Cablevision Not Trying Too Hard

In my most recent online bill from Cablevision I got a notice that once again they are going to be jacking their cable rates in December of 2008.

What puts Cablevision on the list of Companies Acting Badly is the line that "While every effort is made to keep our prices as low as possible...". Really? Every effort? Hmmm...

How about not charging me for the dozens and dozens of channels I don't use? How about instead of offering a standard, Silver and Gold preset package with tons of channels that you offer to let me pick them a la carte?

According to an early 2006 article in USA Today, the average person only watches 15-17 channels a month. Why then should I be paying for 250 channels? In the same article the FCC states that I could save 13% by an a la carte structure. They also quote a survey where 54% of Americans would rather pick and pay for their channels.

An article around the same time in the LA Times notes that Canada, Britain, India and Hong Kong all have some variation on A La Carte pricing.

Cablevision is a Company Acting Badly for not making "every" effort to keep prices as low as possible.