Cox TV Review

Average channel selection at a higher price makes Cox a less-than-desirable choice.
cox tv service logo
Average channel selection at a higher price makes Cox a less-than-desirable choice.
Overall Rating 3 out of 5
Pricing:
$64.99–$129.99/mo.
Channels:
70-250*
Contract terms:
1 or 2 years
View PlansBundling available
Written by:
Published 10/16/2018
Recent Updates: Less than 6 months
Cox TV previously offered five standalone TV packages. As of this update, Cox now offers one standalone option and two TV packages that are available only as part of bundle deals. We have updated this article to reflect accurate pricing and channel details for Cox's single standalone TV package.

The bottom line: Cox offers most of your favorite channels and decent On Demand content, but while they don’t have the same channel count as some of the other providers, their high rates don’t rise dramatically after promotional offers. Cox Contour service allows personal recommendations and the Record 6 DVR provides up to 340 hours of HD storage.

PROS

  • 2 TB HD-DVR
  • Low price increases

CONS

  • One standalone package
  • Expensive tech support
  • Limited channel count

Cox's availability is limited. Find out if it's near you.

Pricing

Cox’s pricing falls into the expensive end of the spectrum.

While they offer comparable programming and equipment, you’ll see that Cox’s prices are higher compared to the other reviewed brands, but at least they’re honest in spelling it out for you in the checkout process. Most additional packages add $5-$10 to your monthly bill, and DVR service isn’t cheap. In general, we don’t find that the cost matches up with the service provided.

What’s the real price?

Since you may be locked into a two-year contract, you’ll be happy to know that promotional pricing doesn’t increase by much with Cox. Unlike the other providers we reviewed like DIRECTV who saw price increases of more than double after the first year, Cox’s Countour TV package increases about 30% after the first year. However, that doesn’t save it from being costly in comparison.

ProviderPackageChannelsFirst Year PriceSecond Year Price
CoxContour140+$64.99/mo$84.99/mo
AT&T U-verseU-Family180+$35/mo$81/mo
XfinityDigital Starter140+$49.99/mo$70.99-$75.49/mo
DISHAmerica's Top 120190$59.99/mo$59.99/mo
DIRECTVSELECT™155+$35/mo$78/mo

Data effective 10/16/18. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.

Additional fees

The biggest fees you might face are early termination fees, which we had to specifically search for within Cox’s terms and conditions. If you opt out of your cable service before your contract expires, your Early Termination Fees (ETFs) will amount to $240 minus $10 for every month of completed service.

Cox TV service also requires you to get a Contour HD Receiver, which will cost you $8.50 per month. But keep in mind that fee doesn’t kick in until 12 months after you sign up for a standalone plan or 24 months after you sign up for a service bundle.

If you want a DVR, there is also a fee for that. You’ll pay $12.99 to $19.99 per month depending on which DVR you choose.

Technical costs

Unless you’re brave or lucky, we’d recommend subscribing to the Cox Complete Care Plan, which costs about $10 per month. A single service call or technician visit starts at $60, so it makes sense that for an extra fee, you’ll have the peace of mind knowing you can get help any time you need it.

Cox Complete Care covers hassle-free repair and replacement for not only defective wiring, but also normal wear and tear including chewed and frayed wires, wiring updates to faulty fittings, and technician visits at no additional cost.

Packages

Cox offers only one standalone TV package.

Packages1st year pricingRegular rateChannelsContract
Contour TV$69.99/mo.$84.99/mo.140+2 yrs.

Package offerings and names vary based on where you live.

Contour TV package

Cox’s sole standalone TV plan comes with 140+ channels and lets you set DVR recordings from anywhere. 

Cox used to offer a slew of different TV packages, but they’ve since narrowed it down to one standalone offering: Contour TV. You can get a couple other packages if you choose to bundle your TV with internet and/or phone. If not, then Contour TV is your only choice.

That said, Contour’s not a bad choice. You still get 140+ channels and it lets you set DVR recordings from a tablet, no matter where you are. Plus, you can stream TV shows with Cox On Demand.

Notable channels: ESPN, History Channel, HGTV, FOX Sports 1, Univision.

Channel selection

Cox covers a wide range of popular channels for a reasonable price.

