Basic cable television rates climbed at twice the rate of inflation last year, according to a report that refueled the drive in Congress to re-regulate subscriber charges.
The prices for the lowest-cost basic service and most popular cable services in 1989 increased an average of 10 percent, from $14.50 to $15.95, the congressional General Accounting Office said last month. The total average cable bill went up 5 percent, from $25 to $26.36.The inflation rate was 4 percent to 5 percent rate for the year, said GAO, the investigative arm of Congress.
GAO reported last year that basic cable rates increased 29 percent from December 1986 to October 1988.
Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., who requested the GAO survey, said the results showed that Congress "must consider legislation that will rein in the renegade operators" in the cable industry.
He said the report should erase "any lingering doubts on the need to move forward" with legislation that "enhances competition and ensures reasonable rates."
The National Cable Television Association said the GAO report "reconfirms that the average cable subscriber's monthly bill increased at about the rate of inflation in 1989, and is still further evidence that cable rate increases have leveled off." It said cable "is still a very good buy."
But Gene Kimmelman, legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, said the leveling off, if any, was being achieved by cable operators lowering the costs of premium services such as HBO and Showtime, while raising basic rates.
"But you have to have basic to get premium," Kimmelman said. "That's where they've got you over a barrel."
Between Nov. 30, 1986, and Dec. 31, 1989, rates for the lowest-priced and most popular service increased by 43 percent, from an average $11.14 to $15.95 per subscriber, GAO said.
Average total cable bills went up 21 percent, from $21.78 to $26.36 during that period.