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Bismark
join:2010-02-21
Columbus, OH

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WOW is Dropping BBC America at the end of the year.

From the WOW Buzz on Facebook:

The WOW! Buzz We have added many channels to basic services as well as to our line up. For a full review of these channel changes please go to »www.wowway.com/.../cable ··· -updates

My comments:

Would WOW! please give us the business reason why WOW would stop providing BBC America? There are many great shows we watch on that channel to the point where we will now consider an alternative to WOW! This comes out of the blue. Can you please provide the name of any major cable or satellite provider that does not carry BBC America?

Shame on you!!

Here is the full content of the message relative to changes in channels:

CHANNEL CHANGES AND UPDATES
Columbus
Effective on or after December 31, 2014,
Lifetime Movie Network will be available on WOW! Basic Cable channel
65, WGN America will be available on WOW! Basic Cable channel 73, and
Fox Sports 2 will be available on WOW! Signature Cable channel 354.
Also effective on or after December 31, 2014, Pivot (SD and HD) and BBC
America (SD and HD) will no longer be available on WOW! Cable.

Effective on or after November 30, 2014, G4 (channels 303 and 281) will no longer be available on WOW! Cable.

Body Count
join:2010-09-11
Columbus, OH

Body Count

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No more Star Trek TNG I guess. BBC America was the only channel showing the series.
anakin415
join:2014-11-17
Chicago, IL

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Um... that means I cant watch Doctor Who!!!! Hell no!
devolved
join:2012-07-11
Rapid City, SD

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I can say that G4 ended operations entirely on 11/30, that wasn't a decision of WOW but of NBCUniversal. G4 is a defunct channel.
Os
join:2011-01-26
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WOW is also dropping AXS.TV, HDNet Movies and Sportsman Channel HD in former Knology markets. Old WOW markets never had these channels anyway.

Their product is already uncompetitive, and getting worse.

RootWyrm
join:2011-05-09

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said by devolved:

I can say that G4 ended operations entirely on 11/30, that wasn't a decision of WOW but of NBCUniversal. G4 is a defunct channel.

said by Os:

WOW is also dropping AXS.TV, HDNet Movies and Sportsman Channel HD in former Knology markets. Old WOW markets never had these channels anyway.

Yeah.. G4 is dead and buried. Not WOW's fault on G4. But dropping BBC America and HDNet and Pivot at the same time is complete bullshit. I'm sure they'll claim "oh well they wanted too much and we want to keep rates low." To which the only response is "that's utterly transparent bullshit." Because everyone's rates keep going up for less service and that's a point of fact. And given that BBC America is at least 50% owned by AMC, what next, we lose the Walking Dead unless we fork over another $30 a month?

Their franchise agreement in a lot of cities is coming due. Nothing holds up a franchise agreement like legitimate complaints to the city council. Frankly, cities would be better off refusing to renew WOW's franchise since some areas will be eating another $15 a month increase. Read that article.

Here's a breakdown of the increases which have absolutely no purpose or justification other than to pad WOW's profits:
•Increasing the cable modem fee another $1 per month. So that's $8 or $11 a month. For a modem they paid maybe $50 for.
•Of course, to line their wallet, you have to rent the modem if you have their phone service. Enjoy that completely fabricated $1.61 increase.
•Basic cable is losing these channels, and going up $6 a month.
•Living in an apartment building or got FamilyPak? That'll be another $7 a month.
•Losing a bunch of channels from your supposedly premium package? You'll be paying another $10 a month for that "privilege."
•Only using their already overpriced Internet? All of those prices are going up $2 a month.
•And let's not forget that delightful "Sports Surcharge."

"We certainly empathize with our customers," Schmidt said. "We hate to increase rates."

Yeah, they're really shedding a tear about another $20.91 per month - or probably around another $100,000 a month, just from the residents of Eudora. To say nothing of the cash infusion they'll be getting from selling off the regions they don't feel like supporting.
LuckyDay
join:2014-02-05
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That sucks, BBC America has a lot of good stuff (TNG is on Netflix I think though).

I never got HDNet or Pivot to work on my service, I had signature for a while, maybe they require another tier.
anakin415
join:2014-11-17
Chicago, IL

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This was their response to me on facebook -

The WOW! Buzz - Our contract with BBC America expired and to renew it, they requested a large increase in the fee we pay per customer. We could not absorb this increase. That would mean raising the rates our customers pay, even those that don't watch the channel. We just had a rate increase and we are not willing to have another for these channels. I apologize for the inconvenience.

