Report: Cable TV prices up 77 percent

NEW YORK, May 24 (UPI) -- The cable television industry is defending itself against a report showing prices consumers pay for cable TV have risen 77 percent since 1996.

That price spike is double the rate of inflation and came as the same U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed that cable viewers watch only 13 percent of average 118 channels of programming available to them, the New York Times reported.

The report also noted cable customers pay an average of $60 per month for the programming and that predicted competition from forms of new media, such as the Internet, music players and cell phones, has largely failed to materialize because of agreements between cable companies and Hollywood entertainment producers to sell channels only in bundles.

Cable industry leaders say they must distribute the programming that way because of demands for high licensing fee from the Hollywood studios.

"If each channel depended on individual consumers electing to pay individually for it, this would slash potential viewership and seriously hurt the ability of most channels to attract their current level of advertising dollars," Jenni Moyer, a spokeswoman for Comcast, told the Times. "Lost ad revenue would have to be replaced by higher license fees."