Discovery Communications and Scripps Networks are putting Shark Week, Guy Fieri, House Hunters, and Bizarre Foods all under the same umbrella in a $14.6 billion mega merger of hugely successful, moderately entertaining media companies.
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Discovery Communications, Scripps Networks Bring HGTV & TLC Together In $14.6B Deal
By 7.31.17
AMC Reportedly Working On Streaming Service Connected To Cable Packages
By 3.27.17
If you’re a fan of that one show where the undead aren’t the biggest threat to the living, or the one where the Cinnabon guy used to be a shady-ish lawyer, but you want a little more from the shows, you’re just the person AMC is looking for: The cable network is preparing to launch an online video streaming service featuring content related to its popular shows. [More]
Charter’s Univision Blackout Ends With Court Ruling
By 2.3.17 — Updated: 3.7.17
Charter-Spectrum customers now have access to TV networks owned by Univision, after a judge granted the cable company’s request for a temporary restraining order against the media company, effectively ending the blackout that started Tuesday night. [More]
ESPN Accounts For More Than $6 Of Your Cable Bill; Could Soon Top $8
By 8.5.14
In recent years, cable companies and broadcasters have squared off in nasty, public spats that sometimes result in blackouts for millions of viewers. The broadcasters say they aren’t being paid properly and the cable companies claim they’re on our side, trying to keep costs down (though we always end up paying more). These battles will likely only get worse, with analysts predicting that the cost of content will continue to increase. [More]
Sprint's Premium Data Plan For Samsung Epic Has Slower Upload Speeds Than Regular 3G Phones
By 9.20.10
Yesterday, the blog Explain the Fee noted that Sprint customers with the new Samsung Epic 4G, who have to pay an extra $10 a month for a premium data plan, are reporting upload speeds slower than phones they had 3 or 4 years ago–with upload limits seemingly capped at 150kps. [More]
Consumers Hate Facebook As Much As Airlines, Cable Companies
By 7.22.10
Has Facebook’s ongoing foolishness with privacy settings, fine print, and advertising taken its toll on the brand? According to The American Customer Satisfaction Index’s E-Business Report, Facebook scored 64 points out of 100, which puts it in the bottom 5% of private companies, “in the same range as airlines and cable companies.” The one bit of good news for Facebook is that MySpace scored 63 points. [More]
ABC Doubling The Commercials On iPad App, Online Streams
By 6.16.10
If you watch ABC’s shows online or with an iPad, your limited commercial interruptions are about to get a little less limited. So far, most of ABC’s streaming shows contain 5 to 6 ads of 30 seconds each, but mocoNews says one of ABC’s executives just confirmed that the network is going to double that ad load, perhaps leading the way for other networks to do the same. [More]
Will The iPhone 4 Cripple AT&T's Network?
By 6.10.10
AT&T’s network is notorious for the connectivity issues surrounding the iPhone, and Silicon Alley Insider thinks that the iPhone 4 is only going to compound them. Steve Jobs’ assurances that AT&T has assured him the network is going to get better by the end of the summer won’t be enough, because of specific changes Apple made to the phone itself. [More]
Quick, Someone Develop Adblock For Online TV Commercials
By 2.8.10
The ratings company Nielsen–the company you can blame for bad stunt-casting and stupid plot devices during sweeps week–is going to start rolling in data from online viewings of commercials this fall, which means networks will start using online viewing stats to help sell ads this time next year. What this means: if a network uses the new Nielsen rating system, “shows seen online will have to have the same group of commercials that run on TV,” reports AdAge. [More]
Nexus One Users Say T-Mobile 3G Is Hard To Access
By 1.11.10
Apparently quite a few Nexus One users are having a hard time getting their new phones to connect to T-Mo’s 3G network. Instead, according to InformationWeek, they are getting bounced down to the slower EDGE network. [More]
AT&T Network Blame Game Takes Weird "It's Apple's Fault" Twist
By 12.14.09
Last week AT&T, in yet another of a string of PR failures about the health of its network, made things even worse by publicly blaming its customers for, you know, being customers. Over the weekend, though, a new thread was introduced into the narrative: it’s the iPhone’s fault. Not because it’s too popular, which has been the old complaint, but because the hardware doesn’t work right, and AT&T can’t say anything about it for fear that Steve Jobs will reach down through the clouds and smite them.
That sounds pretty tragic and sad for AT&T, but the problem is nobody knows if it’s true, or if this is yet another strategy to shift the responsibility from AT&T.
AT&T: Want To Tell Us We Suck? There's An App For That
By 12.7.09
AT&T has debuted an iPhone app that will let AT&T/iPhone users submit reports when they experience poor phone service. This will be a popular app. [More]
Developer Finds Security Hole In SMC Router Provided By Time Warner Cable
By 10.22.09
If you didn’t provide your own wireless router when you signed up for Internet access from Time Warner, you may have been given an SMC-branded modem/router combo that turns out is ridiculously easy to break into.
AT&T Refuses To Give $3 Credit For Lack Of Service
By 10.5.09
AT&T loves your money and will not give up that money no matter what, even if it means making you waste nearly an hour of an AT&T employee’s time, which surely must be worth more than three dollars. We guess it’s the principal; as long as AT&T refuses to admit they’ve got problems, the problems don’t exist.
Internet Speeds Are Lower Than Advertised 50-80% Of The Time
By 9.30.09
Anyone who reads the fine print when signing up for Internet access knows that the speeds advertised are “best case” scenarios, or more cynically that they’re total fabrications meant to lure in customers. Now the FCC, as part of its larger study of how to expand broadband access, has reported that “actual broadband speeds lag advertised speeds by as much as 50% to 80%.”
Apple Blames Jailbreaking For Recent AT&T Visual Voicemail Outages
By 7.31.09
Apple’s not through with their blitz against jailbreaking, with this newly updated support doc that says, among other things, that the recent Visual Voicemail outages from AT&T were caused by—and happened to—hacked iPhones.
Verizon C.E.O. Ivan Seidenberg Reveals The Telecom's Future
By 6.27.09
The future of Verizon lies in bundled apps and global domination, according to C.E.O. Ivan Seidenberg. Verizon’s head honcho appeared last week on Charlie Rose to chat about a range of things, including FiOs, the decision to build a CDMA network, and the future of your cellphone service. If nothing else, it’s nice to put a calm, seemingly rational face to the grotesque anti-consumer corporate monster that we all loathe. Hit the jump for the full interview.
"Without A Trace," Other Shows, Gone Without A Trace
By 5.20.09
Some bad news if you love the show Without a Trace. Not only do you have poor taste in entertainment, but there will be a gaping hole in your life come September when your drama, which has given up the ghost, will only be viewable via seance like other departed shows such as Alf, Cop Rock, and Grounded for Life.
