Cablevision hits subs with $3 ‘sports tax’

US cable giant Cablevision is to levy an extra $2.98 monthly fee if viewers watch sports programming.

The ‘sports tax’ applies to all subscribers paying for ‘Family’ or ‘Value’ bundles, or above.

Cablevision say they are very much focussed on keeping prices competitive, and that prices have not risen for two years… ”even as we have added channels, on demand content, new TV to Go services and other benefits. Unfortunately, the rising cost of programming has resulted in this sports surcharge, which is similar to those introduced by other TV providers,” said Bradley Feldman, VP/video product management.

DirecTV and Verizon are applying a similar charge.