The “fuel surcharge model” for TV cable content delivery?
Posted By RichC on December 11, 2021
It is a sneaky way to increase what I thought was 
a customer to Cincinnati Bell “contracted-each-year” cable TV and Internet monthly bill?
Nope, according to @CincyBell … after being mislead by customer service that the below increases were “government related fees” and “out of their control” … the increases are negotiated contracts with content providers, and as the CB social media person commented, “TV content costs and continued upgrades to our network.”
After a phone call to Cincinnati Bell customer service and follow up with their online social media people regarding what I thought might have been a mistake in noticing a $6 pass-along increase on our cable and internet bill. The phone agent pointed to where it is listed in a 
semi-hidden (pull down) segment on our monthly online invoice. It highlights the increase (Dec2021 above, Nov2021 below) as a “TV Broadcast Surcharge, Sports Programming Fee and Govt VSP (Video Service Provider) Fee.”
Hm? After some back and forth, @CincyBell clarified it being content fees and a surcharge coming from network upgrades and negotiations with content providers … obviously not government and under management’s control. Unfortunately, invoicing it to customers as “surcharges and fees” halfway through my contract period seems a little sketchy … but it looks as if they are using the UPS and Fedex delivery service and airline’s “fuel surcharge model.”
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