Cablevision Will Raise Cable TV Rates 3.7% For 2010

Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) said Thursday it will raise its rates for cable television service by an average 3.7% for 2010.

The higher pricing will take effect over the next few months depending on a customer's specific location and billing cycle.

Cable companies typically announce annual price increases at this time of year in an effort to maintain or increase profitability. This year's price hikes come as the industry is losing customers due to the recession and increased competition from telecommunications companies and satellite providers.

Cablevision's chief competitor, Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), raised the monthly price of its legacy FiOS TV Premier package--which it stopped offering last year--by 21% on Oct. 1, putting it in line with pricing of its new offerings, FiOS TV Extreme HD and FiOS TV Essentials.

Cable companies have lost TV subscribers to Verizon and AT&T Inc. (T), but they have grown their overall revenue by adding Internet service and voice customers.

Standard pricing for Cablevision's high-speed Internet service and its digital phone service will remain unchanged in 2010 for the seventh year in a row.

The company says it provides cable television service to around 3.1 million customers in the New York metropolitan area. It has 2.5 million high-speed Internet customers and nearly 2 million phone customers.

-By Nat Worden, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2472; [e-mail]