Spectrum customers in some highly competitive service areas are being offered more discounted services than ever before, including a $20 Lifestyle TV package with 50+ cable networks and local channels can be bundled with up to 200 Mbps internet access for $59.98 a month for 12 months (not including the $11.99/mo Broadcast TV Fee).

Spectrum Lifestyle TV ($19.99/mo) includes all local TV channels, plus:

• AMC
• MSNBC
• Arts & Entertainment
• Cartoon Network
• CNN
• SyFy
• Discovery Channel
• EWTN
• E!
• Inspiration
• Food Network
• ION
• Freeform
• TBN
• FX
• WGN America
• Hallmark
• BET
• Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
• TV Land
• HGTV
• VH-1
• Lifetime Channel
• OWN TV
• Oxygen
• BET Jams
• Spectrum News
• BET Soul
• TBS
• Nicktoons
• TLC
• TV One
• TNT
• BET Her
• USA Network
• Aspire
• Lifetime Movie Network
• Revolt
• History Channel
• The Africa Channel
• Animal Planet
• The Impact Network
• Spike TV
• Nick Jr.
• Comedy Central
• Teen Nick
• Bravo
• The CW
• Disney Channel
• StarzEncore Black
• Travel Channel

Customers can use their own equipment, such as Roku, Apple TV, desktop, or apps for iOS and Android, or rent traditional Spectrum set-top boxes for $7.50/mo each (add $4.99/mo to enable DVR service for one box or $9.99/mo for two or more boxes).

Spectrum’s traditional bundle promotion consists of up to 200 Mbps internet and Spectrum TV Select (125+ channels) for $89.98 a month, not including the $11.99/mo Broadcast TV Fee, so the stripped down Lifestyle TV bundle offers about $30 a month in savings.

Spectrum TV Stream is offered to cord-cutter/internet-only customers, but Lifestyle TV me be a more compelling deal.

If you want the Lifestyle TV package but want more channels, you can still save with this promotion by upgrading to the TV Silver package (175+ channels and HBO, Showtime, and the NFL Network) for $20 a month more, which is $25 less a month than what the traditional Double Play TV Silver and internet bundle costs.

Package Comparison (both offers include the same channel lineup and internet package)

• Lifestyle TV Promo: $19.99 Lifestyle TV + $39.99 internet + $20 TV Silver Upgrade + $11.99 BTV Fee = $91.97
• Traditional Double Play Promo: $44.99 Standard TV + $44.99 internet + $20 TV Silver Upgrade + $11.99 BTV Fee = $121.97

Stop the Cap! has confirmed this promotion is running in some AT&T service areas in the southern United States, especially Texas. You can confirm eligibility by visiting Spectrum.com and entering your street address, request to get pricing for new service, and selecting an internet-only package. The Lifestyle TV promotion will appear on the order page as a bundle option if you are qualified for the offer. Spectrum may offer you its other TV add-on packages, notably TV Stream ($24.99/mo), which is a less compelling streaming option with fewer channels at a higher price.

These offers and pricing are for “new customers only.” If you are a current customer, you can return your equipment at a Spectrum Cable Store location to cancel service without dealing with customer retentions, and then sign up as a new customer through the Spectrum website under the name of another family member or friend. Select self-install/pickup equipment in-store and you can get service under a new account on the same day. Otherwise, you must disconnect service for 30 days before qualifying again as a new customer. Depending on how much competition exists in your area, pricing and promotions can vary. Customers may find promotional pricing locked in for 12, 24, or 36 months depending on how much Spectrum is fighting to win customers in each area. Be sure to look out for free upgrades, particularly to 400 Mbps internet service, which is being offered in some areas.

Charter Spectrum customers in New York State: today is the final day to claim free services as part of the state’s $174 million settlement with the cable operator.

About 700,000 customers, mostly in downstate New York, should have already received $62 million in refunds averaging $75 per household in the form of a bill credit. But many more are still qualified for up to three months of HBO or six months of Showtime for free. At the end of the term, services will automatically deactivate so you will never be billed for them.

The offers:

• Current subscribers who subscribe to both internet and cable television from Spectrum will have a choice of either three (3) months of HBO OR six (6) months of Showtime. (Note: This benefit is available to subscribers who do not already subscribe to both of the offered services through Spectrum.)
• Internet only subscribers will get one (1) month of Spectrum TV Choice streaming service—in which subscribers can (depending on their location) access broadcast television and a choice of 10 pay TV networks—as well as access to Showtime for one (1) month.

You can determine which offer you qualify for, if any, on your March 2019 billing statement, available from Spectrum’s website. Or call 1-833-422-8795 and you can learn more about what is available to you and select the free service of your choice. The deadline is today, May 30.

If you are new to Spectrum or already subscribe to HBO and Showtime, you will not qualify for either settlement. Neither will ex-customers that disconnected service.

New York Attorney General Leticia James is interested in learning your views and experiences on the settlement offer. After calling Spectrum, visit here to complete a survey.

Cinemax is under siege, after the nation’s two largest cable operators announced they have turned their backs on HBO’s sister premium movie channel.

Several months after Charter Spectrum stripped Cinemax out of its TV bundle packages, Comcast has announced it will do the same starting this July, replacing Cinemax with its own commercial-free, on-demand movie network Hitz:

We are excited to introduce Hitz, a new commercial-free on-demand movie service available as part of Xfinity Premier, Super and certain other TV packages. Hitz will feature more than 200 movies and will be included with these packages at no additional cost. It will replace Cinemax and its associated channels.

