Does anybody know what the difference is between the "TV" service fee and the "Broadcast TV Fee" and if I need to pay for both?

I want to revisit what I'm paying for Comcast. I really don't need TV service - I haven't watched anything on network for years now. But I've kept the TV basic service because I'm under the impression (from customer service) that it allows for a cheaper Internet service rate. But I'm not familiar with the Broadcast TV Fee and it's substantial for something I don't use.

If all I really care about is higher level Internet service and maybe some minimal TV service (just to perhaps watch the news if there is something special going on), can I cancel the Broadcast TV Fee? Should I just get rid of TV / Broadcast TV entirely (and still have good Internet pricing?

TV Service Fee = You get screwed
Broadcast TV Fee = You get screwed

Hope that clears things up.

Yea, And doesn't look like I can just have Internet; seems like I need to purchase some sort of TV service in order to get Internet..... What a cluster.

I’ve been off Comcast for a few years. But when I was on it you could get Internet only rack rate. It is usually more expensive than a combo package. But you have to call them all the time to get better deals when they jack up your price. I switched to a rack rate internet just so I wouldn’t have to deal with that haggle bullshit.

Oh and if I ever get Comcast again I will take screenshots of the deal. The deal you sign up for will disappear and suddenly you lose hd channels and sports. When you call they lie about what was in your package and the deal you signed is nowhere to be found.

I have Spectrum and in years past (it was Time Warner then Brighthouse before Spectrum) I was almost always on a promotion bundle of some sort, and got on another by calling in when it expired.

Last promotion I did had 200 mbps internet and TV Silver which had basic, some extras, HBO, and Showtime. We use HBO Max and that would be $15 on its own (Showtime also $15 but I don't need it) so it wasn't a bad deal. My rates have gone up from $150-ish to $200-ish in the past few months and now NO new special bundles are available. I've called more than once and aways get the nothing available. New customers can get much better deals.

My only option is to call and cancel and tell them I'm going to U-Verse (ugh!) and see if I can get a loyalty discount of some kind. I can drop the silver channels to save $20 but then if I want to get them back it will cost more than $20.

And as the world moves to more advanced tech for everything, I still have years old Cisco cable boxes that are slow and buggy at everything they do.

Ok so generally true that internet + tv yields a better rate. Maybe just stick with combo but the tv shit is significant. 30% of the bill for something I don’t use.

I'm just guessing, here, but I suspect...

The "TV service fee" is probably the service fee for your basic cable TV package. I expect it includes all the local channels plus a bunch of other stuff?

The "Broadcast TV fee" is probably a surcharge. I'm going to guess you cannot do away with it.

If I'm right about the 2nd one: Here's what it is.

History Lesson

Years and years ago, when cable first started becoming wide-spread, many (?) CTV operators would not carry the local broadcast channels. They took up bandwidth on their cable systems, cost money for equipment, etc. And, after all, people could get the local stations over-the-air (OTA).

After a while the local stations found themselves losing viewers to CTV, so they demanded of the Federal Government the CTV operators be forced to carry the local channels. The government complied and made it mandatory.

A few more years went by, CTV began to dominate, and the broadcasters discovered fewer and fewer people had OTA antennas, thus had become dependent upon CTV operators for their local broadcasters. So they went back to the federal government and demanded it force the CTV operators to reimburse them for retransmitting their content. The federal government complied, but removed the requirement CTV operators carry them.

You see what happened, here, right? Neat trick, eh?

What has since happened is broadcasters have kept bumping and bumping their retransmission (aka: "retrans") fees. Those fees are now to the point they, along with sports coverage, constitute CTV operators' two major expenses.

In fact: Broadcast TV has become so unprofitable, stand-alone, it is now dependent upon the exorbitant retrans fees it charges subscription TV services (cable, satellite, streaming). This is why the broadcast TV industry was so freaked out by Aereo, years ago, and are now freaking out about Locast. After all: If those guys can retransmit without paying retrans fees, then why should CTV companies, etc., be required to pay them?

End of history lesson

It looks like what Comcast has decided to do was show customers just what those retrans fees are costing them, by breaking-out the "Broadcast TV fee" as a line item.


