Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion (USA Today)

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

For the record, I think this deal sucks and I will be pissed if the Feds allow this piece of shit to happen. It needs to be aborted, on-the-spot.

 

I realize that these two utterly incompetent corporations don't really compete with each-other, but to have them consolidate will not be good for consumers.......at all. There is already very little competition in the market - nor innovation - as it is.

 

Side note: Why is it that when we usually pay for a premium service, it means we don't have to deal with advertising. But with cable, we're always subjected to advertisements and also have to pay TOP dollar??!?

 

Talk about no innovation. This is what happens when you have an archaic business model and have ZERO competition (to speak of) in each market.

[swintec]

But with cable, we're always subjected to advertisements and also have to pay TOP dollar??!?

 

Talk about no innovation. This is what happens when you have an archaic business model and have ZERO competition (to speak of) in each market.

 

What ads are you referring to?  if you mean on tv stations, the cable companies dont air the ads.  The network does....this is outside of the cable companies control so I dont think that is a valid arument to hold against the cable company itself.

 

What sort of innovation are you looking for?  What can a *cable company* do to innovate with their cable plant?  I cant speak about Comcast but TW has rolled out quite a few features for me over the past few years.

 

- Video OnDemand

- Start over a show that has already started (no DVR box needed)

- Look Back which allows me to start a show that aired within the last couple of days (again, no dvr)

 

The last two features i mentioned actually get neutered by the channels / content providers and some dont want their content being accessed that way so with that said, the channels seem to be the ones that dont want to innovate.

 

- TW TV App where I can watch most of my channel line up (and access OnDemand) on my phone, computer and even on my Roku box.  With the Roku I dont need to rent a cable box for less used TVs.

- Interactive voting for stuff with the buttons on my remote

- TW has also rolled its own cable box guide software

- DOCSIS 3 technology for channel bonding and faster speeds

- i called for an outage report two weeks ago and TW knew about it and also told me what time it would be restored by all without having to talk to a human......they were correct within 2 minutes.

 

I am sure there is more I cant think of right now but it proves my point that is plenty of innovation at least from TWs side and I think Comcast has some of those features now to.

 

What sort of things do you think independent cable tv companies could do to "innovate" that hasnt been done yet?

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

What ads are you referring to? if you mean on tv stations, the cable companies dont air the ads. The network does....this is outside of the cable companies control so I dont think that is a valid arument to hold against the cable company itself.

 

What sort of innovation are you looking for? What can a *cable company* do to innovate with their cable plant? I cant speak about Comcast but TW has rolled out quite a few features for me over the past few years.

 

- Video OnDemand

- Start over a show that has already started (no DVR box needed)

- Look Back which allows me to start a show that aired within the last couple of days (again, no dvr)

 

The last two features i mentioned actually get neutered by the channels / content providers and some dont want their content being accessed that way so with that said, the channels seem to be the ones that dont want to innovate.

 

- TW TV App where I can watch most of my channel line up (and access OnDemand) on my phone, computer and even on my Roku box. With the Roku I dont need to rent a cable box for less used TVs.

- Interactive voting for stuff with the buttons on my remote

- TW has also rolled its own cable box guide software

- DOCSIS 3 technology for channel bonding and faster speeds

- i called for an outage report two weeks ago and TW knew about it and also told me what time it would be restored by all without having to talk to a human......they were correct within 2 minutes.

 

I am sure there is more I cant think of right now but it proves my point that is plenty of innovation at least from TWs side and I think Comcast has some of those features now to.

 

What sort of things do you think independent cable tv companies could do to "innovate" that hasnt been done yet?

I'm glad you're happy with your service. I wish I could say the same about Comcast. If I had a choice of cable companies, I wouldn't be with Comcast. U-Verse doesn't serve my neighborhood, yet.

 

Comcast merged with NBC awhile back. This is one example of the network and cable company being "in-bed" with each other. Do I get a break on the ads on NBC (as well as other Comcast-owned channels) with my premium cable bill? No, I don't and neither would you (if you had Comcast).

