The link between rising programming costs and the source of those costs aren’t obvious to many consumers. Because of that indirect connection, the last-mile provider is the one that takes the brunt of the consumer backlash to programming prices that typically outpace inflation.

In the above interview, Shentel’s Vice President of Cable, Tom Whitaker, talks about the campaign to educate and raise attention to this issue of continually increasing programming costs. Shentel ran this campaign during the last retransmission consent negotiations. Like many rural providers, the costs of the basic broadcast networks have a greater impact on their customers, which tend to an older and lower-income demographic, as compared to larger operators that serve higher income and younger, urban areas.

The campaign referenced by Whitaker will probably be a different the next time, given the rise of the various “unbundles” from the likes of Apple, Sony, CBS, etc. As today’s Wall Street Journal points out, “A range of possibilities have opened up for ‘cord cutters’”.

As the article implies and as many analysts have pointed out about à la carte video programming, the cost per channel will most like be higher and many consumers will be paying nearly the same for fewer channels with a pure unbundled approach. It remains to be seen which groups of consumers will benefit from these direct to consumer offerings. Regardless, a $5.99 per month package from a broadcaster, such as what CBS proposes, will make it easier for operators to explain the rising cost of programming.

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