On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission released its 13th annual report on competition in the video delivery market and launched the proceeding for the next report. The FCC finds in the new report that while competition in the delivery of video programming services has provided consumers with increased choice, better picture quality, and greater technological innovation, prices continue to outpace the general level of inflation. In a report on cable prices, the FCC finds that the average monthly price of expanded basic service (the combined price of basic cable service and cable programming service) increased by 3.9 percent over the 12 months ending January 1, 2006; by 4.6 percent over the 12 months ending January 1, 2007; and by 5.0 percent over the 12 months ending January 1, 2008. Chart 1 below shows the trend in cable prices from 1995 to 2008. Over this 13-year period, the price of expanded basic service has grown from $22.35 to $49.65, an increase of 122.1 percent, compared with an increase in the Consumer Price Index of 38.4 percent over the same period.