 

I might be totally off, but doesn't the cable company get a cut (or a break) of the re-broadcasting of commercials from the networks?

 

All of that would be fine and good, if my bill was actually going down, or at least staying the same. Our prices have gone up considerably. Mergers will only make this worse, as they have in the past.

 

I would hardly call the cable business "innovative". Docsis 3.0 with speeds of 50-100mbps at the max, is hardly innovative when compared to what is capable elsewhere. I can do that out of thin air on my cell phone now.

[Ascertion]

I'm happy with my Comcast service - only because it's reliable and consistent.  No throttling of any sort that I'm aware of (so far...) but I do think Comcast can offer better speeds but simply have no obligation to.  I think the internet portion is worth it, but not the cable/phone.

[The Dave]

In St Augustine we are still using the same caveman-esque gray Motorola boxes that they have been using 10 years ago. They also charge $10 a month to use each box. If you want DVR, you can record up to 15 hours before you are out of space. No multi-room, no fancy features. That is $17 a month. If you want a DVR, 1 HD box and if you want just basic cable on say 2 bedrooms, you are paying $31 a month just for that before even getting to the $139 they charge for cable and internet with the slowest tier and no premium channels or phone service. It was because of this I wanted to get rid of the boxes. When I signed a contract, Comcast gave 1 box for free and two digital boxes for free as part of the service. They told me if I brought my own TiVo boxes, it would be 1 cablecard for free and each additional card for $1.50 each. I bought 2 Tivos that had multi room, iPad streaming, 300 hours of space, built in VOD and can record 6 things at one time (can't do any of that with Xfinity here) and lifetime service on each. I get signed up for Comcast with my old modem (to waive the $11 rental fee) two of my own Tivos, 1 free cablecard, 2 free digital boxes and just pay for 1 cablecard at $1.50. The service is discounted for a year to only $79 a month. The installer put in a faulty splitter and my cable card wasn't the right one. I call Comcast and they come out 5 days later to fix it. I get my bill the next month. I got charged $60 for two visits to fix the splitter and exchange of a box. I got charged for 3 cards because instead of swapping the card, they just added a 3rd card to my account. Since I didn't rent two boxes because I owned them, they charged me $10 per "outlet service" to the boxes. And my cable card was charged $7.10 rental. I call to complain. They can't figure out the price for the cable card since it depends on region and apparently when they signed me up they "didn't realize my region costs $7.10 for a cablecard". Plus, the first one isn't free because it is a HD card and only non HD cable cards are free for the first one. They waived the tech call fees. The next month I got charged $15 because I changed my service to remove HD. I call to complain. They offer me free HBO for a month to "make up for it". After my free month is up I cancel HBO. Next bill I get charged $15 because I changed my service to downgrade. 6 months later my cable stops working. They had to restring the line. It took a couple of months to do that. Still had to pay. They missed 4 appts to bury the cable. They offer me Comcast Voice for free for 3 months. I say no thanks since I am not paying to downgrade it later. Now they decided they will charge $1.99 for each of their free digital boxes but it isn't a breach of their contract since apparently equipment isn't a part of the cost of service they guarantee when you sign a contract. They then mess up my bill and the promotion that went to $99 the second year went to $129. They admit it was a billing error on their end. They say they cannot fix it. After multiple complaints, they finally "fix" it by basically redoing the contract from scratch. My bill is fixed but now I am in another 2 year contract. This isn't even all the issues I have had with Comcast, but a brief overview..

 

Now, I do not get DSL service here, I do not get U Verse here and I do not get FioS here. I can get Dish, but if I want internet I am still stuck with Comcast. Without cable, it is nearly $90 a month for basic cable internet. It would cost more to get rid of Comcast than to continue to be subject to them. I looked into the Satellite option, but it would also be expensive, slow and capped and still leave me paying more than with Comcast. If there were more competition, I would think that Comcast would have to either step up their customer service or lower prices. Unfortunately they know they can get away with doing as they please. Now that Comcast wants to merge and become twice as big...that is scary.

