Millions of Americans have canceled their cable TV subscriptions in the last decade, choosing instead to get their video entertainment over the internet. A growing number of services have popped up in recent years that offer cable-like live-TV streaming for this audience: Sling TV, DirecTV Now, PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV, with Hulu planning to launch a competitor soon, and Comcast reportedly looking to get into the fray. Yet, despite the multiple options and the large potential market of cord-cutters and cord-nevers, these platforms have yet to win over the masses. [More]
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Should Comcast Merge With Charter Or Verizon? Analyst Says Yes
By 4.21.17
In much the way that fans of celebrities enjoy chatting about how great two stars would be together, financial analysts daydream about multibillion-dollar corporate weddings. The current pro-business, anti-regulation mindset in D.C. is only fueling those romantic merger fantasies, with one high-profile analyst claiming that now is the perfect time for Comcast to gets its acquisition on. [More]
Communities Push For Investigation Into Comcast’s ‘Broadcast TV’ & ‘Regional Sports’ Fees
By 4.20.17
Comcast is already being sued over its “Broadcast TV” and “Regional Sports” surcharges, with customers alleging that the cable company uses these fees to illegally raise rates. Now, several local regulators are calling on their state attorney general to investigate Comcast over these dubious add-on charges. [More]
Even Politicians Spend The Day Rage-Tweeting About Comcast
By 4.18.17
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has rarely been shy about sharing his political opinions, but this week the two-time presidential candidate laser-focused his ire at a favorite target for millions of Americans, regardless of their party affiliation: Comcast. [More]
Comcast Customer Not Thrilled To Find His Bedroom Cable Box Is Named The “F- Palace”
By 4.14.17
A Comcast customer says he was mortified to find out — through his pre-teen son, no less — that, according to the Comcast website, the set-top box in the family’s master bedroom has the delightfully profane name of “F- Palace.” [More]
Comcast ‘Introduces’ Gigabit Fiber To City That’s Already Had It For 7 Years
By 4.11.17
Chattanooga, TN, has a gigabit fiber network that is basically the nation’s poster child for successful public broadband investment. Former FCC chair Tom Wheeler literally held it up as the example of how super-speedy, reliable broadband could transform a community, and should be expanded. So residents are understandably perplexed that Comcast is purporting to have “introduced” gigabit service to the area recently. [More]
More Details Revealed About Comcast’s Planned Streaming Service
By 4.10.17
Bit by bit we’re beginning to build an idea of what Comcast’s “it-will-launch-someday” streaming service will look like when that day comes. And no surprise here, the over-the-top option — rumored to be called Xfinity Instant TV — will come with programs from Comcast-owned NBCUniversal. [More]
What You Need To Know About Comcast’s $45-$65/Month ‘Xfinity Mobile’ Wireless Plans
By 4.6.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Since the year began, Comcast has been promising it would launch a mobile service in the middle of the year. The launch isn’t here yet, but now we know a lot more about what that plan will look like when it does materialize. [More]
Comcast To Discontinue Some Ads That Take Aim At DirecTV
By 4.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Seven months after Comcast was warned by an ad watchdog to check itself before wrecking itself when it came to badmouthing DirectTV, the same organization has recommended that the cable behemoth discontinue ads that allegedly exaggerate its rival’s problem with satellite signal interruptions. [More]
Comcast, AT&T: We Totally Respect Your Privacy Even Though We Helped Kill The Law Protecting It
By 3.31.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
The FCC rule that would have prohibited your ISP from collecting and selling your personal data without your permission is pretty much dead, leaving consumers to fend for themselves. Members of the House and Senate didn’t all spontaneously come up with the same talking points about why the FCC rule was unfair, though; they had help from lobbyists and telecom corporations along the way. And now some of the biggest of those corporations are pinky-swearing that just because they can abuse the heck out of your data now doesn’t mean they will. [More]
Cable Companies May Be Headed For “Street Fight” Over Streaming Services
By 3.30.17
Cable TV operators like Comcast and Charter have rarely, if ever, had to compete directly with each other. But that truce — kept in place thanks to local franchise agreements that limit competition — may soon end if the pay-TV companies decide to start offering service outside of their footprint. [More]
Civil Rights Groups That Received Donations From ISPs Spoke Out Against Internet Privacy
By 3.29.17
The Federal Communication Commission’s internet privacy regulations would have prevented your internet provider from using and selling some potentially sensitive information about you, but the Senate and the House of Representatives voted to roll back the regulations. As the bill awaits the President’s signature, we’ve learned that some of the community groups that contacted the FCC to oppose privacy regulations are recipients of donations from Comcast. [More]
Comcast May Launch Streaming Service For Cord-Cutters
By 3.28.17
Even Comcast, the biggest cable company in the country, is starting to acknowledge a key reality: It’s 2017, and consumers, especially younger adults, don’t want to pay for cable television anymore. To that end, the rumor mill now says, Comcast is going to join the competition and launch a $15 streaming service — but you’ll have to have their internet service, first. [More]
Thieves Use Comcast Van As Getaway Vehicle
By 3.17.17
Thieves use all manner of transportation to make a (sometimes) speedy getaway from their crime scenes: a horse, taxis, motorized shopping carts; the list goes on. This week, a pair of robbers added to this rich history, driving away from the scene of a crime in a stolen Comcast van. [More]
Amazon Gives Up On Selling Comcast & Frontier Cable Service
By 3.6.17
Last year, as part of its march toward inevitable world domination, Amazon opened a store to sell cable service. No, it wasn’t getting into the business: Amazon signed up customers and collected a commission. Now, however, the Everything Store no longer sells telecom services. [More]
FCC Chair Claims Broadband Investment At Historic Low Level Because Of Net Neutrality; That’s Not What The Numbers Say
By 2.28.17
This morning, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made a claim that net neutrality, which hasn’t even been in place for two years, has driven investment in U.S. broadband to historically low levels. However, the actual numbers given by the nation’s largest cable and telecom companies don’t appear to back this up. [More]
Comcast CEO Loves His Company So Much, He (Maybe) Wants To Move In With It
By 2.9.17
A number of great business tycoons — like Bob Belcher and James McGill, esq. — have lived where they work, so why shouldn’t Comcast’s favorite son, CEO Brian Roberts, take up residence inside Kabletown Tower? [More]