I called bullshit on that statement and no one has responded. I also tagged BBCAmericas in my post so I wonder if anyone from that camp will notice and have anything to say.
Body Count
join:2010-09-11
Columbus, OH
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said by anakin415:

This was their response to me on facebook -

The WOW! Buzz - Our contract with BBC America expired and to renew it, they requested a large increase in the fee we pay per customer. We could not absorb this increase. That would mean raising the rates our customers pay, even those that don't watch the channel. We just had a rate increase and we are not willing to have another for these channels. I apologize for the inconvenience.

I called bullshit on that statement and no one has responded. I also tagged BBCAmericas in my post so I wonder if anyone from that camp will notice and have anything to say.

Ok. I fully understand dropping them because they wanted a large rate increase.

But that doesn't explain why rates are not going down. I mean they were paying "something" for BBC America. Now since it's being dropped, that "something" isn't being paid anymore... thus why are our rates not dropping?

When channels charge WOW more, WOW charges us more every month. Why doesn't it ever go back down?

This sounds like a good bitch session to call in and get another year discount.
mogamer
join:2011-04-20
Royal Oak, MI

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said by anakin415:

This was their response to me on facebook -

The WOW! Buzz - Our contract with BBC America expired and to renew it, they requested a large increase in the fee we pay per customer. We could not absorb this increase. That would mean raising the rates our customers pay, even those that don't watch the channel. We just had a rate increase and we are not willing to have another for these channels. I apologize for the inconvenience.

I called bullshit on that statement and no one has responded. I also tagged BBCAmericas in my post so I wonder if anyone from that camp will notice and have anything to say.

That is total BS on their part. The recent $10 (actually $14 when the two extra bs fees are included) increase should be able to absorb the cost for another year. For example, Dish has just announced an increase for all of their main packages for next year of $5. So now the AT250 package is $84.99 (w/free HD for life) compared to WOW Signature's price of $102 ($109 w/HD) for a whole lot more channels and a lot better equipment.

RootWyrm
join:2011-05-09

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said by anakin415:

This was their response to me on facebook -

The WOW! Buzz - Our contract with BBC America expired and to renew it, they requested a large increase in the fee we pay per customer. We could not absorb this increase. That would mean raising the rates our customers pay, even those that don't watch the channel. We just had a rate increase and we are not willing to have another for these channels. I apologize for the inconvenience.

I called bullshit on that statement and no one has responded. I also tagged BBCAmericas in my post so I wonder if anyone from that camp will notice and have anything to say.

There is no debate or any question that it's complete and utter bullshit through and through, and once again, WOW employees are flat out lying. "That would mean raising the rates our customers pay" - right, because this isn't right after they announced a 'Sports Surcharge' increase, laid off a massive number of employees, and announced another stack of rate increases and bullshit fees! Oh wait...

goalieskates
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join:2004-09-12
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WOW needs to reconsider that. They're dropping BBC America but forcing me to subsidize a bunch of kiddie channels I don't watch, a weather channel that does anything but weather, ESPN in its various flavors (we also don't watch), to say nothing of the SEC Network I'm paying extra for?

Who in hades is running WOW these days?
devolved
join:2012-07-11
Rapid City, SD

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Every season of TNG is on Amazon Prime Instant Video.
devolved

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WOW complains that they don't like to raise rates yet the main reason rates continue to go up is sports channels charge more with that stupid sports surcharge. Then they whine that the rates are not under their control but the control of the programmer, and yet they introduce new rates or raise rates they are completely in control of, like modem rentals, STB rentals, truck rolls and downgrade fees (granted only affects certain customers) for example.

mix
join:2002-03-19
Romeo, MI

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Guys, I pay over $115 a month for digital basic w/ HD and 2 Mbps internet. Pretty ridiculous right?
baess
join:2011-01-28

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said by Bismark:

From the WOW Buzz on Facebook:

The WOW! Buzz We have added many channels to basic services as well as to our line up. For a full review of these channel changes please go to »www.wowway.com/.../cable ··· -updates

Where would I find the changes for my market? Looked on their site and have no clue where it might be.

And your link throws an error.

edit: Found it via WOW's link provided on FB. I've always found it difficult to find information on their site.

My market also loses BBC America but I checked a few others and I don't see the same changes in every market. Some markets get WGN America, others don't. Some lose this or gain that. I think its ridiculous how they can't align their programming and services.

