Cable Bills Rise as Economy Forces People to Stay on the Couch

Beth Brodkin pays Comcast Corp. more than $200 a month for television and Internet services. The stay-at-home mom says it’s a bargain.

“My kids use the Internet for homework, we can rent movies without going to the theater, and I can use the DVR to watch all the shows I’ve missed during the day,” said Brodkin, 46, who lives in Voorhees, New Jersey, with her three teenagers. “When you put it all together, it’s actually a pretty cheap form of entertainment.”

The slowing U.S. economy is prompting some Americans to cut back on eating out and name-brand goods. Consumers like Brodkin are instead spending on home entertainment, providing a boon to a cable and satellite industry struggling to find new customers.

“Cable system operations have long been defensive when it comes to economic pressures on consumers,” said Tom Eagan, an analyst at Collins Stewart LLC in New York. “Subscribers may spend less money dining out or going to the movies, but they watch more cable TV.”

Cable bills climbed about 8 percent on average in the second quarter to $123 a month on demand for digital video recorders and premium channels like Time Warner Inc.’s HBO, according to researcher SNL Kagan. By comparison, consumer prices rose 1.1 percent in the year ended June, according to figures from the Labor Department.

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