5 Cable Companies Agree To Share Hotspots, But Will People Use Them?
For years, a number of the larger cable-based Internet providers have placed WiFi hotspots around the country for their customers to use when not in the comfort of their own home, but you had to find a hotspot operated by your ISP. Today, five of those companies — Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, and Cox Communications — have announced that their customers will all soon be able to all use the same hotspots. But will people use them — and will this actually make some of the problems worse?
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Study: Cable Bills Could Reach $200/Month By 2020
Right now, the average monthly cable bill — not including any bundled phone or internet services — is around $86. But industry analysts say the non-stop slap fights between cable companies and content providers is only going to send that price soaring in the years to come.
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Cablevision Does The Right Thing After A Quick Public Shaming
One way a company can avoid be taken to task by Consumerist on the wide world of webbernets is to have their product do what it should in the first place, or if that fails, at least have customer service reps ready to be helpful. When
that fails, you can always pull a makegood and gain back a few points with us. Just a few.
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Cablevision Sees Nothing Wrong With Month Of Super Slow Or Nonexistent Internet Service
Nicole is a web developer, and as such, relies on a steady and speedy connection to the Internet. That's why she shelled out around $415 in installation and fees to Cablevision for access to their 100MB "Ultra" Internet service. But in this case, that 100MB promise has been like a flickering mirage of an oasis in a very dry desert.
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Which Internet Provider Is The Best For Streaming Netflix?
How well you'll be able to stream season two of Breaking Bad on Netflix may depend largely on which company you're paying to provide internet service to your home. Netflix has just released the results of its own study on network performance and the results may not surprise you.
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How To Say No To Arbitration With Your Cable Company
Here's something neat. Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cablevision/Optimum actually let customers opt out of arbitration when they sign up. If you don't want to give up your right to personally sue them in a court of law and be forced into a kangaroo court overseen by a judge whose fees are paid for by the company you're suing, Cablevision will let you. The caveat is that you have to tell them within 30 days of signing your contract. Here's the links and relevant contract language to opt-out:
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Cablevision Delivers New, Unfathomably Slow DVR To New Customer
Cloud storage is the way of the future, it seems. But right now, there are some bugs to work out and devices that don't quite work as planned. Todd just had Cablevision installed last week, and he has a new kind of DVR, called DVR+, that has no hard drive and stores his recorded programs remotely. Pro: No large hard drive that will inevitably fail inside the set-top box. Con: This new type of DVR is slow and crappy.
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Washington State Inspectors "Deeply Concerned" About Undercooked Beef At Burger King
While most people are used to the grayish, overcooked burgers often served at fast food mega-chains, inspectors for the Washington Dept. of Health have found what they call a "disturbing trend" of undercooked beef being served at Burger King.
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25 CEOs Who Made More Than Their Companies Paid In Income Taxes
The Institute for Policy Studies has just released its 18th annual review of U.S. executive compensation and found that 25 out of the country's 100 highest-paid chief executives actually earned more in 2010 than their companies paid out in corporate income taxes.
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What Would You Want To See On A Cable Customers' Bill Of Rights?
Over at our former sibling site Gizmodo, they have cobbled together what they believe is a list of the basic rights any cable customer should have when it comes to service, billing and selection. We wanted to throw it out there to see if you agree.
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Viacom, Cablevision Settle iPad Streaming Suit
In what could be described as a streaming contest, Viacom and Cablevision have been legally sparring for weeks over how to divvy up the rights to control streaming video on iPad apps. Now the corporate giants have settled their differences out of court. In a joint statement, the companies announced that Cablevision will be allowed to stream Viacom channels, including MTV and Comedy Central, over iPads located inside cable-subscribing homes.
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Report: Record Number Of Cable Customers Cutting The Cord
Hear that snipping sound? No, it's not
squirrels nipping at your FiOS cord. It's a record number of Americans cutting ties with their cable and satellite providers.
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FCC Broadband Study Shows Which Companies Actually Come Close To Meeting Advertised Download Speeds
Today, at — of all places — a Best Buy in Washington, DC, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the results of the agency's Measuring Broadband America study, which looked to put a more accurate number on what consumers should be expecting from their broadband providers.
