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Comments on news posted 2007-02-21 09:02:19: Despite the entrance of Verizon's FiOS in one of the most competitive TV & broadband markets in the country, Comcast cable TV prices in Northern Virginia, DC and Maryland continue to rise, notes the Washington Post. ..

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ftthz
If love can kill hate can also save
join:2005-10-17

ftthz

Member

thought that competition would lower prices

... guess I was wrong

Chiyo
Save Me Konata-Chan
Premium Member
join:2003-02-20
Salisbury, NC

1 recommendation

Chiyo

Premium Member

Re: thought that competition would lower prices

Everyone (cable and telco) knows that people will pay so they continue to raise rates, every year we bitch and moan about prices but did any of us quit using high speed internet or cable TV?
nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD

1 recommendation

nasadude

Member

Re: thought that competition would lower prices

said by Chiyo:

Everyone (cable and telco) knows that people will pay so they continue to raise rates, every year we bitch and moan about prices but did any of us quit using high speed internet or cable TV?
not much you can do when there is no choice; I can only get cable for broadband - no dsl, no fiber, no BPL, no wireless.

and it's pretty clear from the rate increases that two wireline cable TV competitors isn't going to discipline prices.

all in all, broadband and TV pretty fvked up in the U.S.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: thought that competition would lower prices

It's time to go back to rabbit ears.
All companies will charge as much as people are willing to pay (market will support), or as much as they can competitively get away with.

Maxo
Your tax dollars at work.
Premium Member
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL

1 edit

Maxo to Chiyo

Premium Member

to Chiyo
said by Chiyo:

did any of us quit using high speed internet or cable TV?
I lowered my internet connection speed and had my cable TV disconnected within the last couple months.

dr3yec
join:2002-12-19
00000

dr3yec

Member

Re: thought that competition would lower prices

I havnt paid for tv in 10 years. This the exact reason why. Well and of course terrible analog signal. I will stay with my free to air satellite. There prices are much better. Comcast can jump off a bridge before I will ever pay them for tv.
jansberg
join:2004-06-25
Portland, OR

1 recommendation

jansberg to Maxo

Member

to Maxo
said by Maxo:

I lowered my internet connection speed and had my cable TV disconnected within the last couple months.
Comcast also raised rates in Oregon so I cancelled my service, then went to Circuit City and bought a tv tuner card and antenna. Even though I miss Comedy Central and the Sci Fi channel I'm already happy with my decision because I never realized that almost all of the shows I watch are network anyway.

bobb cobb
@swbell.net

1 recommendation

bobb cobb

Anon

Re: thought that competition would lower prices

Same here. I would rather watch hdtv over the air with rabbit ears than compressed cable.

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude

Premium Member

Re: thought that competition would lower prices

said by bobb cobb :

Same here. I would rather watch hdtv over the air with rabbit ears than compressed cable.
Same here, but I had to buy a bowtie antenna (3o miles) since rabbit ear type was too weak.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536 to Maxo

Premium Member

to Maxo
So did I but not because my provider[cox] jacked up hsi $5 but because i wasnt getting what i was paying for.

frankenfeet
934 is 10-8
Premium Member
join:2001-10-14
Smiths Grove, KY

frankenfeet to ftthz

Premium Member

to ftthz
Competition only works when the competing companies aren't in cahoots to raise prices.

Chiyo
Save Me Konata-Chan
Premium Member
join:2003-02-20
Salisbury, NC
·Hotwire Communic..

Chiyo to ftthz

Premium Member

to ftthz
"not much you can do when there is no choice"

we don't need cable TV or HSI it's a luxary that we choose to pay for but if I had my way I'd still pay because A. I use it for work and B. I like it so I keep it but I mean if it came down to it I would get rid of it or force my work to pay for my monthly cost
mglunt
join:2001-09-10
Fredericksburg, VA

mglunt to ftthz

Member

to ftthz

Verizon for me is saving me about $10 vs what I was paying for DTV. Depends on their franchise fees etc which I was told were around $3. - I have not gotten a first bill yet.

It seems I snuck in before the price jump to $42.95 as my online account still says $39.95. Hopefully it stays that price for the yr contract.

Anyway... VZ should be lower than DTV and Cable for at least the first few years.

phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL

phattieg to ftthz

Member

to ftthz
said by ftthz:

... guess I was wrong
Heh, no comment there...