RootWyrm
join:2011-05-09

RootWyrm

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said by baess:

edit: Found it via WOW's link provided on FB. I've always found it difficult to find information on their site.

My market also loses BBC America but I checked a few others and I don't see the same changes in every market. Some markets get WGN America, others don't. Some lose this or gain that. I think its ridiculous how they can't align their programming and services.

I'm not having any luck finding it via FB at all.

And changes like this are always system-wide. MSOs only vary public access (local franchise), and local programming (generally OTA) by region. Cable networks (e.g. AMC, BBC America, HBO) are system-wide without exception. They can't negotiate a deal where Illinois gets HBO for $10 a month but Ohio can't have it at all and Kansas pays $20.
baess
join:2011-01-28

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said by RootWyrm:

I'm not having any luck finding it via FB at all.

And changes like this are always system-wide. MSOs only vary public access (local franchise), and local programming (generally OTA) by region. Cable networks (e.g. AMC, BBC America, HBO) are system-wide without exception. They can't negotiate a deal where Illinois gets HBO for $10 a month but Ohio can't have it at all and Kansas pays $20.

»www.facebook.com/thewowb ··· mments=3

wowway.com->help&support->cable TV->channel changes & updates.
Change "Your location" to see different markets.

Pretty sure there is differences in actual cable networks, not just OTA between markets. Certainly is in what they call their packages (Signature, Preferred, etc.)
devolved
join:2012-07-11
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said by baess:

My market also loses BBC America but I checked a few others and I don't see the same changes in every market. Some markets get WGN America, others don't. Some lose this or gain that. I think its ridiculous how they can't align their programming and services.

Another example is we've never had Pivot. Never even heard of that channel before.

Lost WGN America and a few other channels (RFDTV comes to mind) right before WOW bought out Knology. We haven't had either channel since 2012. There was about a half dozen channels that were dropped before the buyout. WGNA and RFDTV were the two I personally noticed.
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said by RootWyrm:

I'm not having any luck finding it via FB at all.

And changes like this are always system-wide. MSOs only vary public access (local franchise), and local programming (generally OTA) by region. Cable networks (e.g. AMC, BBC America, HBO) are system-wide without exception. They can't negotiate a deal where Illinois gets HBO for $10 a month but Ohio can't have it at all and Kansas pays $20.

The ones dropped are neither regional or public access.

I know that some areas lost the Encore channels, again, not a regional or public access channel.

RogueJawa
join:2013-08-15
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Well.. that's that then.

I don't think I can sing their praises and drink the kool-aid any longer. This is what happens when you deprive a geek of his Doctor Who and Orphan Black. I think at the end of the year I'll drop down to internet only, get Hulu to go along with my Netflix, get out my HD antenna, and next year maybe look at getting a TiVo.

I'll miss some OSU games on BTN and ESPN, and I'll have to figure out how to watch Star Wars Rebels, but yeah.
mogamer
join:2011-04-20
Royal Oak, MI

mogamer

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said by RogueJawa:

I'll have to figure out how to watch Star Wars Rebels, but yeah.

If you're willing to wait a year, I bet it will appear on Netflix. Disney and Netflix did sign a huge contract that fully takes effect either in 2015 or 2016.
bushman311
join:2008-02-14
Lancaster, OH

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Dang... pretty much my most watched channel. I really hate to do it, but I'm making the switch to Time Warner. $99 for Preferred TV with an HD box, 30mbps internet, and phone is too good to pass up. Best WoW countered with was Digital Basic (no box included) and 15mbps, with no phone plan for $109.

Increased costs plus dropped channels. Not a great way to do business WoW.

Inflex
join:2002-09-05

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said by RootWyrm:

And changes like this are always system-wide. MSOs only vary public access (local franchise), and local programming (generally OTA) by region. Cable networks (e.g. AMC, BBC America, HBO) are system-wide without exception. They can't negotiate a deal where Illinois gets HBO for $10 a month but Ohio can't have it at all and Kansas pays $20.

I'm sure you can provide proof of this.

RootWyrm
join:2011-05-09

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said by devolved:

The ones dropped are neither regional or public access.

I know that some areas lost the Encore channels, again, not a regional or public access channel.

I didn't say they were regional or public access. I just said that in contract terms, that's the breakdown, part of it being specific to the legal operation/definitions of franchise agreements. For example, a franchise agreement for one city can require an MSO to provide 3 public access channels, while the next town over requires 2, and another requires 4 - with all three served out of the same physical plant.

