By John Murawski

Raleigh News & Observer

Time Warner Cable is raising its rates again, an annual occurrence the company blames on its programmers.

Most of the increases are between $3 and $5 a month. Time Warner's letter to customers says the that sports and broadcast programming are the biggest contributor to the price increases.

The rate increases go into effect Dec. 27. They were announced in bill inserts that were mailed out in the past three weeks.

Time Warner spokeswoman Melissa Buscher said that 39 percent of customers will see increases of less than 5 percent. That's largely because more than half the company's customers are paying a promotional discount, or they're locked into a 2-year price guarantee. Those customers will have to pay full freight when their promotions expire.

Buscher also said the price increases are also paying for new features. For example, the company added more than 75 high definition channels this year.

"Prices are going up but you're getting more," she said.

Time Warner has 2.1 million customers in the Carolinas, including about 630,000 in the area that covers the Triangle to Fayetteville.

The biggest increase, in terms of percentage, is for the entry-level 24-channel Broadcast Cable service. In Raleigh, the service is going 29 percent, from $12.50 to $16.10 a month. In Clayton, it's going up 31 percent, from $12.95 to $17 a month.

A typical example: Digital Cable and Road Runner High Speed Online are going up from $114.90 to $117.95 a month.

Time Warner and its programmers have turned their private negotiations into a public spat, with the business partners blaming each other for corporate greed.

This month Time Warner accused programmers of making outrageous demands and hiking costs 300 percent. As part of a marketing campaign, Time Warner used the Internet, newspapers and TV ads to create public pressure on the programmers to relent on their pricing demands.