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Comcast, Verizon, Others Hop On Board Anti-Piracy "Copyright Alert System"
We know, because you've told us, that a number of you prefer to get your movies and premium TV via less-than-legal internet sources. We're not going to judge you for that, but you may soon begin seeing notices from the new Copyright Alert System to let you know that they are aware of your dirty downloads and would you kindly stop.
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FCC To Reconsider Rules For Negotiations Between Broadcasters And Cable Companies
In recent years, the disputes between cable companies and broadcasters have gotten especially ugly as boardroom squabbles have spilled over onto the airwaves and online. And in the end, it's always the subscribers who get hurt with blackouts and eventual price hikes. That's why the FCC voted today to reinvestigate the rules and its role in these negotiations.
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NYC Parks To Get Free WiFi, At A Price
New Yorkers are slated to get free wifi in 32 public parks next year, but it will come with a pricetag. Park users will get three 10 minute sessions per month, and after that pay 99 cents a day. The money goes to Time Warner and Cablevision, who agreed to provide the wifi as part of the city agreeing to renew their cable-tv franchises for 10 years. Public advocates promptly slammed the deal as the privatization of a public good.
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Cablevision & Fox Put Differences Aside, Work Together To Screw Customers
Just in time for Game 3 of a World Series that very few people in its viewing audience care seriously about, Cablevision and Fox have ended their two-week standoff. Which means Cablevision customers will have Fox stations back on the air — and they'll be paying more for them!
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Cablevision Customers File $450 Million Class-Action Suit Over Fox Blackout
This is what happens when you take Glee away from people — they file an almost half-billion dollar lawsuit against you. Or at least that's what some Cablevision customers in New York have done as the standoff between the cable company and Fox nears the end of its second week.
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Cablevision Gives Customers Free World Series Streams
Good news for aging New York Giants loyalists and Yankee fans who want to do a pre-purchase check-in on Cliff Lee: This evening, Cablevision emailed customers — who have lost all Fox programming, including the World Series, due to the ongoing battle between the two companies — and said they would reimburse them for Major League Baseball's $9.95 Postseason.tv service.
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Fox Says No To Cablevision Offer
First it seemed there was
no chance Cablevision and Fox would settle their differences today. And then Cablevision said
it was okay to pay Fox a butt load of cash... but only for one year. And now, we learn Fox has rebuffed this last-minute attempt to end the stand-off in time for Game 1 of the World Series.
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Cablevision Offers 1-Year Deal To Fox To End Stand-Off
We may have spoken too soon when we wrote that
no resolution appeared to be on the horizon in the Fox/Cablevision water balloon war over carriage fees.
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No Resolution In Cablevision/Fox Fracas With Only Hours To Go To World Series Start
The World Series begins tonight on Fox, but it looks like 3 million Cablevision subscribers will have to resort to finding an antenna or watching elsewhere as the thumb-wrestling match between the cable provider and NewsCorp drags on without resolution.
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NFL Network Asks Cablevision: Hey, Where's Our Binding Arbitration?
During its ongoing staring contest with NewsCorp over carriage fees, Cablevision has
repeatedly asked the broadcaster to enter into binding arbitration. This apparently has the folks at the NFL Network wondering why Cablevision isn't so eager to sit down at the arbitration table with them.
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FCC Tweets Baseball Updates To Blacked Out Cablevision Customers
While some lawmakers are calling for the
FCC to intervene in the Cablevision/Fox
pissing match over carriage fees, the FCC made some attempt last night to keep blacked-out Phillies fans informed.
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Fox Blacked Out Hulu For Cablevision Subscribers
A small skirmish in the pissing match between Fox and Cablevision could have major repercussions.
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NJ Senators Call For FCC To Intervene In Cablevision/Fox Squabble
As Cablevision subscribers in the NYC and Philadelphia area
go without access to their local Fox affilliates because of the protracted carriage fee fracas between the cable company and the broadcaster, the two U.S. Senators from the oft-maligned state of New Jersey have jointly penned a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski asking for the Commission to intervene.
