We work to balance the value of our offer with the content our customers desire without obligating everyone to pay for costly channels they don’t watch by providing different programming packages.

Programmers may temporarily pull their networks as a tactics to scare their viewers and the TV provider into paying whatever they demand. If this happens, Cox will provide alternatives to help you view the shows the networks pull from you.

The 1992 Cable Act requires that every TV provider obtain permission from local broadcasters to provide their station on their line-up. Legally, Cox Communications cannot remove any local broadcast station, but these stations are allowed to deny Cox the right to carry their channel – which is why they often demand increasingly larger payments for ‘free’ TV.

More than 85% of all U.S. homes receive broadcast channels through cable, satellite or other video subscriptions. TV providers offer these “free” stations as a convenience to their customers. It is also a significant benefit to the station: It enables more people to get their signal, allowing the station to earn increased advertising revenues.

The past two years have seen a record number of stations temporarily pulled from their viewers by broadcasters. Cox works with more than 1,000 stations every year and we are willing to compensate them fairly. However, local station fees (paid by you as part of your monthly cable bill) are now estimated at $10 billion and climbing fast, so we are doing our part to ensure we keep fee increases to a minimum to keep your bill as low as possible.

The steeply rising price of sports has already doubled the bill for basic TV for both satellite and cable providers over the past decade. In many large cities, the cost to keep the same local teams’ games will double yet again this year.

This is a direct result of a trend where pro and collegiate sports leagues, conferences and teams pay millions of dollars to launch TV networks of their own. They want all consumers to underwrite these expenses, not just those who are passionate about their teams. Cox believes that our customers should have a choice: Fans should have the flexibility to pay to watch their favorite teams, and non-fans shouldn’t be forced to pay for teams they do not follow.

Cox is working with these sports networks to create more flexibility in the programming packages and on-demand events we can offer. We have created new options, like Sports Pak 2, that provide customers the freedom to choose from a diverse group of individual passions and interests that they consider central to their own lives.