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

In St Augustine we are still using the same caveman-esque gray Motorola boxes that they have been using 10 years ago. They also charge $10 a month to use each box. If you want DVR, you can record up to 15 hours before you are out of space. No multi-room, no fancy features. That is $17 a month. If you want a DVR, 1 HD box and if you want just basic cable on say 2 bedrooms, you are paying $31 a month just for that before even getting to the $139 they charge for cable and internet with the slowest tier and no premium channels or phone service. It was because of this I wanted to get rid of the boxes. When I signed a contract, Comcast gave 1 box for free and two digital boxes for free as part of the service. They told me if I brought my own TiVo boxes, it would be 1 cablecard for free and each additional card for $1.50 each. I bought 2 Tivos that had multi room, iPad streaming, 300 hours of space, built in VOD and can record 6 things at one time (can't do any of that with Xfinity here) and lifetime service on each. I get signed up for Comcast with my old modem (to waive the $11 rental fee) two of my own Tivos, 1 free cablecard, 2 free digital boxes and just pay for 1 cablecard at $1.50. The service is discounted for a year to only $79 a month. The installer put in a faulty splitter and my cable card wasn't the right one. I call Comcast and they come out 5 days later to fix it. I get my bill the next month. I got charged $60 for two visits to fix the splitter and exchange of a box. I got charged for 3 cards because instead of swapping the card, they just added a 3rd card to my account. Since I didn't rent two boxes because I owned them, they charged me $10 per "outlet service" to the boxes. And my cable card was charged $7.10 rental. I call to complain. They can't figure out the price for the cable card since it depends on region and apparently when they signed me up they "didn't realize my region costs $7.10 for a cablecard". Plus, the first one isn't free because it is a HD card and only non HD cable cards are free for the first one. They waived the tech call fees. The next month I got charged $15 because I changed my service to remove HD. I call to complain. They offer me free HBO for a month to "make up for it". After my free month is up I cancel HBO. Next bill I get charged $15 because I changed my service to downgrade. 6 months later my cable stops working. They had to restring the line. It took a couple of months to do that. Still had to pay. They missed 4 appts to bury the cable. They offer me Comcast Voice for free for 3 months. I say no thanks since I am not paying to downgrade it later. Now they decided they will charge $1.99 for each of their free digital boxes but it isn't a breach of their contract since apparently equipment isn't a part of the cost of service they guarantee when you sign a contract. They then mess up my bill and the promotion that went to $99 the second year went to $129. They admit it was a billing error on their end. They say they cannot fix it. After multiple complaints, they finally "fix" it by basically redoing the contract from scratch. My bill is fixed but now I am in another 2 year contract. This isn't even all the issues I have had with Comcast, but a brief overview..

 

Now, I do not get DSL service here, I do not get U Verse here and I do not get FioS here. I can get Dish, but if I want internet I am still stuck with Comcast. Without cable, it is nearly $90 a month for basic cable internet. It would cost more to get rid of Comcast than to continue to be subject to them. I looked into the Satellite option, but it would also be expensive, slow and capped and still leave me paying more than with Comcast. If there were more competition, I would think that Comcast would have to either step up their customer service or lower prices. Unfortunately they know they can get away with doing as they please. Now that Comcast wants to merge and become twice as big...that is scary.

Trust me, we're still using those raggedy-ass, janky Motorola boxes from 1998 and they're used, too.

 

I have nothing but sheer abhorrence and disgust for Comcast and the thought of them getting bigger through merger is downright scary.

 

In my reply earlier, I was in a hurry and didn't expound on my experience with them enough through my truncated review. There is lots more and I've only been with them for about 8 months.

 

Eh, just thinking about Comcast for more than 5 minutes makes me feel queazy and un-steady coupled with a slight twitch.

[swintec]

 I might be totally off, but doesn't the cable company get a cut (or a break) of the re-broadcasting of commercials from the networks?

 

Certain slots on certain channels are given to the cable company to sell local ads.  Like you will see decent higher quality ads on the national networks and then it will cut to a lesser picture quality ad for a business in your area like Bobs house of yarn.  These are the ones where sometimes the timing is off by a second or so and some other national ad starts but the local run then begins as it should of.  No way they would get a cut of the normal ads that are run by these channels.