While Cox might not boast the same high channel counts as DISH or DIRECTV, Cox’s channel selection tends to be right in line with our favorites.

Cox includes their music and other radio-type channels in their counts, most of the big providers do. They feature about 100 different stations on nearly every package, which we see as filler to bolster the channel numbers.

Cox accounts for special viewing with the big four premium channels (HBO, Starz, Showtime and Cinemax), comprehensive Latino packages, and supplemental Sports TV packs that include programming like ESPN Classic and Pac-12 college sports. If you’re a fan of major league sports, we recommend adding NFL RedZone, NBA League Pass, or NHL® Center Ice®.

HD channels

Cox has plenty of HD programming to choose from, but we couldn’t find a solid answer as to how many HD channels were exactly involved in each package, it seemed to mirror their SD channels. Cox offers up HD versions of their SD channels for free.

While you won’t be charged an additional HD fee for every package or channel, you will have to pay installation and equipment fees. You won’t have to pay more for each sports, movie, or other packages’ HD versions, which we saw in other providers.

Equipment and features

Cox DVRs have decent storage, multiple recording sources, and on-par pricing.

Cox contour 6 HD
EquipmentStorage capacityRecording hoursDVR serviceSimultaneous recording
Record 6 HD-DVR Receiver2 TB340 HD/1000 SD$19.99/mo.6 shows at once
Record 2 HD-DVR500 GB120 HD/230 SD$12.99/mo.2 shows at once

Selecting a Cox Contour DVR

Record 6 HD-DVR with Contour

The Record 6 HD-DVR allows you to record up to 6 HD TV shows or movies without restriction, which works for most families. In addition to usual DVR features, the Record 6 includes the Contour service, which provides program recommendations based on what you watch and rate. Potentially, you could record a recommended show while still watching your favorite one live, then catch up afterward. While this isn’t the most impressive HD-DVR in our line-up, it is substantial with 2 TB of storage and allows offline play for recorded shows downloaded to your devices, you just need a Wi-Fi connection.

Contour Record 2 / Standard HD-DVR

Their standard HD-DVR captures up to two shows at once and offers less storage at 300 GB. The fee for the Record 6 is $7/month more, so if you don’t plan on using your DVR for more than catching a show or two while you’re out, the regular option should suffice.

Other equipment

If you already have your own equipment, such as TiVo, you can buy a Cable Card for $3 that will allow the service to “talk” with your device and avoid leasing an additional DVR from Cox. However, this option leaves you without the Contour service, so we don’t recommend it.

Watch anywhere

Contour TV keeps you watching between your big screen, tablets, and other devices. You can pull up a show on your iPad while everyone’s finishing up their show and then push it to your main television so you don’t miss a beat.

With the Contour App you can organize your stored library for up to seven users (one less than the service allows, it seems), set your DVR records, and search and browse TV listings upcoming within a seven-day time frame. While the app is nice, some features like watching live channels, video on demand, and parental controls are only available if you have Cox essential internet, which seems like an odd caveat.

Customer service

When it comes to quality, Cox lacks in the service department.

As with our other reviewed providers, online chat support seems to be mediocre at best, and confusing at its (more often) worst. If you’re getting online support, make sure to stay glued to the chat window, which times-out very quickly if you’re not active, even if you haven’t heard back from the agent yet.

The agents we chatted with contradicted themselves and didn’t present the information in an easy to understand way. We recommend getting on the phone with customer service to ensure you’re getting the most accurate information.

Our experience

Knowing exactly what you’re getting is always a challenge with TV providers. If you’re not sure about a price and need a guarantee, make sure to take a screenshot for reference should the need arise.

Conclusion

Direct pricing and minimal price increases offset low channel counts.

Cox Communications Logo
View Plan

When comparing their TV service to the other big brands, Cox has candid pricing with minimal increases after promotional periods, and comparable programming. Cox’s Contour DVR options are above par, but not necessarily the greatest. If you live in one of the 19 states where Cox offers service, it’s a reasonable option.

Don't want Cox TV? Find other providers near you.

  • TeacherMac

    Cox, not content with cramming as many commercials as possible into every program (constant reruns) advertiser’s are able to now block fast forward on your DVD recordings. With the Contour 2 re order being totally anemic when compared to the original Contour why are we paying extra for garbage. Constant reruns crammed with commercials! DoNotIgnoreUs you’ll be sorry.