Addendum: Wait until everybody finds out where the new ATSC 3.0 (Aka: "Next Gen") OTA TV standard eventually takes things.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ensigmatic,

Start streaming. I seldom watch tv but my wife likes it. We dropped Spectrum/Time Warner and went to youtube tv. Both companies are evil but with a streaming service there are no sales tax or broadcast fees on my bill.

I still keep a landline but switched it from AT&T to Spectrum internet based. Price for 200 mbps internet and landline is $79 month with no taxes tacked on. I'm sure this won't last forever but right now I'm sticking it to the man.

I have xfinity/comcast and each time I went to cancel tv they offered me line 150 channels for $8. Hard to say no to that. I used it to simply activate a few streaming services and get the few network shows we actually watch. I'm done with actual tv however. Haven't had interest in most shows I couldn't access elsewhere in years.

I've asked about that before...you can't the Broadcast TV fee (which I believe is the charge Comcast/Xfinity has to pay your regional stations to broadcast their channels) nor the Sports fee. Both are required surcharges that get lumped in with the various fees they tack on the bottom of your bill. If my wife didn't love her damn cooking channels so much, we likely would've dumped Comcast a long time ago.

We have just their internet service. Performance plus $72.95. up to 75Mbps. No other decent service on our street. Just bought a used Cable Modem Router to get rid of their rental fee of $14 a month.

Magic Jack for phone land line. Digital window antenna, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Pluto TV for TV.

So the "fees" shown are the CTV provider breaking down the price. Showing the customer what CTV, thus customer, pay for the required local stations? Some are OTA stations and some are not?

quote:

Originally posted by cne32507:
So the "fees" shown are the CTV provider breaking down the price. Showing the customer what CTV, thus customer, pay for the required local stations?

I believe that's what the "Broadcast TV Fee" probably is.

quote:

Originally posted by cne32507:
Some are OTA stations and some are not?

Retransmission fees apply only to retransmission of local broadcast content.

Search on "retransmission fees" for more info.

You most definitely CAN get internet only. Now if you are paying for a bundle like double play (tv + internet), then no you can’t cancel just one of them and still get that package price. You need to look into if you are in a contract, which can still usually be cancelled for a fee. But you would cancel the bundle and then pick whichever internet service you want a la carte if you don’t need the tv.

I have internet only and can go to my online account and upgrade and downgrade the speed myself instantly without even talking to anyone. To cancel a bundle you’ll probably have to call. As for pricing, yes you are getting a discount for using both services, but does it matter if you pay more for the internet service alone if you are still paying less than the bundle, especially if you aren’t really using the tv? I think I pay $80 for 400Mbps service. I have a small paper thin antenna to pull local channels over the air (OTA) at no cost for news and sports I may want to watch and stream everything else.

Also it’s worth having your own modem and router instead of paying them monthly to rent theirs.

On spectrum in Ohio “broadcast fees are separate from special deals. They can raise the broadcast fees anytime.

We do internet separately through AT&T.
Have you considered augmenting streaming (like a ROKU) with an over the air antenna for local channels and maybe a dvr capability for the antenna feed? I've been cable free since 2009.

I use Verizon Fios for internet access, 39.99 month, and have a roof antenna for TV. Wouldn't dream of paying for cable TV.

quote:

Originally posted by ontmark:
We have just their internet service. Performance plus $72.95. up to 75Mbps. No other decent service on our street. Just bought a used Cable Modem Router to get rid of their rental fee of $14 a month.

I'd be satisfied w/ this.

What cable modem is recommended for Comcast? Not sure what modem I have currently. I think it's a doscis 3.0 Cisco OEM provided by Comcast.

This should work out fine for you for up to 300Mbps service and below.

Great price, they’re dependable and easy to replace should it ever die for any reason. When you call to switch service, just tell them you have your own modem and they’ll ask for the MAC address which will be on a sticker on the bottom of the modem. If you ever buy a different modem, same procedure of letting them know and giving them the MAC and you are good to go.

Thanks. Looks good except I need a model with 2 Ethernet ports. I’ll look for similar Moto models. How’s net gear? Costco has net gear modems. If it doesn’t work out, be nice to easily return.