As far as differences that seem that way, it's a little more complex. When an MSO acquires a company, they also acquire the contractual obligations and agreements. Which means that, for example, if Knology's contract said 'you have to charge $19.99 for HBO' but WOW's said 'it has to be $14.99', former Knology customers are still $19.99 until that contract expires or is renegotiated.

Whether or not that happens and the timeline thereof varies widely by the content providers involved. And there's no legal obligation on content providers to do what the MSO wants. If AMC turns around and says 'either you carry and provide BBC America or you carry nothing of ours', you get to enjoy another public contract spat as the MSO paints AMC as the bad guys and AMC paints the MSO as the bad guys.

As far as the contracts themselves go, they're just business contracts between the parent entities. Trying to negotiate individually is pretty much impossible, and the more subs you have the better deal you can get. So it's not a deal with each individual area or franchise. It's a contractual agreement between Wide Open West Finance LLC (which owns all the regions) and Home Box Office Inc. (which is actually owned by Time Warner). Which may or may not include other things, like HBO saying 'also carry Cinemax or no deal' or Time Warner coming along at renegotiation and saying 'you dropped HBO and we don't like that, so pick it back up or we're pulling all our stuff.'

bewale
Killemall
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WOW dropping BBC America is not acceptable IMO. Bad move - you're going to lose a lot of longtime customers over this.
Body Count
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Got my $15 discount extended another year because I called in a complained about it.

Basically here's the short answers on why BBC America is dropping and the price increase.

The rep said that Viacom was the main culprit in this latest price increase. They couldn't just drop Viacom because WOW would not be in business today (so she said) so they had to give in and pay what Viacom wanted.. which I guess was a huge increase per person.

They factored in BBC America dropping in the price increase as well. Meaning if BBC America didn't ask for more money and WOW continued to transmit their signal at their current price, we would have seen even higher jumps in fees and package prices.

Even with my discount my price per month jumped up by a lot. If my discount ran out, I would have had to cut cable because i'm not paying almost $160 a month for something I was paying $124 a month in October.

I told her Netflix added to UltraTV didn't affect me because I have other means to get it. Told her Streamland is total crap.

Basically she told me I have to call in every year to renew this discount. There would be no problem renewing the discount but I had to make the call.. they are not going to just auto renew it for me.

RootWyrm
join:2011-05-09

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RootWyrm

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said by Body Count:

Got my $15 discount extended another year because I called in a complained about it.

Basically here's the short answers on why BBC America is dropping and the price increase.

The rep said that Viacom was the main culprit in this latest price increase. They couldn't just drop Viacom because WOW would not be in business today (so she said) so they had to give in and pay what Viacom wanted.. which I guess was a huge increase per person.

Hate to tell you - well okay, no, I don't - but whoever told you that is flat out lying. Viacom has absolutely no rights to BBC America whatsoever. BBC America is jointly owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation and AMC Networks. Viacom does not have ANYTHING to do with BBC America, full stop.
said by Body Count:

They factored in BBC America dropping in the price increase as well. Meaning if BBC America didn't ask for more money and WOW continued to transmit their signal at their current price, we would have seen even higher jumps in fees and package prices.

Lying lying lying liars. For one, the BBC's ad sales jumped massively offsetting the need to demand an increase. For two, nobody else is stupid enough to claim Viacom was claiming an increase on a channel they don't hold carriage rights on.
said by Body Count:

I told her Netflix added to UltraTV didn't affect me because I have other means to get it. Told her Streamland is total crap.

Basically she told me I have to call in every year to renew this discount. There would be no problem renewing the discount but I had to make the call.. they are not going to just auto renew it for me.

It's no longer a discount, it's a sham and under some jurisdictions, might actually constitute illegal bait-and-switch. Your promised your price will be guaranteed through 20NN but they keep pulling channels, jacking up prices, and flat out lying about the reasons why.

(Edit: wow, I must have been sleepy. Making the your/you're mistake. Sheesh.)
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I never said BBC America was part of Viacom. I said the Viacom increase plus BBC America was how the final increases were finalized.

If BBC America never asked for more money and WOW wasn't dropping them, they would have increased our rate even more according to this rep.
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join:2014-11-26

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That was the final straw and I just called to schedule a cancellation now to cancel and go internet only. Funny they didn't even attempt to talk me into keep cable.