This isn’t the first time we have seen this battle brought into the public eye! Time Warner Cable seems to have been in contract negotiations with several broadcasting companies lately which included FOX on a local level for me. FOX was pulled off air from TWC for a little while in 2008 and at that time, Time Warner simply displayed a domain name on the dead channel FOX was broadcast on with TellTheTruthWLUK.com . Smart move by Time Warner as it attracted A LOT of people to the website.
I wrote about that outage and the domain TellTheTruthWLUK.com here in October 2008.
In December 2009 FOX and Time Warner battle was on again and this time it was a fight from both ends with domain names and the websites that reside on them!
FOX brought: KeepFoxOn.com to the table with a make sense domain name!
Time Warner rolled out: RolloverOrGetTough.com
The two came to an agreement as the channel stayed on… Here was my coverage of the network battle from 2009
Now August 2010 has come along and now ABC/ESPN and Time Warner are trying to come to terms since the contract they have is set to expire soon and guess what… they bring out the domain names again!
ABC/ESPN: iHaveChoices.com
Time Warner: RolloverOrGetTough.com is used again
Well, the ABC domain is easier to remember and makes more sense to me, so I give the battle win to them for domains picked! The contract expires on September 2, 2010 so both are going at it a bit earlier than in the past, a good month ahead of the deadline.
As a Time Warner customer.. this stuff is getting old really. My cable bill went up last month by $12 out of the blue and now has ballooned to $170+ a month. That is with a "package" of Cable/Phone/Internet. I rarely use my phone so I was going to drop that and I figured I would save about $40 off my bill… nope, I would save about $5 a month.
I have tried dish companies in the past and living in Wisconsin.. if it was cloudy, rainy, snowy or windy.. you basically couldn’t watch TV as the signal was dead. If I had internet, I would expect the same, No internet!
So by ABC saying "I have choices", I do, but they suck! Time Warner offers a really great product. It very rarely doesn’t work, no contracts, free service calls, equipment upgrades are easy with local service locations etc. The bad thing, it cost $170 a month for me. With the internet, basically everything that is on TV can be found online, for free!
Keep raising your prices and bitching it out in the public eye and you both with keep pushing customers away. I am all about keeping the public and paying customers informed by your websites you offer but does it really need to reach this level time after time?
RolloverOrGetTough.com (Yeah, get tough and keep raising the prices of your customers!) Get tough on THEM, not us!
Frank Spencer
Don’t negotiate. DO SOMETHING! It seems this goes
on every year. We lose channels and cable charges
more. When will it stop? I am seriously consider-
ing dropping Cable. I am on a very low income and
can’t afford this crap anymore. Why don’t you set
it up so subscribers pay for the channels they
want? I have extended basic & I watch about 20 of
the channels offered. Why not let me pay for just
those? Won’t be a subscriber much longer!!!!!!!!
Jamie Zoch
I agree Frank! I would LOVE to be able to select the channels I want. This “package” of channels just isn’t worth the price paid for the minimal channels I watch.
Debbie
I to wish to pay for what I watch and not all the other non-sense. We are in a recession and instead of keeping prices the same, you want to increase and you are not giving me what I want. I’m a greater believer that when I’m paying I get what I want. I’m not going to get a raise next year because of the recession, yet you continue with this non-sense. What choices exactly are you giving the customer,I don’t want to watch my laptop. I spent to much on my T.V.’s. Fios dosen’t service my area, AT&T doesn’t service my area this is ridiculous… You say people have choices but they don’t. You are not customer oriented it about the $$$ at the customers expense. WE ARE IN A RECESSION everyone needs to be reasonable and do their part in not making the situation worse. You want to increase prices to Time Warner why exactly. If you must increase prices increase the prices to the customers that watch and want ESPN, ABC I can watch CBS I don’t need to watch ABC. I don’t watch ESPN!
Jonas
I went to Ihavechoices.com and they don’t list dish network as an option. I wonder why?
Ellen Fortney
I have just about had it. Not only has the price been increasing but I have 900 and some channels ( I only have basic and 2 other tiers )but the same shows are on 3 or 4 channels at the same time. I also don’t appreciate that every time we have a contract problem I get daily calls via computor telling me my status has changed and I should call for the wonderful news. I’m not stupid! All you want is to give me a (deal ?) for so many months and I’ll have to sign up again for a 2 year contract. Then I won’t be able to change for 2 years without breaking the contract.
