Time Warner Cable may drop ABC and FOX

[LD1]

Just needing to vent here. And also curious if this is happening in other states as well and what everyones opinions are on the subject.

Here is a link to the local paper Time Warner customers could lose local ABC, Fox TV programming | The Columbus Dispatch

Basically, our local free air TV stations are wanting to charge TWC for re-broadcasting. TWC is NOT wanting to pay because again, it is a localally free broadcasted station.

I am in agreement with TWC here. I dont even watch the local channels with the exception of sports (especially buckeye football). But if TWC drops these local channels, I forsee their viewer ratings free falling. TWC is doing the local stations a favor by re-broadcasting to a much broader audience.

It will be a PITA to hook the old ariel antenna back up and have to worry about switching the inputs and such just to watch the games on saturday. It is sad, but I DO NOT want them raising my cable bill.

Which kinda brings me to part two of my venting. I hate the way TWC does business. And cell phone companies are no different, but that is another subject. What happened to the day when long time loyal customers were rewarded???

A little background, I have RR turbo with powerboost for internet. For TV I have the digial box on one TV and just the basic 70 or so channels on the rest. NO DVR either. I am currently paying ~104/month. Just last year, I was paying ~98, and then all of the sudden I got a bill for $128

Furious, I called TWC. They said that my old rate had expired and this was going to be my new rate. Now I have been a loyal customer for 5+ years and never even had a late payment. I told here there is no way I was going to start paying 128 a month. She did some looking and said we have a current promotion for "NEW" customers for $104. I asked here if she wanted me to cancel services and call back tomorrow as a "NEW" customer. She said now that they could go ahead and give me that rate, but she said it in a manner like I was twisting her arm.

I understand companies wanting to get people to switch, but what about the customers already on the fence and seeing that "special" promotion from the other guys as well. Bottom line, I think they should worry about taking care of their own customers first. I should NEVER have gotten a bill for $30 more per month. I shouldn't have to call them once a year just to get their best rate. It should be automatically applied.

Sorry for the long winded post. Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[beenthere]

Can you go DirecTV or Dish Network and get by cheaper?

 

[LD1]

Can you go DirecTV or Dish Network and get by cheaper?

Nope. That is the problem with ABC's and FOX's ihavechoices campaign. Shre I have choices, but they suck.

My parents have direct TV. Storms, snow, etc. They are all the time having problems.

I don't have a problem with my cable bill, or inflation. The problem I have with TWC is NOT giving me their best rate the first time around. If my bill went up to $120, and that was the best deal that ANYONE could get, okay. But making be have to call and complain before the put me in their better rate is obsurd.

Just to replace the cable I currently have, on the number of TV's I have, a dish would run me ~ 70 per month. And I dont have a land line. So DSL would be expensive because I would have to pay the minimum whatever just to have the service, plus the cost of the DSL. And the infrastructure in my area will only support 3Mbps DSL. I do a lot of downloading and I often wish I could get more than my 15Mbps RR, so DSL would be a huge step backwards.

And in my area, TWC is the ONLY cable company. Not a whole lot I can do about it other than vent. But I will not be happy if I either have to pay extra for local channels, or have them dropped. Local stations were ment to be free, no matter how the viewer chooses to recieve them.

 

[77transam]

I'm right there with you on this LD1! Sick and tired of these corporate mega-companies monopolizing everything, and then we're at the mercy of their price hikes, "service fees", etc.

I agree 100% about rewarding customer loyalty. Seems to me keeping loyal,long-term customers would be a priority with TWC considering that many people are switching to satellite providers because of the very things you spoke of. (Uh Oh, I'm starting to rant too!)

Don't get me wrong, 100+ channels is nice, but sometimes i miss the 3 majors(CBS,ABC,NBC) and nothing else. Whole lot less trash,profanity,vulgarity when it was just them and PBS.

 

[LD1]

I'm right there with you on this LD1! Sick and tired of these corporate mega-companies monopolizing everything, and then we're at the mercy of their price hikes, "service fees", etc.

I agree 100% about rewarding customer loyalty. Seems to me keeping loyal,long-term customers would be a priority with TWC considering that many people are switching to satellite providers because of the very things you spoke of. (Uh Oh, I'm starting to rant too!)

Don't get me wrong, 100+ channels is nice, but sometimes i miss the 3 majors(CBS,ABC,NBC) and nothing else. Whole lot less trash,profanity,vulgarity when it was just them and PBS.

I usually dont watch many of them trashy channels though.

I am more of a history, discovery, natgeo, science, military channel guy myself. That and the sports networks like FSN and ESPN.

 

[buck12]

I usually dont watch many of them trashy channels though.

I am more of a history, discovery, natgeo, science, military channel guy myself. That and the sports networks like FSN and ESPN.

I am with you in that I only watch about a dozen channels. Too bad we can't just pick the channels we actually watch for a reasonable fee.

 

[RTII]

I went with out Cable/satelite TV for 6-7 years a while back. Went through the same scenario as LD1 and got fed up. Didn't miss it in the least. Only resigned up when my father needed to move in due to medical issues and it was the only entertainment he could enjoy easily.

Have cable now in the new house but realy only watch the games on sunday. Might cancel after the season. Get the news on the internet. Seems like a little less bias than to listen to the over dramatized and continually repeated bs on the networks. Can pick and choose the headlines I want to read.

LD1, if you hadn't already signed up, I would've highly recomended trying to go without for a month or so. Could always sign up later if you decided you prefered. Makes for a better quality of family life. Maybe not for everyone. The box gets addictive.

