Cable rates go up -- Time Warner power move?

If you're in the Southwestern region of Ohio (i.e. Cincinnati) watching television via Time Warner, then most likely you're going to see a 5.1% increase in your rates, says the Cincinnati Enquirer -- effective today. I swear, if 200 MPH wind and -43 degrees wasn't enough... Time Warner's reasoning is that programming costs keep increasing pushing the rates customers pay. This happens during the peak of a major NFL Network/Time Warner dispute which has me questioning: Is this a power move by the cable company to solidify their justification against bringing the NFL Network to their programming?

There's an increasing fear that if people unload their paychecks for the NFL Network that it will encourage the league to install a pay-per-view type of system after the current agreement runs out. A test, so to speak, to see if people would pay money to watch games. People could be saying that as a scare tactic, who knows. I just know that Time Warner is right by insisting the network be shown on the Sports tier so only those that subscribe to it would pay for it -- from my understanding, that's the biggest hold-up.

Cable rates up in SW Ohio [Enquirer]
Doyel's here to help since you probably missed Bengals-Ravens [Sportsline]