Sick of being forced to accept Viacom’s massive bundle of barely watched cable channels — Palladia and MTV Hits, anyone? — just to get the handful that its subscribers want to watch (MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Nickelodeon), New York-based Cablevision sued Viacom in early 2013, alleging the broadcaster was violating federal antitrust laws. Viacom has since tried to have the case dismissed, but a U.S. District Court has ruled that the case can move forward. [More]
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ISPs Are Mostly Delivering The Speeds They Advertise, Just Not Consistently
By 6.18.14
What does it mean when a cable company advertises “blazing fast Internet” or download speeds “up to 15 Mbps”? Does that mean all the time for everyone, or just an average? And how far from those “up to” speeds can an Internet service provider be before they have some explaining to do? [More]
Highlights From Today’s Supreme Court Hearing On Aereo
By 4.22.14
Aereo, the streaming video service that everyone’s talking about but few people actually have, defended its existence today in front of the U.S. Supreme Court while lawyers for the nation’s broadcasters and the federal government looked to smash the company’s tiny antennae into bits… legally speaking. [More]
Aereo Supreme Court Case Could Change TV & Cloud-Based Tech Forever, Regardless Of Who Wins
By 4.21.14
Many big court cases involve one side arguing to maintain the status quo while the other contends that the current situation needs revising. But tomorrow, the broadcast TV networks face off against startup streaming video service Aereo in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that could have far-reaching implications no matter which side is victorious. [More]
Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Aereo Case; Ruling Could Impact All Cloud-Based Tech
By 1.10.14
The Supreme Court announced this afternoon that it will hear the lawsuit filed by the broadcast networks against streaming video startup Aereo. How the court rules will have an impact not just on consumers’ ability to stream live network feeds online, but on all cloud-based media storage. [More]
Aereo: It’s Fine By Us If The Networks Want To Take Us Before The Supreme Court
By 12.12.13
You know those arguments where you’re certain you’re right, so when the other person says “Well, let’s just go look up the answer,” you are more than happy to oblige? That appears to be the attitude of streaming video startup Aereo, which today said it will not try to stop the broadcast networks from taking their complaint to the Supreme Court. [More]
Cablevision: Broadcasters’ Attack On Aereo Doing More Damage Than Good
By 12.12.13
As you probably know, the broadcast networks have all been filing lawsuits against streaming video startup Aereo, which takes freely available over-the-air feeds and makes them available online to paying customers. While you’d expect a large cable operator like Cablevision to stand behind the networks in this fight, a new paper from the company expresses concern that the broadcasters are going too far and, if successful, may call into question the legality of all cloud-based technology. [More]
A Cable Outage Is Not An Emergency That Rates Calling 911
By 8.19.13
Look, it doesn’t matter how important it is to be up to date on the latest happenings on “Dexter” or “Breaking Bad” before you get to the office on Monday. When your cable goes out, the proper reaction is to wait for a few minutes, then (perhaps) to call your cable company to make sure it isn’t just you. That is not how the good people of Connecticut reacted last night. [More]
Charter Owners Looking To Snatch Up Time Warner Cable And Possibly Cablevision, Claims Report
By 7.1.13
Relatively small cable and Internet company Charter Communications has earned a number of Worst Company In America brackets but often fails to progress beyond the first round because it’s just not big enough to be hated by a nationwide audience. That could change, as the company’s owner reportedly seeks to acquire Time Warner Cable and possibly Cablevision. [More]
Worst Company In America Round 1: Cablevision Vs. Time Warner Cable
March 19, 2013
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]
Verizon FiOS Wants The Fees It Pays Tied To How Many People Actually Watch A Channel
By 3.18.13
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]
Time Warner Cable To Pay $2.2 Million To Overcharged New York Customers
By 3.7.13
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]
Even If It Breaks Up Viacom Bundle, Cablevision Won’t Commit To A La Carte Cable
By 3.1.13
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]
Sick Of Being Forced To Pay For Channels No One Watches, Cablevision Sues Viacom
By 2.26.13
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]
After Much Delay, The Anti-Piracy “Six Strikes” Program Is Nearing Launch
By 2.25.13
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]
Netflix Now Posting Monthly Rankings Of ISP Speeds
By 12.11.12
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]
‘Six Strikes’ Anti-Piracy Program Delayed To 2013, This Time Because Of Hurricane Sandy
By 11.29.12
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]
Cablevision To Offer Credit For Customers Without Power After Hurricane
By 11.2.12
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]