Movie lovers of all kinds will enjoy Hitz. This exciting new offering will provide even better value and variety for you. Here’s how:

• Hitz will offer a rotating list of more than 200 movie titles from a variety of top studios.
• Hitz will include an assortment of movie titles that complements the films already available to Xfinity Premier and Super TV customers on other channels and adds to the thousands of On Demand movies already available.

What is Hitz?
Hitz is a new on-demand movie service that includes more than 200 titles from a variety of top studios. This selection will rotate over time.

Where can I find Hitz?
The easiest way to find Hitz is by saying “Hitz” into your X1 voice remote. Hitz can also be found in the Networks section of the On Demand menu. You can also see current Hitz movies in the on-screen grid guide – frequently near other movie services.

Why are you doing this?
Most of the movies on Cinemax have also aired on HBO. By offering Hitz instead, we’ll be delivering customers a better variety of content.

How can I watch Cinemax original content?
While Cinemax will no longer be included in the packages being adjusted, Cinemax will still be available to purchase on its own for $12 per month.

Should I pay a different price now that I am no longer receiving Cinemax?
While Cinemax is being removed from these packages, we believe the new lineup offers a better value. Most of the movies on Cinemax have also aired on HBO. By offering Hitz instead, we’ll be delivering a better variety of content.

The dissing of Cinemax seems to have started after AT&T acquired Time Warner (Entertainment), which also owns HBO and Cinemax. Like Comcast, Charter Spectrum customers can still subscribe to Cinemax, but only as an a-la-carte option, typically $15 a month. Verizon FiOS dropped Cinemax from its bundles starting in 2018. When cable operators drop legendary networks like Cinemax, it is almost always a matter of money. Cable operators may have been asked to accept a reduced share of the subscription fee split (usually 60% sent to the network, the remaining 40% kept by the cable company) or required to carry new services as part of a contract renewal they ultimately rejected.

Your time is up. It may have been one, two, or if you are especially lucky — three years since you signed up for Charter Spectrum service. But your temporary reprieve from the high price of cable is over.

The bad news arrives in a letter:

Thank you for being a Spectrum customer. When you signed up for your services, you received a promotional discounted rate on your bill. This promotion is coming to an end. However, as a valued customer we are pleased to offer a new promotion for an additional year.

Spectrum certainly is pleased. You may not be. To avoid shocking you too much, the company does not provide a new “out the door” price. They wait until they send you your first post-promotion bill. The letter also does not remind you what you were paying, it breaks out the price of each component service of your bundle for the following 12 months in an effort to lessen the surprise.

For most Spectrum customers on a basic, new customer promotion lasting one year, the rate change is substantial — once you add it all up.

For a customer subscribed to Standard Spectrum TV with two DVR boxes, Internet Ultra (400/20 Mbps), and Spectrum Voice, here is what you can expect (prices and promotions may vary):

• Standard Spectrum TV: Your promotional rate of $54.98 will rise to $86.97, an increase of $31.99.
• Internet Ultra: The promotional triple-play bundled price of $54.99 increases to $74.99, up $20.
• Spectrum Voice: The bundled price of $29.99 will decrease to $19.99, a savings of $10.

Spectrum Voice, Charter’s digital home phone line product, is the most vulnerable part of their triple play bundle. Scores of customers drop landline service at the end of a promotion because, in many cases, having the landline as part of a triple play package either came free (or almost free), or actually reduced the price of the bundle. By offering a lower rate going forward, Charter is making a token effort to convince customers not to abandon voice service, but as the company’s landline disconnects continue to accelerate, it clearly isn’t an effective tactic.

The letter also ignores Charter’s ever-rising Broadcast TV Fee, now $11.99 a month, and is compulsory for all cable TV customers. So the old monthly promotional rate of $155.75 for this particular package will rise to about $193.94, a difference of $38.19 a month. After a second 12 months, prices generally reset even higher to the published “rack rate.”

Since Charter took control of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, efforts by customers to negotiate a lower rate got much tougher, but the company’s customer retention efforts have stepped up slightly over the last year. You should still expect to pay more than you did before, but it is often possible to negotiate a slightly better deal by threatening to cancel service. Some customers report more success discussing the matter in a Spectrum cable store, cable modem and set top boxes in hand. But do not be surprised if they shrug their shoulders and agree to your request to cancel your account on the spot. Spectrum, like many cable companies, has gotten pickier about who they offer promotions to, and are willing to say goodbye to barely profitable customers, especially those only subscribed to cable TV.

Modem fees are back for some customers.

Spectrum appears to be sneaking modem fees back into the equation three years after telling regulators one of the benefits of Charter Communications’ acquisition of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable was that Spectrum customers don’t pay modem fees.

Effective April 1st, new Spectrum customers are being charged a one-time fee of $9.99 to either pick up or have shipped a cable modem for self-installation. If a technician installs it for you, the fee is $49.99.

“The one where you’re essentially paying them to go to the store, wait in line, get the modem, and then go home to install it all by yourself is especially nifty,” writes ‘rseiler,’ a forum participant on DSL Reports.

“Just wait for the ‘Bring your own modem’ $9.99 one-time activation fee, since that will be next,” predicted user ‘Techguru30.’

For now, however, the only way to avoid this fee is to activate your own customer-owned modem.