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Cablevision VP Blasts Fox Blackout As "Shameful"
Many people had predicted — or at least hoped — that the fee squabble that led to Fox's
Friday night decision to pull its local NYC and Philadelphia affiliates from Cablevision subscribers would have been sorted out in time for folks to enjoy Sunday afternoon football. Alas, that didn't happen and hordes of Giants and Eagles fans were scrambling for antennas.
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Fox vs. Cablevision Pissing Match Ends In Baseball Blackout
Just in time for the NLCS and the World Series, the very public slap fight between NewsCorp and Cablevision hit an impasse on Friday night, with Cablevision subscribers in the New York City and Philadelphia metro areas no longer having access to their local Fox affiliates.
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Cable Companies Agree To Pay NY Customers For Late Service Calls
In a joyous-for-customers agreement straight out of a Seinfeld episode, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable cut a deal with New York's City Hall that requires the companies to give customers a free month of service if a technician arrives late to an appointment.
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Cablevision Customers Suffer Email Outage
Starting on Thursday and continuing into Friday, some unknown number of Cablevision customers were thrust into the darkness, unable to communicate via email, for more than 24 hours, forcing them to take to Twitter, Facebook, and whatever other myriad ways people jabber on the Internet these days to complain.
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AT&T U-Verse Points Finger At Cablevision In Flap Over AMC Fees
Midnight tonight is the deadline for AT&T U-Verse to come to terms with Cablevision's Rainbow Media over carriage fees for several channels, including AMC,
which is about to debut its new season of its biggest show, Mad Men, next week. Now AT&T is pointing the finger squarely at its opponent in this showdown.
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AT&T U-Verse Customers Could Miss New Season Of Mad Men
In just over two weeks, Emmy-winning AMC drama Mad Men is slated to begin its fourth season on the basic cable channel. But with negotiations between its parent company and AT&T U-Verse over carriage fees, the cable and internet provider might force subscribers to relocate their premiere parties to the apartment of someone with Comcast.
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Help! Cablevision Is In The Hall Listening Outside My Door!
Reader Newman says he got a voicemail from a Cablevision guy that was in the hallway at his work, listening through his office door. He tells us this is the final straw and he'll be getting FiOS...
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Cablevision Acquires Smallish Cable Company Called Bresnan
Cablevision, a small but deeply hated cable company in New York City, has shelled out $1.4B for an even smaller company that owns systems in Colorado, Utah, Montana and Wyoming. Analysts studying the deal were described as "cautious" because it appears to make no sense.
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BillShrink Shows You How To Save On Cable Bills
This morning,
BillShrink delivered a karate chop to the cable cabal with a new service, currently in beta, that shows you how to get the best cable/tv/satellite/dish package for the best price.
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VIDEO: Hey Streets, What's The Worst Company In America?
I hit the streets of New York with a video camera, asking taxi drivers, youths, store owners and chicks eating donuts, "What's the worst company in America?" Most people laughed and said, "Worst
company?" — and then thought real hard and gave us some answers, answers which may shock you! This video has subtitles so you can watch it at work without anyone knowing.
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Cable Providers Rushing To Broadcast Tiger's Return To Golf In 3D
It would be so easy to make jokes about Tiger Woods' club and balls being seen in 3D. But it's not gonna happen. Regardless, in spite of the fact that about 4.2 people have purchased 3D TVs — and that golf is probably the least interesting sport to televise, let alone in 3D, cable companies are lining up to broadcast the Masters golf tournament in its three-dimensional glory.
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Time Warner Launching WiFi Hotspots In NYC
Earlier today, Time Warner Cable announced their plan for placing WiFi hotspots in NYC that will be free to subscribers of their Road Runner internet service.
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Verizon Accuses Cablevision Of Patent Infringement On Cable Boxes
Just as it's finished
its battle with ABC, Cablevision looks like they're about to lock horns again. This time it's with Verizon, who have accused the NYC-area cable company of infringing on several of its patents for set-top receivers.
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List Of Subscriber Fees Shows What You Pay For Channels You Hate
After the spat between Cablevision and Disney invaded the Oscar telecast last Sunday, the fees channels charge cable companies (who then pass them along to you) have come into the spotlight. All Things Digital posted a list from industry analyst SNL Kagan that shows the wholesale prices each channel charges cable companies for their product.
