Forum Discussion

Bruce's avatar
Bruce
Honored Contributor III
4 years ago

Broadcast & Sports

I noticed on my bill there are 3 overall charges:
•  Total Monthly Services (TV, Internet, Telephone, etc)
•  Total Taxes, Fees and Surcharges
•  Total New Charges (total charges)

However, 2 surcharges are not included in the total for Taxes, Fees and Surcharges:
•  Broadcast Surcharge
•  Regional Sports Surcharge

Why aren't these 2 surcharges included in the total for Taxes, Fees and Surcharges?  I mean, these are not services.  I don't subscribe to these things.  These are surcharges.

  • JonathanJ's avatar
    JonathanJ
    Former Moderator
    4 years ago
    @ Bruce

    The purpose of the Cox Apps Forum is to allow customers to discuss technical topics related to Cox applications, including the Contour iPad application, Cox TV Connect, and Cox Mobile Connect with other customers. If you need help with billing or other account-specific issues or would like to submit a channel request, please reach us on Twitter at @CoxHelp, visit us on Facebook, or at cox.help@cox.com.


    Jonathan J
    Cox Moderator
  • Andrew_Wees's avatar
    Andrew_Wees
    Contributor III
    4 years ago

    Yes you do subscribe to them they are in the expanded basic tier and I think Cox is just trying to show how much sports channels and local channels cost to air

    • Bruce's avatar
      Bruce
      Honored Contributor III
      4 years ago

      Nobody would subscribe to taxes, fees, surcharges.

      These are not government-mandated surcharges to subscribers.  These are broadcast stations charging Cox to carry programming on their cable system.  Cox is just passing their bills onto us.

      Does the FCC mandate providers to charge subscribers this surcharge?  No.  Does the FCC allow providers to charge subscribers this surcharge?  Yes.

      Cox should only list services to which I subscribe under TV:
      •  Contour Advanced TV Service    
      •  Contour Receiver
      •  HBO

      ...and itemize Broadcast and Regional Sports surcharges under TV TAXES, FEES AND SURCHARGES as they do with telephone service.

      I did the maff and all these taxes, fees and surcharges are 16% of my bill.  I don't think cigarettes are taxed this much.

      • CurtB's avatar
        CurtB
        Valued Contributor III
        4 years ago

        Surcharges have become a material amount of our bill.  Since Cox is allowed to pass along those charges to us, I don't see that changing.  I wonder how much markup is applied  to those pass through charges.  The sums of broadcast and regional sports surcharges always seem to be convenient, round numbers. 

        Anyway, I don't mean to detract from the points you made, but the cigarette tax analogy got me curious.  I realize it was probably a non-serious comment, but I did some research about it because of, you know, the curiosity thing.  You might be interested in what I found out.  It could surprise you.  This may be a bit off topic, but a little Public Service Announcement never hurt anybody.  

        The following information was obtained from the website at the bottom.

        For all states and DC:

        (a) Cigarette taxes as a percentage of total cost = Taxes / Total Cost

        The average tax as a percentage of total cost for a pack of cigarettes is 30.8%, the high is 50.5% (DC) and the low is 7.7% (Missouri).

        Forty-three (43) states (including DC) have a cigarette tax percentage of the total cost of a pack of cigarettes that is more than 16%. 

        (b)  Cigarette taxes as a percentage of cost before taxes = Taxes / (Total Cost - Taxes)  This is the actual cigarette tax rate.

        The average cigarette tax as a percentage of cost before taxes is 44.4%, the high is 101.8% (DC) and the low is 8.4% (Missouri).

        Forty-eight (48) states (including DC) have a cigarette tax as a percentage of cost before taxes that is more than 16%.

        The average price for a pack of cigarettes is $7.01.  "Hey, buddy.  Give me $7.01 every day and I'll make you stink all the time and cause health issues for you and others around you".  I'm glad I don't smoke.  

        I can't attest to the accuracy of the website referenced below.  However, a search of several sites gave similar state-to-state comparative results.  Prices from the site below were generally the same or higher than another site.  From that, I inferred the site below probably had more recent information.

        balancingeverything.com/.../