Spectrum announces it will raise rates January 30

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Bad news coming up for Spectrum customers: the company plans to hike prices. Spectrum cable customers will be paying more beginning January 30.

Spectrum's mandatory broadcast TV surcharge will increase from $23.20 to $25.75 a month, about an 11% uptick. The affordable internet option for low-income households, Spectrum Internet Assist, goes from $19.99 to $24.99 a month, roughly 25% more.

Spectrum's monthly HD Box rental fee will increase from $10.99 to $12.50. Advanced WiFi charge will increase from $5 to $7 a month. Spectrum TV Essentials grows from $24.99 to $29.99 a month, and Entertainment View and Latino View packages will each increase from $12 to $15 a month.

In a statement, Spectrum said its new model focuses on giving customers more value and choices. They pointed to programmers continuing to raise rates, driving up costs across the industry which then get passed on to consumers.

"Programmer rate increases generally continue to challenge the video space overall, it's a viscous cycle, they push their price, we are no longer capable of doing anything other than pushing those price increases through to consumers," Charter Communications Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer said last month in a webcast on the rising cost for cable.

This as Spectrum offers customers to switch to the Xumo streaming box, which costs per box $5 a month or $60 to own. To get Xumo through Spectrum, there's a catch: you 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.