AT&T's video streaming services have been decidedly "me too" affairs, ranging from a video portal that was effectively a Hulu clone to the U-Verse Screen Pack, which was touted as a "Netflix killer" but suffers from a limited catalog and is only available to U-Verse users for an additional $5 a month. However, a new survey being sent to U-Verse customers indicates AT&T is pondering expanding these options. Variety notes that the survey hints that the service might not be directly run by AT&T:
A customer survey sent out March 14 to AT&T’s U-verse subscribers asked whether they would be interested in signing up for, or even inquiring about, a “new video and Internet service” that would: Stream to customers’ own devices without a receiver box; include local broadcast channels and “popular sports and entertainment” cable channels; the option to bundle one streaming service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime; and better picture quality and shorter wait times for streaming, All this would be offered “at a significantly lower price than traditional pay TV services” and without usage charges for streaming.
The FCC still has around $185 million out of the $300 million broadband funds available from phase one of their Connect America Fund, dedicated to shoring up broadband coverage gaps. While companies like Frontier took $71.9 million to wire some 92,000 homes, other companies like Windstream balked at taking full funding, saying that getting $775 per install wasn't enough for their liking.
Time Warner Cable hasn't been exactly what you'd call a hero when it comes to furthering national broadband deployment. The company was behind bills in both North and South Carolina banning or hindering towns and cities from deploying their own broadband, even when nobody else will.
Comcast told one DC-area grandmother that she could no longer be a Comcast Internet Voice subscriber after she cast an immense amount of votes for an "American Idol" contestant. According to local DC Fox affiliate Fox 5, Comcast sent the notification after the woman called the "American Idol" hotline "several hundred times in an hour." The 72-year-old woman was confused by the termination letter because Comcast advertises its Digital Voice service as unlimited, a word that generally means the exact opposite in telecommunications markets. After the letter was publicized, Comcast claimed the termination notice was sent in error but reiterated their right to warn or terminate excessive voice users.
Around a thousand people submitted this mock ad for "the first honest cable company" to our news queue, and if you haven't seen it yet it's rather amusing. There is some not-safe-for-work-or-kids-or-the-easily-offended language in it, so if you're averse to a little swearing please just keep on walking.
Back in May of 2011 we were the first to exclusively report that AT&T would be imposing usage caps on the company's DSL and U-Verse users. Users were told DSL users would see a cap of 150 GB a month and U-Verse users would see a cap of 250 GB a month -- with both sets of users paying $10 for every additional 50 GB of data they use.
The Supreme Court this week ruled for Comcast in a case that was levied against the company alleging they'd intentionally created a monopoly in the Philadelphia area -- then jacked up prices to punitive levels (we've been talking about the case since it was filed in 2003). According to the decision (pdf), the ruling fell along the usual 5-4 partisan lines.
Antennas manufacturer Antennas Direct is angry at Charter Communications because it claims Charter has banned the company from advertising to Charter's customers. According to the company, Charter refused to run a sixty second ad in the St.
Comcast's new X1 set top box will soon arrive in its eighth market: Washington DC, and Comcast says the box will arrive in "every major city" in 2013. The Pace made device is a QAM/IP hybrid set top that brings a lot of IP-based functionality to users already seen in set tops deployed by telcoTV competitors (widgets ahoy). First launched in Boston in mid-2012, the device is also being marketed primarily to new triple play customers in Colorado Springs; Atlanta and Augusta, Ga.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; San Francisco; and the Philadelphia area. The company is also cooking up an "X2" upgrade that will featured a revamped GUI, as well as potentially cloud-based storage.
After spending the last two years shooting down the idea of a standalone HBO streaming service (not bundled to a traditional cable subscription), HBO now says they're considering a standalone HBO streaming service. HBO CEO Richard Plepler says the company has been investigating the idea of bundling HBO Go with broadband service for an additional $10 to $15, though it still sounds like the company has plenty of reservations about "making the math work." The company benefits greatly from its cozy promotional relationship with cable providers, and has been terrified to disrupt that status quo. "Maybe HBO GO, with our broadband partners, could evolve," says Plepler. Yeah, maybe it could.
The FTC has given their approval for Charter's acquisition of Cablevision's "Optimum West" territories for $1.625 billion in cash. The 300,000 customers in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah have only just seen the paint dry on their last sale, from Bresnan Communications to Cablevision for $1.37 billion just two years ago. Charter beat back companies like Suddenlink and Time Warner Cable who were also interested. "Optimum West is an ideal fit for Charter and we anticipate an efficient integration process," said Charter CEO Tom Rutledge. Rumors meanwhile have intensified that Cablevision may finally be sold, with Time Warner Cable the most likely suitor.
Comcast today stated that customers in California will now be seeing some of the speed upgrades we've been seeing deployed elsewhere around the country at no extra cost. Specifically, Comcast's Blast tier is going from 25/4 Mbps to 50/10 Mbps, their Extreme tier will be going from 50/10 Mbps to 105/20, and their Performance tier will be going from 12/2 Mbps to 25/5 Mbps for all users. The Comcast press release lists a handful of communities that won't be getting the upgrades until later on this summer -- because you were bad I'm guessing. An insider tells me that the 12/2 Mbps to 25/4 is running behind the other upgrades for many users, who'll see that specific bump in April.
John Malone has made a wager that Charter Communications will thrive in currently rough seas. According to Bloomberg, Malone's Liberty Media will be taking a 27 percent stake in Charter for roughly $2.62 billion. As part of the deal, Liberty gets to assign four individuals to Charter's board of directors. After exiting bankruptcy in 2009, Charter has struggled with historically low customer satisfaction rankings, but is starting to see more positive cash flow under the watch of new CEO Tom Rutledge. Rutledge has been behind more than a few controversial moves of late, ranging from ceasing support of customer-owned modems to shutting down their entire "UMatter2Charter" social and online support department.
A report in the Wall Street Journal states that Verizon is proposing a new pay system to several "midtier and smaller" media companies where Verizon would only pay for channels if customers are actually watching them. The proposal would involve Verizon paying broadcasters based on how many customers register a "unique view" with a channel -- defined as a customer watching the channel for a minimum of five minutes. Verizon states they could track the viewing metrics with set top data instead of using Nielsen (who is only just figuring out this whole iPad thing). That rumbling you hear as you read this is the larger broadcasters giggling.
Small cable operators this week met up at the American Cable Association Summit to complain that the TV market is rigged and broken thanks to media consolidation. Speaking at the event, executives like Wide Open West CEO Colleen Abdoulah complained that content prices were skyrocketing due to collusion.
When pitching last year's co-marketing arrangement between Verizon and the cable industry, the companies promised that they would offer interesting new cross wireless and cable video services. A new job listing for the Comcast and Verizon's innovation lab promises that they're working on "magical experiences," like letting you resume Xfinity TV shows you were watching on your smartphone. Right now, the partnership simply involves cable companies bundling Verizon Wireless services with a prepaid gift card (the total varies depending on the cable company), while with a wink in return, Verizon quietly jacks up DSL prices and shoves DSL users they don't want to upgrade in the general direction of cable.
Rumors of a Cablevision sale to someone like Time Warner Cable have long been a centerpiece of broadband industry gossip, but those rumors appear to be gaining some serious momentum. Cablevision executives have been leaving the company in a steady stream since last year, including marketing's Jonathan Hargis, President John Bickham, and COO Tom Rutledge, who left to become Charter CEO.
Netflix this week stated that the company's goal is to stream content in the 4K format by 2014 or so. Netflix recently started offering Super HD and 3D streams, if your ISP has signed up for the company's new content delivery network.
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