W.O.W. → WOW is Dropping BBC America at the end of the year.

Whats your discount at?

because I pay $145 for 15/2 Ultra TV with 3 receivers and I have a $15 discount.

Wow. This is me going pretty much incandescent with rage.

$140 a month (and about to go up another $12) for Digital Basic with two of the ancient SA8300 DVRs and 15/2, no premium channels whatsoever and the "sports programming" theft waived. But only until they decide not to. Because supposedly that's part of the "guaranteed price" but doubling the broadcast TV fee isn't.

That's with the 'bundle' being listed at $85/month.

Edit: Oh, and soon WOW won't be allowed to legally define the 'standard' 15/2 package as broadband. Because it isn't in 2015.

If you are unhappy with the decision about BBC-A that you write the CEO via his online access at »www.wowway.com/all-about ··· ent-team.

Go here and request BBC America again....
»www.wowway.com/help-supp ··· -channel

Done. Also fired off email asking to reverse the decision.

Comcast current X1 DVR offering is not as good as Wow's ultra system. It has less tuners and the players are not as full featured. While you can watch recordings in any room you can not pause/rewind live TV. To get equivalent functionality from comcast you would need multiple DVR's.

I guess it depends on your needs. An extra tuner and live TV pause/rewind versus lower price, higher internet speed and more channels.

The live TV pause/rewind is a pretty big thing. But I'd give it up for all the other benefits.

I schedule most of the things I watch to record anyway, so if you can start playing before the show is complete on the X1 players I'd be watching that anyway - or could switch to it.

I'm in Chicagoland and just learned we lost BBA today. I called an complained. They said all markets have lost it.

Comcast is my only other option (DISH Networks and DirectTV would be blocked by trees). Comcast isn't really an option since I just got our MythTV system working. Since Comcast encrypts channels, we're screwed. Seriously thinking about cutting the cord. However, unlike most of those here who are talking about it, we would cut the cord completely. If I leave, I'll be taking my phone and internet connection with me. Why continue to support them?

The only reason I'd keep WOW broadband is because they're happy to give me a deal on that, and by cutting the cord the REAL message I'm sending has nothing to do with WOW but rather with the content providers who think they're entitled to rape the end users and put the cable companies in the middle to protect them.

BTW, does anybody have a link to WOW's FB page? I can't find it. Damn FB is only showing me a Wiki page when I search.

Listed under "The WOW! Buzz".

»www.facebook.com/thewowbuzz

Feel free to add your comments about BBCA but it seems its a done deal for now. Some of the comments are quite dramatic and I think many have gone a bit overboard to the point its hard to take them seriously.

While dropping an (apparently) popular channel isn't sitting well with many I still contend WOW has many other pressing issues.

Thanks for the link. No wonder I couldn't find them.

Yeah, some of those posts are just wrong.

It is reported Netflix will be dropping most of BBC America's programming at the end of January. Not sure what they are asking for that is making providers not want to keep them but maybe they should rethink their position.

From what I've been told, that reporting is more false than true. Netflix isn't dropping it; BBC America is pulling it from Netflix. They are under no obligations to license to anyone.

The more likely reason it's being pulled is because WOW is the only significant MSO dropping the extremely popular BBC America. So why would they continue licensing to Netflix at lower profit?

"Lower profit" has nothing to do with it. BBC/BBC America programming is both available on Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus. From what I've read, there will probably be a renewal of this programming. Netflix drops, adds and re-adds programming all of the time. And one reason is that contracts don't renewal right after expiration. It's the nature of the streaming game.

Actually, it has a lot to do with it. Bear in mind, I have some limited inside information on both sides - service provider and content originator. (Not BBCA specifically, but in general.)

First up, contracts are not annual. They are usually 2 to 5 years. Secondly, renewal is negotiated in advance - always. Not after it's expired. Because they know damn well that the second they drop it, those customers are gone and NOT coming back. Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus are not up for renewal yet; Netflix was. It's entirely possible Prime and Hulu will both lose it as well. (Hulu will probably lose it next - only 6M paying subs.)

Secondly, it has everything to do with profits. BBC makes far more profit off selling you the DVD box set of the 10th Doctor than licensing that content for streaming. Period. Not only that, but it's a lever for negotiation with other content providers like cable companies. If they want the BBCA subscribers, they'll have to also take AMC, and these other channels. And it's a two way street - if TWC and Comcast say "we'll only keep carrying BBCA if you cut out Netflix" then guess who gets cut? Especially since TWC and Comcast pay them more on a per-viewer basis than Netflix ever will. And a lot more eyeballs and ad revenue.

Here's the math: Netflix has 50M subscribers globally - about 30M US. Whereas ~60% of households in the US subscribe to at least basic cable - about 180 MILLION people. Just Comcast and TWC add up to over 30M subscribers (or 60 million people with an average household of 2.) That's not counting satellite either. CATV providers are collectively the 800lbs gorilla.

