We hope you’ve got your office’s WCIA pool all set, because it’s time for the bloodshed to begin. First up in the Worst Company Dodecahedron Of Doom — two cable and Internet providers that aren’t as big as Comcast, but which customers hate anyway. [More]
Seems like ever since Cablevision sued Viacom over its process of bundling less popular channels in with the ones people actually want, things have heating up in the pay-TV world. But instead of suing anyone, Verizon says it’s working on an entirely new model of TV programming: It wants to pay fees to media companies for their TV channels depending on how many people actually watch them. [More]
More than 18,000 New York state residents will be getting refunds from Time Warner Cable, now that the company has settled allegations that it overcharged subscribers in 10 towns and villages. [More]
Earlier this week, Cablevision sued broadcasting biggie Viacom for its practice of requiring cable and satellite carriers to buy a wide range of channels — many of them with small audiences — in order to be able to air the few stations with mass appeal. But it doesn’t look like Cablevision is open to the idea of giving customers the same level of choice. [More]
Among the biggest bones of contention in the now-frequent carriage fee disputes between broadcasters and cable/satellite companies is broadcasters’ insistence that carriers buy an entire bundle of channels just to get the one or two networks people actually watch. Today, Cablevision declared “Enough!” and filed suit against Viacom. [More]
A program intended to fight online piracy without resorting to prosecution was supposed to go live last year but was repeatedly delayed, most recently by Hurricane Sandy. But the folks running the Copyright Alert System (better known as Six Strikes) say it’s ready to go. [More]
If, during the course of watching a 50-hour marathon of Burn Notice on Netflix, you find yourself occasionally annoyed by drops in resolution or — heaven forefend — buffering, it might be your Internet service provider. Well, now you can get a better idea as Netflix intends to post monthly rankings of speed on 21 major ISPs. [More]
A long-in-the-works anti-piracy program from five major telecom players is probably not something you would think could be affected by a hurricane, but that’s apparently what is keeping the “Six Strikes” program from launching this week. [More]
With lots of people in New Jersey and New York still waiting for power to be turned back on in their homes, the last thing they should have to worry about is the cable bill. Thus, the folks at Cablevision have announced they will be offering account to customers whose cable and Internet are out, even if the outage is due to lack of power to the home. [More]
Dish Network customers are probably salivating with joy right now over the prospect of watching Mad Men, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad, as the company and AMC have finally reached a settlement. “Finally” is the key word here — it feels like these two have been fighting forever, even if the dispute really only got heated in July. [More]
If you’re a Cablevision customer who’s been languishing in a desert devoid of the NFL Network and RedZone channels, your oasis is in sight: The National Football League has finally reached a deal with Cablevision to carry the two channels in time for the upcoming season, which begins on Sept. 5. Starting tomorrow, customers will have the channels in their cable rosters. Time for a touchdown dance, perhaps. [More]
Internet service providers take your money and promise to send you speeding along an information superhighway, dangling the carrot of fast connection times to get your business. And according to an annual report card by the Federal Communications Commission, while Verizon and Cablevision are the leaders in providing advertised speeds, it seems most ISPs are getting better at being more consistent on delivering the goods as well. [More]
David, a Cablevision customer, recently moved outside of their service area. They were evidently sad that he left, because they just can’t let him go. Or figure out whether he owes them money or not. First he had a zero balance, then it was weeks overdue, then he had a small balance from his last month of service, then he received a letter from a collection agency. He called in to verify whether he needed to pay this bill or not, and learned that Cablevision isn’t able to send him a document stating that his balance is paid in full. Because they just can’t. [More]
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? [More]
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. [More]
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. [More]
Oliver tried to two-time FiOS after he got burned on a bad install. But Cablevision didn’t treat him right either, reneging on its promise to pricematch his old bill. Now he’s back again trying to rekindle a relationship with FiOS but they’re still up to their old ways and not giving him the tender loving he deserves. [More]
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: [More]
