Understanding Your Cable TV Bill

The cable TV bill, while expensive, is often pretty straightforward. It begins with a fee for basic cable service, which gives you a few stations to watch., usually just a few local networks and C-SPAN. Next you can move up to expanded basic which gives you many more channels to watch. This is a popular option as it tends to offer the most channels for price.

After that we move into more expensive services. Premium channels such as HBO and Showtime allow you to watch movies and exclusive series without having to sit through commercials. But you have to pay an additional monthly fee to have access to these stations.

Now that high definitions TVs are becoming mainstream, many cable companies are offering high definition channels to subscribers. However, these channels are usually not free and you will have to either purchase them a la cart or as part of a high definition package bundle.

Several cable TV companies also offer digital channel bundles based around specific themes, such as children's programming or movie stations.

One of the most popular package options is the sports package. You pick a specific sport you are interested in such as baseball, hockey, basketball, or football and for a fee you get access to all of the games, even the games that are not normally shown in your market. This is great for displaced fans that reside in a region of the country where their favorite team is not popular. It is also a great option for die-hard fans that want to be up to date on every game played.

Pay per view and on demand services are also popular. For a fee you are able to watch movies or entertainment events whenever you want on an a la cart basis. Some cable companies have taken this to the next level by eliminating the a la cart concept all together. For a single monthly fee you can watch as much on demand programming as you want.

Some cable companies also offer music channels. These work similar to radio stations except without the commercials. For a single monthly fee you get access to all of the music channels available. The selection is usually pretty broad with options ranging from grunge, to hip-hop to soft classical and jazz.

Finally, many cable companies offer a sort of super bundle package where you get almost everything I just mentioned above for one monthly fee.

Before you go about picking a super bundle or any of the additional services I described sit back and think about whether you will actually be using them. There is no point in paying for premium services if you rarely watch them.