And a not insignificant amount of the content that gets yanked from Netflix is pulled because the DVDs are about to or have just come out, or were just reissued. Netflix doesn't get a say in it past offering more money, but there's no obligation to offer or accept. Then once the DVD sales start tapering off, they're willing to talk to Netflix about a reasonable rate again. It's all about maximizing profit by selecting where and when people can watch things.

That is a great post and actually made me relax and think a bit instead of react. I had actually had scheduled a comcast installation on Saturday and decided to cancel. I just couldn't go through with it - I've had them before. Trying to cancel, however, sent me to a dead extension and ended up verifying to me that I shouldn't go with them. BBCAmerica was one of the two channels I watched. I'll stick with WOW for now. I do have another option of U-verse if I do decide to change. Thanks.

You guys are funny. Live with worse service because that's what you're used to. Kind of like the kicked dog crawling back to the master that kicked it.

My parents are old and not tech savvy, but even they were smart enough to make the switch--and loving it.

Done also... Kitchen Nightmares was fun to watch, and the occasional Star Trek: TNG.

My discount was at $20/mo for a year but recently expired and my bill shot up to $183/mo. I called on the 8th and they offered me $35/mo for 12 months but there was a mix up and only $20/mo was given. I ended up getting that sorted out tonight (see my recent post about it after mod approves) but they did say $15/mo was the best they can offer at the moment.

Sounds like BS to me, but whatever. Another year and who knows, maybe things will change with internet reclassification as a utility and whatnot.

Other than the lack of BBCA I am happy with WOW. For me a move to Comcast would be a move to worse service(based on the price I pay and DVR system comparisons). So as much as I like the BBCA content a move is not in my future.

Doesn't look like your observations were correct, Netflix will still be carrying BBC content.

»thebestofnetflix.com/upd ··· renewed/

All of the hype was just about typical contract negotiations.

Downgraded to internet only today. Tech swapped out my Ultra TV gateway for a modem. Now that he's gone this thing has lost connectivity twice, and I was giving some serious thought to checking out the 110/5 package he told me about. Not now.

Uh, no it wasn't. The understanding that they'd already lost it was incorrect, sure. (I'm not a subscriber.) But that's still how it works. Further, read the details again. Netflix posts the 'EXPIRING SOON' months in advance. The agreed upon contract is less than a year in length, with no guarantee that it will be renewed again - likely a stopgap contract to hammer out episode/season lag. (e.g. Netflix will end up having to eat a 1-2 season lag on the most popular shows or have to pull certain series when they come out on Blu-Ray or DVD.)

The fact is that the contract did not expire prior to renewal, and there were exactly zero days where Netflix customers lost access to the shows. However, it was much more visible because it is popular shows. And negotiations are much less in Netflix's favor because those shows are now available on CATV.

110/5?! Funny, we were promised a slightly less laughably outdated 110/22 so WOW could pretend it was better than the 100/20 upgrade TWC was going to give their 50/5 customers FOR FREE.

All for just $127 plus tax! Includes modem rental. It irks me because a friend of mine in Oklahoma has 100 Mbps from Cox and pays a few dollars less than I do for 50 Mbps from WOW.

Insult to injury: WOW demands an outright insulting $52 a MONTH for 15/1 around here. Time Warner? $60/month for 30/3, or literally twice the speed for $8 more. Their "Ultimate 50" (50/5) is $70/month. WOW? Criminal theft at $92/month.

It's high past time we all started calling and demanding real answers, instead of the bullshit excuses. TWC upgraded all of their 50/5 customers to 100/10, and in MAXX areas, 300/30. No increase in fees. Comcast has done the same.

WOW refuses to even upgrade customers with 15/2 who have had it for years, and goes even further in stating they will force a DOWNGRADE to 15/1 on them if they change anything. Then they have the gall to brag about network "upgrades" and demand the most outrageous prices for the most amateurishly managed network ever.

Actually WOW did upgrade speed for free one time in the past. There used to be a 8/1 internet speed offered. They stopped offering it and the people who had it were bumped up to 15/2 for free. I know this because I was one of them. New subs got 15/1 speed. Only the 8/1 people got the 2 meg upload.

So basically the next time they do this they need to stop offering that speed.

Which was a complete and total joke, since they no longer offer the 15/2, only the 15/1. Also you're absolutely wrong - the "big upgrade" was 15/1 customers (which was the top end at the time) got 15/2 as well. I know, because I'm one of the 15/1->15/2's.

Compare this to literally ANY other MSO. And I do mean literally any. Comcast, TWC, Charter, Cox, even MediaCom have given existing users upgrades at absolutely no additional charge. On a regular basis. They also more regularly replace, repair, and upgrade their CMTSes and core.

Until TWC cancelled upgrades across the board, if you were a TWC customer with 50/5 in my neighborhood? You would have been automatically upgraded to 100/20 service, no charge. People in MAXX upgrade areas are getting their speeds tripled for the same as they're paying now.

Read that again. Big evil TWC is increasing Internet speeds for their customers by triple or more with no increase to their bills.

Only WOW has the gall to spend SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS with Juniper - plus another $1.5M+ annually - to go chasing mediocre margin business. And then DOWNGRADE the service offered to customers while charging more than every other provider out there.