Spectrum TV Review

OVERVIEW

If you’re a tech fan who wants a traditional TV service with some new technology perks . . . then Spectrum TV isn’t for you.

Spectrum is for people who don’t like contracts, don’t need a lot of cool extras from their cable provider, and want only a few premium channels included in their package. If all you care about is watching Game of Thrones and maybe catching Iron Chef once in a while, then Spectrum will give you that without making you sign on for two years.

Prices and packages for Spectrum TV

Expect to pay more per channel than with similar providers.

If you want to skip the classic cable TV contract, you might have to pay a little extra. Expect to pay more per channel with Spectrum than you would with other providers.

Think of it as the price you pay for not being locked into an agreement. And sometimes, with persistence, you can negotiate a better cable package overall. And who could argue with a lower per-channel cost?

^{Data effective 9/24/18. Offers and availability vary by area and are subject to change.
*For the first 12 months.}

We also want to note that although Spectrum’s cost is higher per channel, your total monthly bill will probably be lower than with other providers. Most other providers require a 12- or 24-month contract—sometimes with price hikes in the middle—and if you cancel early, you have to pay termination fees that can cost over $100.

For example, AT&T U-verse charges termination fees up to $180. Competitor DISH charges $20 for every month left on your contract—up to a maximum of $480. At least with Spectrum, you avoid the contract hassle.

Plus, Spectrum includes HBO®, Showtime®, and Cinemax® in its Spectrum TV Silver package, which makes it a pretty good deal. You can always get premium channels as add-ons with other providers, but most don’t start including premium channels in their packages until much higher price points, if at all. Charter Spectrum gives you some premium content at a lower package price point.

^{Data effective 9/24/18. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.
*For the first 12 months
**For 12 months with a 2-yr contract, paperless bill, & autopay. Price increases for months 13-24.
†For the first 12 months with a 1-yr agrmt
‡For 24 months with a 2-year contract and eAutoPay}

Charter Spectrum channel lineup

First up, we want to emphasize that Spectrum channel offers vary by location. In the address we used for Spectrum service, we discovered the Spectrum TV Silver package listed 232 channels, even though the advertised number is 175+. So you might be pleasantly surprised with what you get.

Another perk: HD channels come free with Spectrum, and it offers 1,500 options, which is more than any other provider. So if you’re all about that high definition life, you might appreciate the broader range.

Almost all the popular channels

All Charter Spectrum packages include the most popular cable channels, with the exception of Adult Swim, which other providers like Comcast and DISH do include. We’re sad to say you’ll have to watch Rick and Morty somewhere else.

Prices don’t include a DVR

The biggest head scratcher? Spectrum doesn’t include DVRs in its package pricing. (But its biggest competitor, AT&T U-verse, does.)

Expect to pay an extra $6.99 per month for each receiver, plus $12.99 per month for service on a single DVR or $19.99 a month for two to four DVRs. Want two receivers? That’ll be $33.97 total per month—$6.99 times two receivers plus $19.99 for that 2nd DVR.

So if you have four TVs, DVR service will cost you $47.95 per month. If you go with a triple play package, the service fee is waived for your first DVR, and service for two to four receivers will be $9.99 per month.

Equipment & features

Really invested in your DVR equipment? Spectrum may seem limited.

If you’re looking for an area in which Spectrum really shines, surprise! DVR is not it. Spectrum offers basic DVR equipment with either Motorola or Cisco/Scientific Atlantic receivers. Which one will you get? Who knows. Charter doesn’t advertise it, and you don’t get to choose.

Plus, you get up to only 100 digital hours of recording, and it might be less than that depending on which DVR model you get. Spectrum comes off looking pretty sad when you compare its DVR stats to our favorite DVR, the Hopper 3, which has 2,000 hours of standard definition (SD) recording. If you compare hours of HD recording, the comparison looks even worse, with the DISH Hopper 3 offering 500 hours and Spectrum’s Motorola DVR capping out at 21.

If you need more storage than Spectrum’s meager 100 hours (max), you’ll have to order an external hard drive and set it up. But quite frankly, that seems too complicated to us when alternative DVRs offer so much more without you having to add extra hardware.

If you still want to go with Spectrum’s DVR, we suggest you get some extra DVR receivers to record additional shows. We would say it depends on how many shows you want to record at once, but Spectrum’s standard DVR allows only two simultaneous show recordings. That is unimpressive at best.

Other than its disappointing DVR situation, Spectrum is a standard cable TV service. It does charge an installation fee of $49.99, which is common with cable providers. However, you wouldn’t pay an installation fee at all with satellite providers DISH and DIRECTV. (See our in-depth comparison of satellite vs. cable service to see more pros and cons of each.)

Check out our full DVR comparison for more details.

Customer service

Spectrum offers below-average customer service.

The tough truth is, we have yet to encounter a cable TV provider that offers awesome customer service. Every company’s customer service is pretty “meh,” and Spectrum is no exception. Our favorite source of unbiased customer service scores, the American Customer Service Index (ACSI), ranks Spectrum pretty low.

According to the ACSI index, Spectrum customer service is lackluster, even by TV service provider standards. It ranks just above Comcast, but far below AT&T’s U-verse, as well as satellite providers DIRECTV and DISH.¹

Spectrum does at least offer a service arrival guarantee, which might give you a better installation experience. Cable TV providers are notorious for making customers wait around all day for installation technicians who never seem to show.

Spectrum promises your installation technician will show up within the designated window, and if they don’t, you get a $20 statement credit. So at least if you take the morning off work and end up waiting around all afternoon, you’ll get a $20 credit on next month’s bill for the trouble.

The bottom line—should you consider Spectrum?

Spectrum TV works best for people who want basic service with no contract.

We’re sad to say Spectrum is not our favorite provider. Especially when ranked against satellite providers like DIRECTV and DISH (which are both available nationwide), Spectrum doesn’t stack up very well.

However, Spectrum is great for people who don’t want to be locked into a contract. It doesn’t require a 12- or 24-month commitment from you in order to get TV service. And Charter Spectrum packages are simple, so you can get the channels you want without a hassle. If you just want basic cable service without a ton of bells and whistles and with no binding commitments, then Spectrum could work for you.

We also like that Spectrum offers premium channels starting with its Spectrum TV Silver package because we love us some HBO and hate paying extra for it. HBO as an add-on with other TV providers usually costs around $15 per month.

Recommended package: Spectrum TV Silver

If you want to give Spectrum TV a shot, we recommend the Spectrum TV Silver package. You get at least 175 channels, including all the most popular ones (minus Adult Swim), plus premium channels HBO, Cinemax, and STARZ.

Recommended alternative: Sling TV

If you don’t want to sign a contract but still don’t think Spectrum sounds like a good fit for you, consider streaming services like Sling TV. Sling is a live TV streaming service from DISH and allows you to watch popular channels through a monthly subscription, similar to the way Netflix and Hulu work. And you can watch on basically every device.

Tell us what you think

Do you have Spectrum service? How has your experience been? We’d love to hear from you!

Sources

1.      American Customer Service Index, “Press Release Telecommunications 2018”