    • http://dev-reviewsorg.pantheon.io/ Trevor Wheelwright

      Ah, yes we’ve noticed some providers using this as a way of ensuring that the commercials get watched, thus their clients get the advertising space they paid for. It becomes problematic for users who are using their time tools (rewind/fast forward/restart/etc.) because they’re still subjected to the same commercial they may have seen before (or countless times).

      Thanks for your thoughts!

  • Geoff A

    Wow this new time warner turned spectrum is a BIG JOKE!!! They want to cut my channels, make me go from 200gig to 300gig internet and have my bill go up $30 to $230 a month…they offer no deal to lower my rate unless I cut my services… Go from 200gig Internet to 100, and cut more channels… I originally had showtime, HBO, epix and 300gig plus home phone for $150 a month… Now they cut all my movie channels and premium and my internet speed to 200 and its $187 a month… $37 more a month and no primium channels and lower internet speed! What a joke… Bail on spectrum they suck and way over priced and don’t care about keeping long term customers it’s clear!! I’ll be looking elsewhere what a joke! Do not get spectrum cable internet or home phone!!

  • sojarm

    COX has once again chosen to increase their monthly costs by over 12% from the previous year with the same level of service ..
    COX continues its practice of “SURCHARGES” on the bills of customers that do NOT subscribe to sports channels or other higher end services (THAT is involuntary .. and in effect .. this DEFRAUDS the customer who is just on basic services .. )

    THAT alone (THOSE “Surcharges” Increased over 60% in this month’s billing — surcharges that are basically extortion to supplement those who actually subscribe to the sports programming and other programming )
    let me post here a slice of my trying to resolve and remove the SURCHARGE for services I DO NOT WANT and NEVER Subscribed to ..
    ” Regional Sports Surcharge (RSS) is a separate line item in the TV section on customer’s monthly bills who subscribe to Essential TV or higher, effective during the 2017 Price Adjustment. Sports Pak and Sports Pak 2 subscriptions do not.” (In other words .. if you have the sports packs and want them and pay for them .. you are NOT charged the SURCHARGE!!!)
    YES folks .. those of us who REFUSE to purchase sports programming are being EXTORTED for the sports programming wants of others!)

    Finally .. HIDDEN FEES Are EXTENSIVE .. you have to truly understand what you are paying for to avoid even further increases in billings and hellishly increased costs per month!

    TAXES do NOT Account for the price increase (SINCE All levels of Taxes DECREASED by $1 per month on each month’s bill over last year monthly billing)
    Does COX even care about Customers or Service or even retaining their satisfaction?
    I’d say that answer is a resounding NO … NOT at all ..

    Then there’s the monthly box you have to add (NO DVR Either go figure) that is PER TV (yes, PER TV .. nothing else will do for COX .. increase it for each TV in the house) .. that was forced on ALL CUSTOMERS That increased the bill by $17 (for just two of these! And that’s before taxes) a MONTH! Despite the previous where we just had the cable direct to the TV and there was no problem with that ..

    ENDLESS Attempts of UPSELL .. ENDLESS EXTRA CHARGES .. (DVR on top of those “DUMB BOXES” is an additional (as noted below) now above $25 per MONTH per box on top!

    and then there’s no way we can just purchase the boxes outright and LIMIT our costs either ..

    SO needless to say .. LACK of customer service .. no reasonable explanation for the extortion of the “Surcharges” that are levied on those of us who do not have the extras ..
    and OUTRAGEOUS price increases are the norm …

  • Holly

    Horrible horrible horrible…NEVER JOIN COX, THEY TELL YOU ONE THING AND THEN THEY PRETTY MUCH TELL YOU GO SCREW YOURSELF!! At first they wouldn’t let me sign up bc the previous owner hadn’t shut off their service, mind you they wouldn’t let him so then he brought back his equipment and they still wouldn’t let me! Spent over 1/2 hour on the phone and got everything set up for them to tell me they are sorry but they can’t set me up an account to call back and try again but it could take up to 6 months before I got service!! A manager told me once I got a setup that my account would be credited first months charges for all the hassle I went through! Finally was able to get cable and internet and now I got my bill in and I called the first manager Dwayne hung up on me and then I called back explained everything that happened and she told me well I’m sorry but u didn’t have an account for them to document on when the manager told you that first month would be free so we can’t do anything about it…so go f myself an eat the $120…never pick Cox, horrible customer service and I will make sure everyone knows how horrible they are