I said that competition doesn't mean squat. If it did, satellite TV would have already taken over cable. But they haven't, and can't, and cable still has majority. You know the cableco's have their stock invested where it needs to be, including in the competitions pocket too. Do you really think the cable providers are worried? You think in the short term losses and gains, but in reality, big companies play their stock interests in other companies as a way to "get by" when revenue or competition is a threat. It's like chess too, one company waits, see's how far the other one goes till they think it's safe, then they rebound with something to compete against the newbie. If you look at how long it took for Comcast to get as big as it is, you will see that the number of people FiOS is taking in is very minimal compared to the daily take cable has.
Eric Martin
join:2005-06-19
66308

Eric Martin to ftthz

Member

to ftthz
As long as customers 'need' certain channels then they have us over the barrel.

Espn is most expensive of the basic tier.

We need alternatives. The IDIOT cable companies need to band together and form another low cost sports channel.

kyramilan
join:2006-11-26
Pensacola, FL

kyramilan to ftthz

Member

to ftthz
Comcast raised their rates 4% (WashingtonPost.com)! FIOS raised theirs 7.6%, which is almost TWICE as much as Comcast! RCN raised it by 15%!

How about some TRUTH in repoting BBR?

In fact, which "reporter" at BBR wrote this one-sided article? Apparently, misinformation is clearly their mission and, of course, bashing Comcast NOT FIOS!

phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL

phattieg

Member

Re: The Usual BBR B.S.!

said by kyramilan:

Comcast raised their rates 4% (WashingtonPost.com)! FIOS raised theirs 7.6%, which is almost TWICE as much as Comcast! RCN raised it by 15%!

How about some TRUTH in repoting BBR?

In fact, which "reporter" at BBR wrote this one-sided article? Apparently, misinformation is clearly their mission and, of course, bashing Comcast NOT FIOS!
Well, regardless of the percentage, they are pointing out that the rates did not turn to the expected, which is lower. I know there is a sports tier I have seen mentioned, which gives you the choice to opt out for the majority of the sports channels, but I think ESPN is part of a contract for the provider (Disney). Oh well, it's the media companies job to allow cable to separate the channels they are allowed to sell (a la carte them). They are the ones who say "we will allow you to transmit us if you transmit these other channels too, and make sure this channel comes before this one, etc...". I've said this before, but the contracts for channels are rediculous. For example, CNN requires the provider to put CNN before HNN in the channel lineup. They don't care where you put it, just so long as CNN appears first in the expanded cable lineup. I imagine not ALL providers are bound to this requirement, but I do know Comcast is. I just use that as an example of some of the "retarded" requirements in the contracts.
UncleDirtNap
join:2006-08-26
Pittsburgh, PA

UncleDirtNap to ftthz

Member

to ftthz
Competition will lower prices, it always does. The problem is we haven't seen anything akin to real competition yet. As long as the operators are able to do things like force bundling on their customers and are required in many instance to enter into local franchise agreements that dictate many of there services, true competition is a long way off.

As long as Viacom, TimeWarner and other content providers are able to require that the "cable" operators carry all their stations and some pin head politician can dictate their deployment models, we're still consuming within a highly regulated and non-competetive environment.

Irun Man
Premium Member
join:2002-10-18
Millsboro, DE

1 recommendation

Irun Man

Premium Member

yawn...

Nice to know hell hasn't frozen over yet.

Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI

Nightfall

MVM

Rates are going up across the board.

Directv just raised their rates. Comcast rates are going up. Seems everywhere you look more and more subscription based services are raising their rates. Competition is good and so is having choices when it comes to DSL and Cable. I just wish the prices were a wee bit lower.

phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL

phattieg

Member

Re: Rates are going up across the board.

Maybe if you complained to Viacom, and the other media giants, you'd see lower rates. They rise yearly due to these people, and franchise fees, but mostly these people.

JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium Member
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD

JTRockville

Premium Member

It takes more than 2 to make a competitive market.

Hopefully we'll have a competitive market one day. 'Till then, get use to high prices.

Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

Morac

Member

Again?

Again?

JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium Member
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD

JTRockville

Premium Member

Re: Again?

Your news item was about NJ prices. This one is about VA/DC/MD. So it looks like you'll only get one increase this quarter.

Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

Morac

Member

Re: Again?

I know, but it doesn't seem like Comcast is taking FIOS all that seriously. They should be.
nozzer
join:2004-06-25
Winchester, MA

nozzer

Member

Re: Again?

Verizon are a big fat stupid company. On this basis alone, they are unlikely to provide true competition.

I want to be able to choose what channels i want. Theres an awful lot of garbage channels, and they need to stand on their own 2 feet, rather than be subsidized by the more successful ones.

JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium Member
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD

JTRockville to Morac

Premium Member

to Morac
said by Morac:

I know, but it doesn't seem like Comcast is taking FIOS all that seriously. They should be.
I dunno Morac See Profile. Comcast is making money hand-over-fist, and that's what they're in business to do. Why on earth would they change a formula that's proven to work?

Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

Morac

Member

Re: Again?

said by JTRockville:

I dunno Morac See Profile. Comcast is making money hand-over-fist, and that's what they're in business to do. Why on earth would they change a formula that's proven to work?
True, but they've never really had to deal with competition before. I'm not sure they know how to handle that, especially since they were trying to lobby to keep Verizon's TV service out of NJ.

JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium Member
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD

JTRockville

Premium Member

Re: Again?

I think they're handling impending competition by gouging customers now. The few who leave for FiOS are barely a drop in the bucket for now - and now is all that matters.

Besides, think how devastating it would have been for FiOS if Comcast had joined the battle armed with satisfied customers.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

1 recommendation

pnh102

Premium Member

Yawn...

If its too much money to spend then cancel it. Duh!
nranieri
join:2005-01-03
Massapequa, NY

1 recommendation

nranieri

Member

Don't forget the content providers

Of course, broadband pricing is different, but for TV pricing a good part of your monthly fees go to content providers. It's not like HBO, Disney, GE, Viacom, etc. are lowering prices.

••••

Robert
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Miami, FL

1 recommendation

Robert

Premium Member

Stay in Business..

Well how does anyone expect Comcast to stay in business if they don't raise prices? They can't continue to post losses every quarter like they have been doing, they need to raise the prices to stay in business.

•••
b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
united state

b10010011

Member

customer service cost?

What Hajeime wants to get paid 2 cents a day now?

Robert
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Miami, FL

Robert

Premium Member

Re: customer service cost?

said by b10010011:

What Hajeime wants to get paid 2 cents a day now?
The few times I've spoken to their CS, they were baed in the U.S.

karlmarx
join:2006-09-18
Moscow, ID

karlmarx

Member

Time to bring back regulations

It's VERY clear that the duopoly situation we are in is going to result in massive price increases, because they CAN. A duopoly is NOT free market, it's control of a service. It's high time we force these companies to provide What we want, how we want it. I'm not saying comcast or verizon is to blame though. I blame ABC for forcing them to carry 20 crap channels for every good channel. It's time to re-regulate the MPAA corps, and FORCE them to provide a-la-carte options. I know I would only pay for about 10 channels if I was given a choice, and that would certainly cut my bill by about 75%

c0de8
join:2004-10-14
Richmond, VA

c0de8

Member

Re: Time to bring back regulations

I will agree with you on the 10 channels.

But what I would like to see, and I am sure it can be done, if it has not been done already.

I would like to pay for 30 channels, but have to option to swap and interchange those channels on a daily basis, the cable compaines could charge me for haveing my block of 10/20/30+ chanels on a monthly basis, then charge a dollar or whatever each time i wanted to swap a channell. then also maybe have the ability to trial or preview chanells not in your line up.

they would make a killing! and i would be much happier paying for 20 chans of selected content at 19.99 a month than paying for 200 chans of wich i only wathc about 10-20 of, for close to a hundred bucks a month.

MadMANN3
Premium Member
join:2005-08-19

MadMANN3 to karlmarx

Premium Member

to karlmarx
said by karlmarx:

I blame ABC for forcing them to carry 20 crap channels for every good channel. It's time to re-regulate the MPAA corps, and FORCE them to provide a-la-carte options. I know I would only pay for about 10 channels if I was given a choice, and that would certainly cut my bill by about 75%
LMAO!! Yeah right! You are assuming that if you only ask for 10 channels that they will cut your bill down to 20% (based on a 50 channel basic lineup) ?? You're kidding, right?

If ala carte is ever offered, it is going to jack the price per channel up big time. Right now, my area offers 74 standard channels for $49, which comes to about $0.67/ channel per month. The reason it is as low as it is, is because these channels are negotiating based on the number of households in which they are available. If you lower the number of households, you raise the price per channel.

If you expect to pay $6.70/ month AND you get to choose WHICH channels you get at that price, you are absolutely out of your mind.

Here's how it would play out. Let's say you want ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, ESPN, Comedy Central, A&E, MTV, & VH1. Here's something similar to what you would see on your bill:

ABC: $2
NBC: $2
CBS: $2
FOX: $2
PBS: $2
Comedy Central: $4
A & E: $4
MTV: $4
VH1: $4
ESPN: $15

TOTAL: $46

Where's the savings?


cableties
Premium Member
join:2005-01-27

cableties

Premium Member

Not just TV..