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ABC7 Cuts Off Cablevision Customers Just In Time For Oscars
Oscar is being held hostage in the latest battle between the New York City-area ABC affiliate and cable provider Cablevision. At midnight last night, ABC7 cut off their feed to Cablevision, leaving millions Oscarless. This caught our attention not only because it was a spectacularly obnoxious negotiating ploy on ABC's part, but also because local media are giving Cablevision customers some pretty bad advice.
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Cablevision Produces New Bitchy Video Loop Aimed At ABC
New York City area cable provider and ISP Cablevision is in a contract renewal fight with yet another content provider. This time, it's ABC's flagship broadcast station WABC that wants more money, and Cablevision has raised the stakes in the passive-aggressive public service announcement wars. They've redirected customers' cable boxes to a special channel where a looped announcement plays, and have started a YouTube channel to get the word out to any non-customers who might happen to care.
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After 3 Months, Only 35 Paying Customers For Newspaper's Web Site
Newsday is a Long Island newspaper. Some people bought it for $650 million and put it behind a pay wall. Three months later, they've got 35 subscribers. Yes, 35.
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Scripps And Cablevision End Food Network/HGTV Standoff
The long regional nightmare is over: Cablevision and Scripps have ended their
passive-aggressive standoff and c
ome to an agreement that put Food Network and HGTV back on Cablevision customers' TVs. The secret ingredient: an undisclosed amount of cash.
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Cablevision Replaces Food Network And HGTV With Passive-Aggressive Announcement
Cablevision subscribers woke up yesterday to discover that Food Network and HGTV were gone from their television screens. GONE! What now runs on the space where those stations used to be is a slightly rewritten version of
Cablevision's statement about the situation. It strikes us as a little passive-aggressive.
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Complaint E-mail To Cablevision Results In Immediate Response, Cool Insider Info
—>Do you know how powerful just one dissatisfied customer can be? David, a telephone, internet, and cable TV customer of Cablevision, didn't know until he was finally frustrated enough with the company to send a very honest e-mail detailing his issues with their service. He received a response that he hadn't expected at all. More »
Indie Flicks Now Come To Cable Boxes As Soon As They Hit Theaters
—>It used to be Steven Soderbergh who could get away with bringing indie films to cable on-demand services on their theatrical opening day More »
Cablevision Takes Away Analog Stations Before DTV Transition, Confuses Customers
—>Joe works at a Radio Shack store on Long Island. Lately, the combination of the digital TV transition and some recent lineup changes at local cable TV provider Cablevision has Joe concerned, since he has both a conscience and a brain, and is an avid Consumerist reader. More »
Cablevision: It's Impossible To Hook Up Basic Service Without A Converter Box
—>Cablevision told Chris that his boss' 95-year-old uncle couldn't receive basic service without a cable box, "no matter what." Chris, who installs home theaters, knew that his uncle's cable-ready tv didn't require a cable box. Pointing this out to Cablevision's customer service representative, however, was apparently "disrespectful." More »
Cablevision Wants You Back, Promises "Free 911"
—>Ever since switching to FIOS a few months back, reader GiteEmSteveDave has been pestered by his old provider, Cablevision. Like any other jaded ex, Cablevision is losing it's mind in well-meaning promises - like, offering "411+911 FREE". Gitem, you have to be firm - you had good times together, but you're with FIOS now, and Cablevision needs to move on and accept it. If they don't get the picture, then maybe a little tough love is in order. More »
We Are Not Impressed By New York City's Proposed Cable Consumer Bill Of Rights
—>New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson has proposed tying a Cable Consumer Bill of Rights into the 10-year franchise renewals Time Warner and Cablevision are expected to sign later this year. The proposal would force cable operators to disclose information about their expenses and service goals—which sounds nice and important on paper—but wastes an unrivaled opportunity to end the cable operators' most hated practices. More »
Cablevision Claims They Are Not Lying Liars, But Mysteries Remain