  • Chelsea Bonnett

    Cox communications is by far the WORST company I have ever dealt with. I have been a customer with them since 2015, and have only seen one good thing come from them, which was a new technician, and I doubt he will stay with them for long. Cox ALWAYS has its problems: horrible customer service, expensive products and services, and their products and services hardly ever work! What really threw me over the edge was my most recent interaction with them. I only have internet through Cox, and the package I have is $60.00 a month for 100 mbps, which the only cheaper package is something like 5 mbps for $20 less. One day, the internet went down in my area, which wasn’t proposed to come back on till later that night. The next day my internet still wasn’t on, nor the day after that!. On the third day, I called Cox and they said a technician would need to come out as something was also wrong with my router, which I purchased from them back in 2015, and haven’t had any previous problems with it. The technician came out two days later, and informed me that the communication from my router was too high, so he had to place a piece on it that would solve the issue. Like I mentioned, this gentleman is the ONLY good thing to come from Cox. He finished up and left. About two weeks later, my bill came and they were trying to charge me for the technician’s work. I chatted online with someone and they were able to get the technician bill dropped by ADDING FUNDS TO MY ACCOUNT FOR THE FEE instead of waiving it. I thought the problem was solved and I would have my regular bill come out. I planned my bills accordingly, and moved money to a different account for savings that takes days to get money from. The day my Cox bill was to come out, THEY STILL CHARGED ME for the technician’s fee!!! Not only was my account in the negative because I did not plan for the extra money coming out, but now I had an overcharge fee from my bank, and extra money in my Cox account. I contacted Cox that day about the issue, and the guy said that the only way they could refund my money was by a CHECK THAT WOULD TAKE TWO WEEKS TO GET TO ME! I told him no, that it was not acceptable, and that I had done everything to ensure that this wouldn’t happen. He continues to tell me that is the only thing he can do as it was an echeck that the money came from, and could not take the debit card number that is attached to that account to direct route it back. I told him to go talk to his supervisor to straighten things out. A lady came on the line and said she would try to get the check expedited, which still would not solve the problem at hand. Needless to say, I am still waiting on the check from them and I will be looking to find another company, even if it costs me more money in the long run. The ONLY time the supervisor seemed concerned is when I told her I would be reviewing the experience and placing it everywhere I could. I can NO LONGER stand to deal with such an awful company that doesn’t care about their customers, attempts to suck every dollar they can out of their customers, and lacks the communication that is necessary for their inner business. This company is a JOKE. To anyone whom is looking into Cox’s services, do yourself a favor and avoid the headache!!!

  • Heidi Rips Rowland

    We finally gave up with Cox Communication after I really got angry yesterday when 3rd technician came to house yesterday, had totally wrong work order and we still don’t have TV (after being in AZ 4 weeks). When I called then to Cox to want to get to know why they can’t do their job and my call had been transferred to 5 different people (one was for spanish speaking people) and I didn’t got any answer just excuses I told them that Thank you we don’t want Cox anymore and hang up. First technician came already on June 22nd, looked around and told that we need to lay cables first, and that Cox don’t do it. We called Cox again and came out that they will lay cables. We asked them to send technician who knows what he has to do. So second one came, he didn’t know that he needs to lay cables, but went to attic to see what we need, came down and told that we need to reschedule the work and it has to be the first thing in the morning as attic getting hot. Understandable, it’s AZ. We rescheduled for yesterday. 3rd one came yesterday, had totally wrong work order, he didn’t know that he needs to lay cables, that we have 3 TV-s (2 recorders and 1 just a box) and told us ridiculous price what Cox asking to lay cables for 3 TV-s. It was all, I got really mad as we have had 3 different people here, heard 3 different stories why we need to reschedule again and many different prices to finish this job, during 3 weeks Cox couldn’t do their job and we still don’t have TV!!!!!!! We called to different company and they scheduled us for the next day, all installation is free and monthly price much better than Cox has. It shows which company cares about customers and which don’t!!!