Spectrum will raise rates again at the end of January

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Spectrum plans to raise rates again this year, the company has announced.

The company has raised rates several times in recent years. Spectrum cable customers will be paying more beginning Jan. 30.

Here's a breakdown of some of the Spectrum price increases:

• Spectrum's mandatory broadcast TV surcharge will increase from $23.20 to $25.75 a month.
• The company's affordable internet option for low-income households, Spectrum Internet Assist, will increase from $19.99 to $24.99 a month.
• Spectrum's monthly HD Box rental fee will increase from $10.99 to $12.50.
• The company's Advanced WiFi charge will increase from $5 to $7 a month.
• Spectrum TV Essentials will increase from $24.99 to $29.99 a month.
• Spectrum's Entertainment View and Latino View packages will each increase from $12 to $15 a month.

Spectrum said it is moving to a new model that's focused on customers with more value and choices. The company said programmers are continuing to raise rates, which are being passed on to the consumer, driving up costs across the industry.

Charter Communications Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer also pointed to programming fees last month in a webcast on the rising cost of cable.

"Programmer rate increases generally continue to challenge the video space overall. It's a vicious cycle: They push their price, we are no longer capable of doing anything other than pushing those price increases through to consumers," Fischer said.

Meanwhile, Spectrum is offering customers to switch to the Xumo streaming box which costs $5 a month to rent or $60 to own, per box. But to get Xumo through Spectrum, there's a catch: You also have to be a Spectrum internet customer.

"Xumo enables our customers to have seamless access to all of those products so whether they want to access content through video or direct to the consumer to be able to do it in a way that allows them to access content," Fischer said.