 

On the internet side of things, they seem to like to strangle the speed potential of DOCSIS 3 but the capability is there.  Comcast wins in that department but they neuter it with their speed caps.

 

Oh..I forgot another TW innovation that they have done for us.  Switched Digital Video which allows so much more channels to be on the cable system since they dont send them all to the cable box at once.  Just when it is requested by the set top box.

 

They arent perfect thats for sure but the little things add up from a tech stand point and I know they arent sitting on their hands doing nothing.  I just wish the networks would allow them to do more.

[WiWavelength]

This has turned into a "Comcast sucks!" thread. S4GRU does not want to host Comcast complaints any more than we do Sprint complaints.

 

So, get back on topic: Comcast-TWC. Otherwise, this thread has quickly run its course and will be closed.

 

AJ

[Conan Kudo]

I am glad that wasn't the case here where I live. I had the choice of two cable providers here at my house in South Dakota. WOW and Midcontinent. First time in my life I've ever had two cable providers available at my house. I usually only had one...and sometimes none.

 

And the result is I was able to get 100Mbps/15Mbps cable internet for slightly less than I paid for Windstream DSL 12Mbps/768kbps back in New Mexico. And my cable internet runs 90%-100% of stated speeds always, but my old DSL was less than 50% most of the time.

 

I also got all the install and modem fees waived when I threatened to use the other cable provider. Competition is a wonderful thing.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

And that is exactly what the 1996 Telecommunications Act was supposed to create. The problem was, most of the "competitive cable franchises" went bankrupt within five to eight years of launch. And you can guess where they went...

 

RCN and WOW! are the remaining "competitive cable franchises" of a short-lived bygone era...

[Nickel]

And that is exactly what the 1996 Telecommunications Act was supposed to create. The problem was, most of the "competitive cable franchises" went bankrupt within five to eight years of launch. And you can guess where they went...

 

RCN and WOW! are the remaining "competitive cable franchises" of a short-lived bygone era...

The problem, to me, is that only the big cable companies have the money to come into a city and get things going but they don't want to step on each others toes so that other companies will stay out of their area.

[lafester]

They are both pretty shady. Doesn't really matter if they are one company or two.

[Fraydog]

I hope that, as part of the deal, that Comcast is forced to provide its DVR to other cable companies. The X1 looks very nice but customers of Charter or Cox look like they're locked out right now. 

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

I hope that, as part of the deal, that Comcast is forced to provide its DVR to other cable companies. The X1 looks very nice but customers of Charter or Cox look like they're locked out right now.

I hear the X1 is nice, but you have to sign up for a triple-play package to get it. This is BS, IMO.

[4ktvs]

Well I am glad because Time warner cable internet speeds just suck VS Comcast.

 

15/1 cost the same as 20/5 on Comcast

20/2 cost the same as 50/10 on Comcast.

 

So yea Time warner cable can die. It's time they suck with old tech.

 

I am rooting for the buy out because It can't really get much worse for time warner cable costumers. I may even make a pension or sign one for letting the deal go though.

 

The enjoy better jokers can take there 60% packet loss and broken LTE interfering old plants out the door.

[Paynefanbro]

Well I am glad because Time warner cable internet speeds just suck VS Comcast.

 

15/1 cost the same as 20/5 on Comcast

20/2 cost the same as 50/10 on Comcast.

 

So yea Time warner cable can die. It's time they suck with old tech.

 

I am rooting for the buy out because It can't really get much worse for time warner cable costumers. I may even make a pension or sign one for letting the deal go though.

 

The enjoy better jokers can take there 60% packet loss and broken LTE interfering old plants out the door.

 

Here in NYC, TWC is slacking in the speed department. The fastest speed on offer is 50/5 from them. On Optimum (the other cable provider) it is 101/37 and FiOS is 300Mbps.

 

TWC has yet to have an all fiber backbone like the other ISP's here. They are in need of an upgrade.

