Comcast $400 Million Chicago Upgrade > WOW

reply to RadioDoc

Re: WOW

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Ending analog is entirely to the benefit of Comcast with no benefit to their customer base. It's a pure money grab. If it weren't they'd make this a zero-expense changeover for all customers.

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What argument? I'm just staing my opinion. I’ve seen many of your posts which can be summed up with the words 'Cable Sucks'. I’m not playing your game.

Why should Comcast provide a box for free? They don’t get the boxes for free from Motorola or Scientific Atlanta. Comcast is a company, they are supposed to make money, they’re not a charity. When I left cable in 1998 for Dish Network, it cost us over $700 for a two room set up, with the most basic receivers around. Should I’ve gotten that for free? No. Hardware costs money, the installers have to get paid, 1998 was still relatively early on in the satellite TV world so prices were higher. In 2004, when I left Dish Network for DirecTV, I believe we paid $200 for hardware and installation. Should I’ve gotten that for free? No. Both satellite providers FORCE you to buy hardware or now lease it and you pay extra for each additional receiver beyond the first. I don’t see why cable should be different.

For Triple Play Subscribers, Time Warner doesn’t charge extra for the first digital terminal.

BTW - There is no such thing as an 'obscene profit'. Captialism is a beautiful thing, and there is not one CEO in this country who doesn't deserve what they make.
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Time Warner Cable Subscriber
Digital Cable & Road Runner Premium
252 Channels, HD DVR & 15/1 Broadband

reply to Steve Mehs


Actually, since there are supposed to be converter boxes subsidized by the government for people with analog TV's so they can continue to use them to recieve DTV (apparently, such conversion "on the fly" is not all that difficult), why cany comcast allow their use on their system? Or, allow the use of TV's that have the appropriate tuners?

This is the same problem that prompted the FCC to mandate a standard channel scheme (which comcast, here at least, STILL evades by using "HRC" for their channels) and that tuners in TV's/VCRs all be capable of receiving. This was done to prevent the cablecos requiring people to rent boxes unless they wanted HBO, etc.

Comcast is the ultimate money comb. They will do anything for a dollar and they want everyone on digital so you have to rent a box. It is easy to see the profit: if you have 100,00 subscribers paying $3 a month, that is $300,00 in profit every single month before any costs for programming. Why do you think they have ALLWAYS rented the boxes as opposed to selling them?

There is no benefit to consumers unless they are forced to allow customer provided equipment like they are now with analog. Better picture quality my foot. The channels are digital now, as shown by how they freeze from time to time and koose sound or pixellate.

The only difference is that they have to be converted to analog. And any freed up spectrum will only benefit the cable company, not customers. For every channel they add, their price goes up eventually.

"I have Digital Cable with every movie channel, the Sports Tier, the HD Tier, just ordered MLB Extra Innings, not one but two HD DVRs, Premium broadband service and would have phone service if I could get it, but yet Time Warner would rather cater to the wants of grannys and the poor who pay a measly $40 or whatever, then a high end subscriber like myself. ANALOG CABLE MUST GO!!! Kudos to Comcast for have the balls to do this, the backlash will be great for sure, but screw ‘em."
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It's nice to know that you have more money, apparently, than sense. However, people like you who spend all this money are in the distinct minority and they DO care about such things as a box rental.

FV.. wait a second... $3 per month per box for 100,000 is $300,000 in profit? Really?? Damn! I need to take your business school so I can turn my own business around then!

I'm assuming you forget to factor in the cost of that box to purchase? Then, did you factor in the labor, insurance, vehicle and gas, telephone operator time, warehouse, and all the other related expenses in with that? How about the cost to maintain the boxes in the field , valid truck roll or courtesy.. ? For the record, an installation fee of $29.99 or "free" for that matter with no guarantee the customer will retain, HARDLY covers much of that cost.

It's amazing how much that so-called profit disappears so quickly.

Let's see now if another certain user comes back and tells me how I'm wrong now.

Also, you mentioned about consumers being able to have their own equipment... already in the pipe.
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"Complaining is the least path of resistance for the self-reitchous and lazy ... those who also never take the time to point out a good fortune when the opportunity presents itself. It says a lot about one's moral character." - Unknown

Cost of the box to purchase? Most boxes they give out here are not new. They have just checked them and reset them. Labor, insurance, vehicles, gas, operator time, warehousing (such as it is) are all ongoing costs that are written off before they state their profits. They dont maintain boxes in the field. They just replace the defective one with another used unit. An "installation fee" is nothing but another ripoff. Really, how hard or complicated is it to "install" a cable box? Even the most stupid customer can do it nowadays.

"I's amazing how much that so-called profit disappears so quickly."

Since Comcast is VERY profitable, I hardly think they are suffering much at all.

reply to Fatal Vector

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They will do anything for a dollar

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There is no benefit to consumers unless they are forced to allow customer provided equipment like they are now with analog. Better picture quality my foot. The channels are digital now, as shown by how they freeze from time to time and koose sound or pixellate.

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The only difference is that they have to be converted to analog. And any freed up spectrum will only benefit the cable company, not customers. For every channel they add, their price goes up eventually.