Different subject but maybe related - Canceled my paper when they decided it was their right to choose who advertises by not allowing gun owners to advertise to sell their guns. I don't disagree with their right to set their own rules but I then exercised my right not to agree with the rules by not purchasing the paper.

Reily

 

[Baby Grand]

What happened to the day when long time loyal customers were rewarded???

Yeah it's gone daddy gone,
the love is gone
Yes gone daddy gone,
the love has gone

Why don't you just switch cable companies? Oh, wait, let me guess - there's only one cable company in your area? I feel your pain.

 

[LD1]

I went with out Cable/satelite TV for 6-7 years a while back. Went through the same scenario as LD1 and got fed up. Didn't miss it in the least. Only resigned up when my father needed to move in due to medical issues and it was the only entertainment he could enjoy easily.

Have cable now in the new house but realy only watch the games on sunday. Might cancel after the season. Get the news on the internet. Seems like a little less bias than to listen to the over dramatized and continually repeated bs on the networks. Can pick and choose the headlines I want to read.

LD1, if you hadn't already signed up, I would've highly recomended trying to go without for a month or so. Could always sign up later if you decided you prefered. Makes for a better quality of family life. Maybe not for everyone. The box gets addictive.

Different subject but maybe related - Canceled my paper when they decided it was their right to choose who advertises by not allowing gun owners to advertise to sell their guns. I don't disagree with their right to set their own rules but I then exercised my right not to agree with the rules by not purchasing the paper.

Reily

I'm not going to say that I cant do without cable TV, But....It is a nice thing to have.

Local TV just sucks anymore IMO. The shows arent that good, they dont carry many spoting events, etc. I am by no means a couch potato, I usually dont watch much TV, but I do enjoy the neducational channels.

And since I have had cable for 5 years now, it will be kinda hard to go without. Not to mention, the internet side of it. But since more and more people have gotten cable/satellite TV over the years, thats where all the good shows have gone. Not to mention the wife would probabally kill me if I even suggested dropping cable:laughing:

 

[teg]

Cancel your TV but keep internet... and wait for the offers to come back to them... I forget how much we could have saved on their 2nd offer but it was a good deal. TV for us was just not worth it...

 

[captaincrab55]

Foxbaltimore was trying to sell this on their viewers, how much they offer and only wanted $2 a month from the cable/satellite providers.. They than ran a Poll on it and %80 said NO...


WEB POLL
Should cable and satellite providers use $2 of the fees they already collect to continue receiving Fox45 programming?

20% Yes
80% No


WBFF FOX 45 - Web Poll Results

 

[dmccarty]

We have not watched the local or national CBS, ABC, Fox, NBC, channels in six years. Nothing there to watch.

Directv has been good. But I would like to get rid of it. We talk about canceling all of the time but even at $85ish dollars a month it is just good enough to keep. We do not watch many movies. If we do we buy DVDs. We watch the science, history, food and Disney channels.

The problem we have is that for all of the channels we watch danged few of them. Many times the best thing on is a cartoon. Sponge Bob Square Pants, Penguins of Madagascar, and Phineas and Ferb are far better than what is on the other channels. :thumbsup:

The problem is that $85 a month does not buy you alot of DVD's so Directv is still somewhat worth it.

We are still using the receivers we got 6 years ago. We are going to talk to the phone company since they bundle Directv now. Maybe it will save us some money.

We used to have at least as much weather related issues with TWC than we do with Directv. Heavy rain would knock on TWC. We used to laugh at the TWC lie that their service was better than Directv.

I really wish we could get content off they Internet but the content that is available is not what we watch.

Later,
Dan

 

[jpm]

the same thing happen in ny. end result someone paid

 

[Ken_CT]

I remember the time before there was cable TV. When it was introduced, people asked, why would I ever pay for TV? The answer was, there is no advertising on cable TV!

 

[om21braz]

I remember the time before there was cable TV. When it was introduced, people asked, why would I ever pay for TV? The answer was, there is no advertising on cable TV!

+1 Boy, that did'nt last long LOL! My father is still on the antenna, as in free tv - he notes that as long as cable/dish costs more than the water bill he'll never have it.

 

[LD1]

+1 Boy, that did'nt last long LOL! My father is still on the antenna, as in free tv - he notes that as long as cable/dish costs more than the water bill he'll never have it.

I hope my water bill never gets that high

 

[dmccarty]

I hope my water bill never gets that high

When we lived in the city my water bill was higher than cable and the cable internet.

Later,
Dan

 

[D33r3 6r33N]

We have DirecTv now. But I don't have HD. I am going to try and bundle it with the phone I think and maybe I can get all the equipement and stuff for free. Does stink though that it's all about money. I also wish that you could pick you channels you wanted. (Do we really need 10 shopping channels?:confused2

 

[LD1]

When we lived in the city my water bill was higher than cable and the cable internet.

Later,
Dan

In a lot of the larger cities around here, they include the sewer on with the water.

I have only water. We dont live anywhere close to the city, but still get the city water. My bill usually runs me around $20 and that is between 3000 and 4000 gallons per month.

 

[300UGUY]

I've got DirectTV and a DSL. The local cable company does not have a feed down my road. My road only has about 4 houses in a mile. The nearest cable is on the main road 1/2 mile away. So that is our situation. I am happy with Direcrtv - The only time I have lost the signal was when I hit the dish with a lawnmower.