US cable-television operator Cablevision Systems will begin charging subscribers an additional $2.98 (€2.23) per month to cover increasing costs associated with sports programming.
The new surcharge will be introduced from April 1.
Only those customers who subscribe to the most basic package of channels, which exclude sports, will be exempt from the charge.
“We have not raised our cable television prices in more than two years,” Bradley Feldman, Cablevision’s vice president of video product management, said. “Unfortunately, the rising cost of programming has resulted in this sports surcharge, which is similar to those introduced by other TV providers.”