—>Cablevision responded to our post chastising their attempt to force customer to upgrade to digital service by pointing to an unrelated FCC mandate. Cablevision admits that there is no connection between their unilateral business decision to cut channels and the FCC-mandated transition to digital television, but their statement leaves several questions unanswered. Read Cablevision's statement and our response, after the jump. More »
Cablevision: Techs On-Time Or You Get $20
A Cablevision tech support rep told us that if your Cablevision tech arrives past the service window, you're entitled to a $20 credit (this press release supports it). And if you're in the Bronx or Brooklyn, you can get a free month of cable TV if the tech shows up late (this is applied on a case-by-case basis but it is possible. Should the tech pull a noshow, call customer service and speak to a supervisor, who may offer you credits (usually $40-$50) or a free month depending on your customer history. Inside, Which customer service number to call, based on the first four digits of your account number: More »
Verizon: Cancel Vonage And Cablevision Phone Lines Or You Can't Have FiOS
—>Here's an odd little letter. For once a customer was actually pleased with the salesperson that came to their door and convinced them to try FiOS. Yay! The trouble came when the nice salesperson called in and Verizon refused to activate the account unless the customer canceled their phone lines with Vonage and Cablevision and switched all three to Verizon. More »
Cablevision Tries To Sell You Phone Service During Funeral
—>Cablevision tried to telemarket Greg Scoblete phone service during a funeral:
Two days ago I attended a wake. During the wake my cellphone rang...I couldn't answer the first call, but shortly thereafter it rang again. "Must be important," I thought, ducking out of the room.
It turned out to be a Cablevision telemarketer trying to rope me into the triple play. Fair enough. I told the rep that I wasn't interested in the triple play and in any event, I was at a wake.
"I understand that," he said, "but I'll have you off the phone in five minutes saving money on your long-distance bills."
Congratulations, Cablevision, you've taken the definition of shameless marketing to a whole new level.
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Cablevision is charging customers $40 to keep their old phone number when they switch over. When questioned, they lie and say they're simply trying to recoup the number port fee charged by the previous provider. [Consumer Reports via Broadband Reports] More »
Best Internet, TV, Phone Service Providers
—>Lots of companies are pushing deals for their bundled internet, tv and phone plans, but which are best? Consumer Reports surveyed its readers and here's how they ranked the service providers: More »
Cablevision Uses Digital TV Transition To Upsell Basic Cable
—>Cablevision is trying to scare consumers into signing up for basic cable service ahead of the planned transition to digital television. After February 17, 2009, consumers will need a $60 converter box to receive television signals over-the-air. The transition to digital will significantly improve the quality of over-the-air television, but that isn't stopping Cablevision from funding a scare-mongering campaign to rustle up new business. More »
Cablevision will raise the cost of its average video package by 4.7% starting in December. It says the cost of its Internet and digital phone services will remain the same through 2008. [Reuters] More »
Desperate To Keep "Extra Innings" Customers, Cablevision Offers To "Pay" For MLB.TV
—> Cable and Satellite companies are in the midst of a battle to attract and retain the lucrative customers who subscribe to out-of-market sports packages. DirecTV and MLB recently came to an agreement that would allow DirecTV exclusive rights to offer the "Extra Innings" out-of-market baseball package. Cable companies are fighting the deal, even arguing their case before a couple senators. So far, DirecTV's deal stands and Cablevision is fighting back by offering to compensate former "Extra Innings" customers with a credit towards MLB's online service MLB.TV. A few shocked readers forwarded the email, which we've reproduced inside. The deal is only for customers who subscribed to "Extra Innings" last year. —MEGHANN MARCO More »
Does Harper Collins Know What You're Downloading?
—>We were looking through the Freakonomics blog this morning when we came across this post from Dec 18th, concerning Harper Collins contacting the ISPs of customers thought to be sharing of illegal copies of the book Freakonomics. The post had a link to a letter that a customer received after illegally downloading the book. More »
Cablevision Won't Take No Answer For An Answer
This is the log of calls Brian has received from 516-393-0168. More »
The Cableman Strikes Thrice!
—>We think we've discovered the Rosetta Stone of cable company installation stories. More »
