A Lump of Coal from Time Warner Cable

[Seeker47]

Many of you have probably seen the ads by now, which on the surface look like a game of "chicken" between TWC and the Fox network (including Fox Sports ?), but also seems to extend to a number of other channels carried by TWC, to one degree or another. TWC is crying "poverty" in regard to alleged 300% fee increases supposedly being demanded by various networks, and threatening to either have to pass the increases along to customers, or to drop some channels entirely. (Fox seems to be front and center here.) The TWC ads solicit public support for their position, asking for help in keeping cable costs down. { * } This, from some of the worst gougers and botched delivery purveyors in the biz ! It would be quite amusing if the irony wasn't so overwhelming.

Fox has its own campaign of counter-ads going.

If TWC really carries through on its threat, you can kiss several of the college bowl games, NFL playoff games, new season of 24 etc. goodbye, if you are a TWC subscriber.

So, here's my question: Why are TWC's cable competitors, or DirecTV, or DISH (which costs much less and offers better value for the $$) not also screaming and complaining about these supposed massive price increases ? Or do they just plan on quietly passing them along, and hoping no one notices ?

If anyone knows the gory details, the inside-business workings behind the headlines -- what is really going on here -- I'd be curious to hear it.

Whatever happens with this, I'm very glad to note that I'm in the final days of being a TWC customer ! {Anyone have a fireworks display emoticon ?} Whether I wind up saving some money, or even paying more, I'm delighted that the money will be going to someone else !

[jagabo]

Why are TWC's cable competitors, or DirecTV, or DISH (which costs much less and offers better value for the $$) not also screaming and complaining about these supposed massive price increases ?

Because their contracts are not up for renewal right now? The same thing happened with Cox and ESPN a while back.

A google search will turn up lots of stories:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22time+warner+cable%22+%22news+corp%22+negotiations&ie...en-US:official

I don't know about your area but in our area they all work out to about the same cost once you account for equivalent channels/service and short term introductory pricing. I'm getting close to dropping cable altogether. Hulu and Netflix streaming cover most of what I watch these days.

[usually_quiet]

Comcast customers have faced similar situations. In my area, the local Fox affiliate and the MyNetwork affiliate were almost removed from the channel lineup a few years ago, because the company that owns them wanted to raise its fees for retransmission.

An agreement was reached, but as a result, unlike all the other local OTA HD stations here, they are not available in clear QAM, so Comcast customers must pay for HD service to see them in their normal resolution.

[fritzi93]

Yeah, "playing chicken" is a good way to put it.

I have Comcast and last year about this time we had a similar thing going on. A local station that broadcasts old TV series got into it with Comcast. The station appealed to viewers, Comcast counter-appealed. This went on for weeks.

The contract ran out and the station disappeared...for about a week. Then it was back. No explanations, no nothing. Guess they sorted it out.

[lacywest]

Directv ... raised the rates a few months ago ... so I cancelled HBO and Showtime.

My wife and I ... we truly enjoy watching True Blood and Big Love ... Weeds ... Dexter ... Californication ... I now get them by other means which I'm not allowed to talk about here.

I also have an excellent antenna mounted on my chimney and I have no problem picking up all the major over the air channels. Fox ... comes in crystal clear ... and I am looking forward to watching "24" ... when the new season kicks in.

[deadrats]

I also have an excellent antenna mounted on my chimney and I have no problem picking up all the major over the air channels. Fox ... comes in crystal clear ... and I am looking forward to watching "24" ... when the new season kicks in.

how is that possible? i thought that there were no more over the air transmissions, i thought everything went digital a short while ago, is this not the case?

[edDV]

I also have an excellent antenna mounted on my chimney and I have no problem picking up all the major over the air channels. Fox ... comes in crystal clear ... and I am looking forward to watching "24" ... when the new season kicks in.

how is that possible? i thought that there were no more over the air transmissions, i thought everything went digital a short while ago, is this not the case?

Digital over the air broadcasting (ATSC in the USA). Works great if you are near the tower (inside 25 miles without obstruction). Otherwise it's an antenna game. I'm getting some from 50-90 miles but I'm at 3000 feet elevation..

[lordsmurf]

DISH has ads by local Fox affiliates, claiming no more Fox.

[lacywest]

I also have an excellent antenna mounted on my chimney and I have no problem picking up all the major over the air channels. Fox ... comes in crystal clear ... and I am looking forward to watching "24" ... when the new season kicks in.

how is that possible? i thought that there were no more over the air transmissions, i thought everything went digital a short while ago, is this not the case?

All the major broadcasting stations are in the Fresno CA ... USA ... area ... Zip Code 93230 ... nothing but flat farm land for miles and miles.

[MJA]

I wish I can remove FOX from channel lineup

[Seeker47]

DISH has ads by local Fox affiliates, claiming no more Fox.

Local ? Regional ? (Haven't heard about this, but I will inquire, before signing any agreement with them.)

Ultimately though, if XYZ provider is not offering one or more of these major channels, doesn't this put them at a competitive disadvantage, vis a vis the others ? I'm also aware that -- for example, TWC -- sells its own local ads on many cable channels ( for ___ restaurant, ___ carpet cleaning service, etc.), so, once you start dropping attractions that many subscribers want or demand, does that not amount to shooting yourself in the foot, to some extent ?

[jman98]

Yes, this kind of thing happens all the time, but the cable network and the channels involved change. I have Comcast and we've never had any issues with any Fox channels, but Comcast and the NFL Network have played nasty with each other.