Have you ever used Fedex or UPS? 5+% increases! Fuel Surcharges!

Man...I only saw 3.5% salary increase...
cptmiles2
Premium Member
join:2004-04-22
Swayzee, IN

cptmiles2

Premium Member

Who is the Real Culprit?

I am not a fan of big service providers as a whole, but they are just one of the players. The real culprit is the programmers like Viacom, MTV, and especially Disney/ESPN. The programmers are doing everything in their power to keep a la carte out of the market and doing it quite effectively. If a carrier even hints they are going to try a la carte ESPN threatens to pull all their programming. As a cable company you become pretty unattractive without ESPN...so we keep playing the game. I agree that we need regulation, but maybe the regulation needs to be on the programmers.

Everyone is worried that Comcast makes money. Hey, they are in the business to make money. Think of them just like a BP or Marathon (major oil company). They have their internally controlled margins and when their cost of goods sold go up their prices go up. In Comcast's case they are even worse off. They have to deal with 30 or more product (content) providers.

Every time ESPN decides they need another crappy channel on the basic tier or they will pull their contract, somebody has to pay and it's not going to be Comcast.

I disagree with the idea that Comcast is in cahoots with Verizon or any other carrier. If the margins were so wonderful there would be 10 video carriers in every major market.

RideRed
Vista needs a popup blocker for Vista
Premium Member
join:2005-06-18
USA

1 recommendation

RideRed

Premium Member

This is why we need a la carte

Let people opt out of ESPN and prices will drop.

A la carte works great for the big dish and prices are WAY lower than DBS and cable because you pay for only the channels you want.

•••••••••••••••••
netdogg3
join:2003-02-27
Staten Island, NY

netdogg3

Member

Comcast

I Verizon Fios...I don't understand why TV has not come to NY yet.I'm not happy with the recent Directv price increase.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

fleas with the dog

technically, just about anything you can pay for on cable will be on the internet for free in the coming days, weeks, months and years.. so big price increases are not in the interest of these companies.. but you getting nicked and dimed.. also yesterday's nickels and dimes are todays $5 and $10s so, slip a few more in the checks that go in the mail.. or download, and tell them to f'off. keep in mind.. until they "HEAR YOU NOW" by canceling the service in droves will they get the message. let's remember, unless your addicted to tv.. you can tell them to stick it at that price.

jgkolt
Premium Member
join:2004-02-21
Avon, OH

jgkolt

Premium Member

%

so what percent increase did comcast raise? And what the increase over last years number?

Trinijoy
Premium Member
join:2005-09-12
Brick, NJ

1 edit

Trinijoy

Premium Member

Re: %

10 dollars, here a dollar there. What does it matter anymore? Everyone mostly care about is "Customer service" how well can a customer service agent kiss my ass? That's what most people care about, WOOPS sorry was that TOO straight forward?

EnasYorl
Thieves World
join:2001-12-02
West
·Ziply Fiber
Motorola MB8600
Netgear RAX15
Asus RT-AC66

EnasYorl to jgkolt

Member

to jgkolt
said by jgkolt:

so what percent increase did comcast raise? And what the increase over last years number?
7.9% in OR. for Expanded Analog.

mdtvz12
@verizon.net

mdtvz12

Anon

comcrap sucks

hah. Can't believe people still pay comcrap for the shitty service they gettin. About 60 bucks a month for crap analog service. lol.
I'm glad I've got Verizon.
ebubman
join:2002-01-17
Mechanicsburg, PA

2 edits

ebubman

Member

gotcha!

ummm, please pardon my french, but they have us by the proverbial b@lls since, by our own fault, we are so addicted to their offerings. we could say "we're mad as hell & we're not going to take it any more"----but i'd probably go into withdrawal without my 6 mbps download surfing speed & 2 hd/dvr boxes. they bill. i pay.

btw, fios NOT available here yet. it's in the next town over.

Rob A
Adjusting
Premium Member
join:2005-01-17
Pompton Plains, NJ

Rob A

Premium Member

LOL

They're pretty much begging their customers to switch to fiostv.

thender2
Glamour Profession
Premium Member
join:2004-05-16
Staten Island, NY

thender2

Premium Member

Is FIOS available where comcast is?

No.

Why is this a question?

In 90% of the areas(if not more) where comcast is available, FIOS is not.

••••
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