PLEASE!!!!! Turn back the page a few years and go back to where the customer counted and not just the profits.
David P. Hock
Last year TWCable talked me into upgrading from broadcast cable (aprox. $12.00/ mo.) to Basic cable (aprox. $40.00/mo.) They promissed I would receive the Travel Channel. Now they have taken it away along with several other channels. This is a lousy way of doing business I am very disappointed. They want me to invest in a box to receive the Travel Ch. I’m on social sec., retired and cannot afford to spend more money. I’m switching to a different server!
donna clayton
How about ranting to Fox too? There are 2 sides to the story. They both have us in a vice; One supplies the product, and one delivers it to us. Fox has local sports, and they know they can charge for it. How about all of us letting Fox Network know how we feel too!
karen
I watch abc all the time. My favorite soap stories are on that channel. I love Dancing with the stars program. I really am sad to think it might go off the air. Look how long ABC has been around,since the begining of tv.
Phyllis Reynolds
I agree with the viewer that said her favorite showa were on ABC. I have been watching ALL MY CHILDREN since the day it came on TV, Channel ABC 13 is the only one that carries it. We also watch Dancing With The Stars. We are on basic cable because we have a fixed income. Seems you people at ABC don’t care about your audience. You Should!! We are the ones that count. This BULL of charging our carrier more for your satation viewing STINKS!! Let us keep our only intertainment and stop being so GREEDY!
Robin Watkins
When will this stop. My family is changing to satelite. I’m sick and tired of losing channels constantly and my cable rates keep going up up up! I’m going to another provider….too bad Time Warner…you’ve lost another customer!!!!!
james spaulding
I agree with frank about paying for the channels that I use, and if cable prices go up anymore I will be forced to give up tv watching because it just isn’t worth the price anymore. The same programming is on three or four different channels, but we are supposed to have more channels and better program options ( I DON’T THINK SO !!).
tom
Leave cable channel 7 alone!!!!!!!!!!!!
dana
I love wtte. fox channel in marysville ohio. Leave wtte.fox alone and let it remain with time warner cable or I’ll be forced to an alternative solution..
Kat
I recently heard about the crap that’s going on so I called Time Warner to verify (1877-376-2153 -only # I could put my hands on at the moment. I got a woman on line after a ridiculous 10 minute recording maze who verified “they are in negotiations”. But they’re fighting for their customers. I work long hard hours and I record Fox, ONE CW program, and I expect before long we’ll hear how many other channels are owned by this station that are in jeopardy. Interesting SIDE BAR HERE: The TW # above came from a notice I received in Sept, 2010 telling me they’re INCREASING the cost of my two DVR’s. I GUESS THE MAKER IS CHARGING THEM MORE TOO??? I digress. The woman on the phone told me I could find out more about what’s happening if I go to the get tough website. I had her repeat while I wrote it down, and started to ask a question. SHE HUNG UP ON ME. I then went to TW’s site to report this. And they can find her by looking up my acct, I’m sure. I don’t know anything about FIOS. Is that verizon? They had internet too. I already have a satellite dish in my yard (the large ones) so it won’t be much of a step for me to get a small one. Anyone have any info on these?
Evelyn MUrch
I’m tired or being blackmailed by owners of
CBS> If they want to take it off the air, fine.
That will be a ton of comercials I won’t have
to watch and I can watch my few favorite shows
somewere else. Evelyn M
Kat
I agree Evelyn. I actually thought the commercials we’re bombarded with, especially during prime time, were to get sponsors to pay big bucks for the privilege of convincing us to buy some useless item. These big bucks are going to someone – I know they don’t go to me. So if TW, for example, is on the receiving end, advertisers are already subsidizing them, paying dearly to sell me a “Gadget” during HOUSE. On the other hand, if FOX is the one being paid disgusting amounts of money so an advertiser can sell me a “Gadget” on their channel, they too are getting enough supporting income from the Gadget Seller. Sounds like they’re both trying to double dip. Seems to me the cost of showing a program was paid for long before it even became available on our own little TV’s. So, what if sponsors pulled their ads from those Hostaged-Channels?
allan hitt
I wsould like to know why the contracts all expire at the most inconvenent times of the year. I would also like to get more channels (mostly nfl network).
Elizabeth
Why must you remove the best TV shows from the air… I will tell everyone to switch to another form of TV Cable Experience!!!
These are the only shows that I watch and my only form of entertainment!!!
At the end you will be the looser your company will loose costumers!!!!
Liz