Every TV provider be they cable or satellite has positives and negatives associated with them. I put up with Comcast because the positives outweigh the negatives for me. Two of the positives are that I get an exceptionally clean signal from Comcast and I have the ability to easily record non-encrypted shows (that's all I am interested in) to my PC. The negatives of Comcast are pretty strong though. If you ever have problems with them, it may take a very long time to get them fixed due to the incompetence of about 90% of their employees. But I don't think having so many incompetent employees is unique to Comcast.

[rcubed]

I feel your pain and agree,

TWC our local provider in the Southern Tier of NY apparently has been messing with the bit rates on all the channels. Last month or so we've had channels going dead for seconds, or hanging where you have to change the channel and come back. Macro Blocks, and really crappy decoding on high activity areas. I suspect that TWC is playing band width games to try to squeeze more channels into the limited bandwidth they have available on the coax. I've talked with other subscribers in other towns in the area and they are having the same problems so it's not a local cable problem. Happens on all the boxes in the house.

Considering what they change per month it's inexcusable. I did fill out their 300% questionnaire where I reminded them they haven't been too shy about raising rates. They are just as bad as the networks. I wouldn't miss Fox in any event. I'm seriously considering going back to satellite. TWC is a monopoly in our area other than satellite, and over the air they are the only options. So many channels and so little worth watching.

rcubed

[mazinz]

I too am under TWC. Our local paper had a front page article about TWC raising our rates 7-9%. It also mentioned Rudy Giuliani being a bit ticked off about them raising the rates as well and wanted to investigate them for something or other.

The other worse option in our area is verizon. At least with Twc we did not have a zillion hidden fees and other contract crap that verizon pulls on it's customers

I should look into direct tv or dish and see if something like that is up here

[MJA]

The problem with dish/direct tv they both don't offer broadband internet .

[mazinz]

The problem with dish/direct tv they both don't offer broadband internet .

damn, worse case I go back to dial up and safe myself a small fortune in the long run

[orsetto]

These standoffs happen periodically between various stations and various cable providers. Much as I *hate* to defend Time Warner Cable, or any cable company, in these particular standoffs the aggressor is usually one of the four broadcast networks, who've become increasingly delusional over the last few years. They always pull the same "woe is me" pity-party press releases, combined with scare tactics to rouse consumers into (erroneously) thinking the cable company is at fault. This hypocrisy makes me wanna hurl every time I see it, and Fox is being especially grating this time.

Going back decades, all cable companies have been required by law (and common sense) to carry all available off-air stations in their franchise area, this is the so-called "must-carry" rule. The local and network broadcasters have never paid cable a dime for this crucial service, and most indeed would collapse if cable were to stop carrying them (especially now that the ATSC transition has killed off-air reception for most consumers). But being just as greedy as the cable companies, and paranoid about the death spiral they're in because of staggering declines in ad revenue, the broadcast networks are now disingenuously trying to claim cable rips them off by "carrying their programming without paying for it"! Fox is now asking TWC for nearly a dollar fee per subscriber per month. Now thats cojones: like the scorpion stinging the frog, and as they drown in the water the scorpion has the gall to ask the frog for a license fee. Hypocritical ********, biting the hand that feeds them. I almost wish TWC would call Fox's bluff and black them out for the first month of American Idol: be nice to be rid of Ryan Seacrest for awhile. If Fox gets away with this shakedown, and sets a precedent, all the other networks will have their hand out, and we'll get fleeced another $5 monthly increase just for the privilege of Fox, CBS, NBC and ABC. I doubt it, though: these standoffs usually end with cable agreeing to pay a token fee of a few cents, or agreeing to carry some tenth-rate niche station the network wants to launch. (Using precious bandwidth to carry these duplicative lame "blackmail" stations that no one watches is partly to blame for the wretched PQ we're getting these days.)

[edDV]

...these standoffs usually end with cable agreeing to pay a token fee of a few cents, or agreeing to carry some tenth-rate niche station the network wants to launch. (Using precious bandwidth to carry these duplicative lame "blackmail" stations that no one watches is partly to blame for the wretched PQ we're getting these days.)

These days each of the 4 major TV networks also owns cable networks and cable programming. This causes the negotiations to get rather complex. Also Fox mostly owns My Network and CBS mostly owns CW. Thus cable carriage of these local channels and their sub-channels (e.g. news, weather) also are part of the deal.

With Comcast buying control of NBC-Universal, the water muddies further.

The players:

CBS (CBS, CW, BET, plus links to former owner Viacom's channels)

Comcast (NBC, Universal, Weather Channel, Bravo, USA, Telemundo, CNBC, MSNBC, plus the dozens of Comcast owned channels)

Disney (ABC, Disney Ch, ESPN, Family Ch, Toon, etc.)

News Corp (Fox, My Network, Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Movie Channel, FX, Fox Sports, Fox College Sports, Fox Reality, Speed Channel, National Geographic, etc.)

Plus larger local stations are part of ownership "Groups" many of which own (e.g. Hearst) or have a major interest in various cable networks.

I've left out the international interests that also affect the deal.

Just think of the % of your cable/sat bill that goes to lawyers.

[Seeker47]

Well, this latest standoff seems to have been settled -- for now. Thanks to Orsetto and edDV for illuminating some less familiar corners of this issue. I hope the (undisclosed) settlement was indeed nominal or fairly Mickey Mouse -- as suggested -- so that it won't boomerang onto our subscription bills. (The fact that they aren't revealing the terms could be read either way . . . . )

Just think of the % of your cable/sat bill that goes to lawyers.

One thing you can absolutely count on, in any dispute: the lawyers always do very well.