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It's nice to know that you have more money, apparently, than sense. However, people like you who spend all this money are in the distinct minority and they DO care about such things as a box rental.

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Why do you think they have ALLWAYS rented the boxes as opposed to selling them?

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reply to Fatal Vector
Ironically, they could easily give out older-technology boxes for "free" which don't support their latest, greatest gimmick features instead of sending them to a landfill.

I liked the profit comment too. Seems to be enough there to support this one-time expense, especially since it allows them to recycle a lot of bandwidth to unregulated "do you want fries with that?" add-on, high-profit product.

The only part of cable even marginally regulated these days is basic service. Comcast is trying to wiggle out of even that, and on the backs of those who can least afford it too.
--
Toolmaster of La Grange.

reply to Steve Mehs
"Show me any business that doesn’t, and I’ll show you a bankruptcy case waiting to happen. It's called business"

I dont mind a corporation making a decent profit. What I DO mind is being nickle and dimed to death with fees that serve no other purpose than to enrich the corporation at my expense. "It's called business" is not a blanket justification for predatory practices in business.

"If signal levels get low, you’ll get a brief pause or moment of heavy pixilation, similar to a rain fade experience with satellite. But I’d rather put up with a 2 or 3 second pause a couple times a year, then fuzzy, grainy, noisy analog cable forever"

Funny...I'm on analog cable and I get pauses and sound dropouts at least twice a hour on many channels, as well as pixellation, yet the signal strength doesn't get worse. The picture just freezes, sometimes for hours. So, obviously they are sending the signal digitally and then converting it to analog on the fly somewhere. I dont have snowy, fuzzy pictures either.

"Consumers will benefit with more HD content. And of course price goes up. Next year when Disney Channel launches their HD service, do you think it will cost Disney nothing to go HD, do you think they will eat the costs? Not going to happen. Do you think Disney will provide the channel to cable companies for free?"

They have plenty of crap shannels now that only survive because they are assured payments from cable companies. Otherwise, left to compete, they would die. That is ALSO business.

Disney is one of the most rapacious corporations around, right on a par with time warner. Besides which, you keep talking about HD like it's normal and everyone has it or, the money for it. It's not and most people dont have it or the money to splurge on it.

"Again, why is okay for Dish Network and DirecTV to be digital, require additional hardware and purchases and all that, and yet for cable you guys don't like it?"

The point that escapes you is that digital is the nature of the beast for satellite and it is a PROPRIETARY system. On the other hand, cable is not, nor has it ever been. Analog cable in it's basic form was nothing more than recieving the channel, either local or satellite, converting it to another channel, if required, amplifying it, then sending it to customers and they should be forced to pass on the digital signals in their original, standard format, like they do analog now so people can use their own equipment to receive it like they do now, without having to pay comcase for a box.

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I dont mind a corporation making a decent profit. What I DO mind is being nickle and dimed to death with fees that serve no other purpose than to enrich the corporation at my expense. "It's called business" is not a blanket justification for predatory practices in business.

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Disney is one of the most rapacious corporations around, right on a par with time warner. Besides which, you keep talking about HD like it's normal and everyone has it or, the money for it. It's not and most people dont have it or the money to splurge on it.

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The point that escapes you is that digital is the nature of the beast for satellite and it is a PROPRIETARY system. On the other hand, cable is not, nor has it ever been. Analog cable in it's basic form was nothing more than recieving the channel, either local or satellite, converting it to another channel, if required, amplifying it, then sending it to customers and they should be forced to pass on the digital signals in their original, standard format, like they do analog now so people can use their own equipment to receive it like they do now, without having to pay comcase for a box.

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"Paying a modest rental fee for an extra piece of hardware that allows you to gain many additional channels, On Demand content, program information, an EPG and everything else is not nickel and diming you. If you buy a new car and it has a navigation system are you ‘nickeled and dimed’ because it is an extra cost?"

Many additional repeat channels and useless crap. I dont need "on demand" either. Program info which is just a continuing advertisment. Why should I pay them for that? It is nickle and diming you, that's why they add these so called "features" that are, generally, as worthless as tits on a boar. A navigation system (ever hear of maps?) is a option that you decide to pay for, not something included in your bill that you cant refuse.

The point is that currently, HD is NOT the norm and it wont be for years yet. You may not care about standard def, but other people do. If you dont like what I say, go somewhere else. No one says you have to respond or try to argue with me, do they? Yours is not the only possible viewpoint, my friend. My viewpoint is not any less valid simply because YOU dont agree with it.

And, as I said: Just because you have the money to spend doesn't mean everyone does. Nor is everyone a freek for HD either. 28 million satellite customers and maybe 20 million digital cable out of 300 million people...Yet, it is estimated that the "average" US household has 2-3 TV sets.

As you can see, analog still rules, with cable ready being the norm. Especially since it is easy to split the signals to multiple TV's. If the digital signals were simply passed on, people could get their own boxes and not have to pay comcast endlessly. That's the thing about renting: It never ends. At some point, regardless of when, it becomes profit, especially if you keep recycling the box with $29.95 "Installation" fees.

None of this alters the fact that cable is a different animal than satellite. People that want satellite know that they need a box. People on analog cable know they dont need a box unless they want HBO, etc.

reply to Steve Mehs