[swintec]

 

TWC has yet to have an all fiber backbone like the other ISP's here. They are in need of an upgrade.

 

Huh?  What are you saying they use at the backbone level then?  It is all fiber from the node back to the CMTS and outward.  From the node to the customer premises it is Coax...but that is just like any other cable company.

 

Optimum has a limited foot print in a very dense area around NY and New Jersey.  I dont believe you would see the same level of service if they were a national ISP operating outside of that small area.

 

As for FiOS...they have their fair share of complaints due to price and limitations with TV offerings.

[Nickel]

Here in NYC, TWC is slacking in the speed department. The fastest speed on offer is 50/5 from them. On Optimum (the other cable provider) it is 101/37 and FiOS is 300Mbps.

 

TWC has yet to have an all fiber backbone like the other ISP's here. They are in need of an upgrade.

They are working on that though:

http://www.fiercecable.com/story/time-warner-cable-rebrand-service-new-york-los-angeles/2014-01-30

[Paynefanbro]

Huh? What are you saying they use at the backbone level then? It is all fiber from the node back to the CMTS and outward. From the node to the customer premises it is Coax...but that is just like any other cable company.

 

Optimum has a limited foot print in a very dense area around NY and New Jersey. I dont believe you would see the same level of service if they were a national ISP operating outside of that small area.

 

As for FiOS...they have their fair share of complaints due to price and limitations with TV offerings.

Optimum is a fiber to the curb operator. In fact I can look in my backyard and see fiber along with Verizon telephone lines right there. And they run a coax line into my home.

 

At this point I am talking about a small geopgraphical area. TWC, as the sole cable provider for Manhattan and Queens, does a poor job compared to Optimum in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Optimum has been able to challenge FiOS head on within the service area. I understand that they (TWC) are a larger company and thus are spread thin compared to Optimum, but one would think they'd be able to offer competitive speeds and pricing when other ISP's are able to do so

 

And I know lo about FiOS! They skip neighborhoods. It's really annoying, their selective deployment of service.

[Bob Newhart]

People complaining about these companies joining up is funny, when most locations in the US can't get cable at all, yep really.

[swintec]

Optimum is a fiber to the curb operator.

 

Optimum doesnt run Fiber to the curb for every user.  Unless you are simply saying you can see the fiber.  I can see TWs fiber in several areas around here.  cable architecture brings cable to the node. the node is a media converter from light to RF (fiber to coax) with the coax running throughout that segment around the area to homes.

 

Comcast brings fiber more or less to the home for their 505 MBit tier but that is not a DOCSIS tier any longer.

 

In optimums case they have had to drop the number of homes passed per node considerably in order to compete with FiOS.  More nodes means more fiber needing to be run so yes I suppose fiber may be a bit deeper into the network than your normal cable plant elsewhere but they have the luxury of being in such a dense market of homes passed that this was relatively "easy" for them.

 

FiOS really isnt that much better than Optimum when you look at services offered, channel line ups, costs, etc.  I read abotu quite a few users leaving optimum only to come back since the grass on FiOS wasnt as green as they thought.

[WiWavelength]

Here is an interesting info graphic on cable consolidation...

 

 

AJ 

[jamisonshaw125]

Just saw this and thought it provided an interesting input into the whole comcast purchase. 

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/lowensteins-view-memo-fcc-doj-if-comcast-then-sprint/2014-02-18

[anthony.spina97]

Just saw this and thought it provided an interesting input into the whole comcast purchase.

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/lowensteins-view-memo-fcc-doj-if-comcast-then-sprint/2014-02-18

What does he mean by "Three, soon to be four national LTE networks"?

 

-Anthony

[cdk]

What does he mean by "Three, soon to be four national LTE networks"?

 

-Anthony

 

I am fairly sure it is another dis aimed at Sprint.

[caspar347]

I am fairly sure it is another dis aimed at Sprint.

It can't possibly be. I mean come on. He has to know Sprint's footprint is much larger than T-Mobiles's.

But deep down I know that it is.