Cable rates compared: Are you getting the most for your money?

When Geof Johnson moved from Columbus to Steubenville, he found out that living in the Ohio Valley means more costly cable TV prices with fewer choices.


Like many consumers, Johnson said he found out that getting the service he wants for his money isn't as easy as it was in Columbus or Pittsburgh.


"I pay 30 percent more than I paid in Columbus for the same type of service," he said.


Johnson's former landline cable provider in Columbus isn't offered in the Valley, and Comcast is the primary cable provider in the entire NEWS9 viewing area.


"This is my choice for cable," he said.


Just a few miles across the border into Pennsylvania, a second major provider is expanding and plucking Comcast customers away from them.


Joe Rubel, of Pittsburgh, said, "Verizon offered me a better price and overall better quality for what I had. …I have faster Internet, I have far more HD channels, I have a lot deeper content in the On Demand, plus I have premium channels that I never had before, and my package is less (expensive)."


Rubel said he used to be in the same predicament as Johnson, and he's now glad to have another option.


"I could only have Comcast where I was, and now we switched," Rubel said, adding that when he had a choice and started comparing Verizon to Comcast, he was sold.


"It was just what (Verizon) had to offer for the price. (It) was just an overall better value than what Comcast was going to give me," Rubel said.


In Pittsburgh, the Verizon FiOS premium package of cable, phone and Internet costs about $140 a month. Comcast charges $179 a month.


In the Ohio Valley, Verizon FiOS isn't an option, and Comcast rates are unchanged from those in Pittsburgh. Verizon officials said there are no plans to expand Verizon service into the NEWS9 viewing area in the foreseeable future.


For people who want satellite television, a DirecTV/AT&T bundle is offered in some Ohio Valley locations, including Wheeling, and costs just more than $150 for the premium package. That option is not available in Steubenville.


Johnson, who has been a Comcast customer for just more than two years, said he wishes there was another cable option in the NEWS9 viewing area.


"I do have some issues. I really can't say (Comcast is) the competition because there really is no competition. The pictures on some of the hi-def channels are to be desired. They definitely could be improved," Johnson said.


Comcast representatives said their customers are realizing significant savings because of the variety of bundling and price options that Comcast offers.