, which went up $1 in July, will increase from $23.20 to $25.75 a month.
The monthly rental free for an HD Box will increase from $10.99 to $12.50.
The charge for Advanced WiFi will increase by $2 to $7 a month.
Entertainment View and Latino View packages will each rise by $3 to $15 a month.
Spectrum TV Essentials, its live streaming service that does not require a cable box, will increase by $5 to $29.99 a month.
Spectrum Internet Assist, the company’s low-income affordable internet program, will go up 25% to $24.99 a month.

Lara Pritchard, a spokesperson for Spectrum’s parent company, Charter Communications, confirmed the price increases in a statement to syracuse.com | The Post-Standard on Monday.

“We have taken a stand for a new, customer-focused model that provides more value and choice for video entertainment when negotiating all of our programming agreements,” said the Charter spokesperson. “Despite these ongoing efforts, programmers continually raise fees for their content, which are passed through as increased fees to viewers and drive higher costs across the entire industry.”

There are ways to avoid some of the increases.

Customers can return their cable box and replace it with Spectrum’s recently introduced Xumo Stream Box, which costs $5 a month to rent or $60 to purchase. And they can avoid Spectrum’s WiFi fee altogether by buying their own router and plugging it into their Spectrum modem.

The increases come just six months after Spectrum raised a number of its monthly charges.

But the news is not all bad for Spectrum customers. Charter and The Walt Disney Co. announced last week that the ad-supported version of Disney+ is now available in all Spectrum TV Select packages nationwide at no additional cost.

Spectrum video customers can immediately begin streaming entertainment from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic, including movies, TV shows and original programs through its Xumo Stream Box or any other Disney+ supported device.

“With the launch of the Disney+ Basic offer, TV Select customers can now enjoy access to Disney’s popular streaming content as well as their high-quality linear TV channels, all included as part of one video package,” Tom Montemagno, executive vice president of programming acquisition for Charter, said in a statement.

Spectrum has been losing TV customers to streaming services. It reported having 13.7 million residential TV customers at the end of September, a loss of 891,000 customers, a drop of 6.1%, from a year earlier. The deal with Disney and its introduction of the Xumo Stream Box as a replacement for the traditional cable box is part of an attempt to stem the losses.