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Time Warner Joins Rate Hike Festivities
Across the Board TV Service Hikes March 1

Here in the States the start of the new year has seen an absolute flood of rate hikes for TV and Internet services from the likes of AT&T U-Verse, Comcast, and Charter Communications. Not to be outdone, users in our Time Warner Cable forum say the cable operator is also sending notices to users alerting them to new price hikes for numerous services. According to the alerts being sent users, a significant portion of the Time Warner Cable footprint can expect to see the higher rates starting March 1.

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Time Warner Cable is again blaming soaring programming costs for the rate hikes, which of course won't impact you (for now) if you're signed up for a promotional package. The primary culprit continues to be the high rates charged by ESPN. Companies like Time Warner Cable have recently started dropping lower-rated channels in an attempt to cut programming costs.

Blaming programming only goes so far, and the cable operators themsevles play a starring role in rate hikes. Similarly soaring rates for broadband, modem rental, and other services and buried below-the-line fees continue to see hikes because many markets simply aren't competitive.
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rit56
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY

rit56

Member

Rate Hikes

Does anyone here think it will ever get to the point where people truly leave in large numbers? Second question will regulation return?

Morfein
Lead Peon
Premium Member
join:2004-09-08
Brownsburg, IN

Morfein

Premium Member

Re: Rate Hikes

Good question.

If the middle class continues to see stagnant wages while everything around us increases... I would think they would start losing customers.. maybe at a trickle.. but instead of any gains quarter after quarter nothing but loses.

I also question this when it comes to healthcare. Every year for many years I have been getting around 15% premium increases.. as well as less for my money.. higher deductibles and such. How can that keep going? As it sits now I pay about 10% of my income just on premiums... never mind the $4,000 individual deductible and $6k family.

Oh well.. not like I can do anything about it.

Back to the topic of Time Warner.. I have no other option when it comes to internet. AT&T doesn't service my house even for telephone, so they say.

dcurrey
Premium Member
join:2004-06-29
Mason, OH

dcurrey to rit56

Premium Member

to rit56
Ok just got my 2-15-13 to 3-14-13 bill.

Seems they raised my HD dvr from $10.95 to $12.99 of course this bumped my franchase fee another $0.10,

So do I get to look for larger bill in March or does this one reflect the changes?

BTW they actually are charging people for the remote. WTF.

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx to rit56

Premium Member

to rit56
said by rit56:

Does anyone here think it will ever get to the point where people truly leave in large numbers? Second question will regulation return?

Non-sports fans might cut the cord. If you've ever used Netflix streaming on a big screen, it's quite good. Stuff is just a season or two behind. Once you use it, it's VERY clear why the networks hate it, and why all the Video-service-slash-ISPs are seeking data transfer caps to limit it. It's a ton of commercial free entertainment for a very low monthly fee.

That will still leave a hefty percentage of customers that will keep subscribing because they "just have to" be able to watch those games in real time. There are a lot of sports fans out there and I doubt the 300lb gorillas involved with that programming are going to risk disturbing their cash cow.

There's also some perspective to consider too. Even $150-ish for a month of entertainment is relatively cheap compared to going out to the movies, out to dinner, a music concert, or drinks in a bar. Competition is really the only thing keeping prices down.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to rit56

Premium Member

to rit56
Why does CATV and Sat go up so fast?

Simple, The content owners keep wanting more and more money. This is driven in part because some stars keep wanting more and more money(500k per episode is not enough for some, Why they cannot do their job for 200k a year I dunno. They do less work than a Plumber.) But since as a society we keep feeding the machine, it would be dumb of the stars and content companies not to try for more money. I am pretty sure the plumber would ask for more too, But his profession has actual competition.

ITALIAN926
join:2003-08-16

ITALIAN926

Member

Re: Rate Hikes

The content owners demand higher carriage fees, then when the MSO's and Satellite companies try to fight them, people switch providers in groves. Then these are the same people to bitch about their high TV bills.

As a whole, we are responsible for these high TV prices, because NONE of these cable companies are raking in ridiculous profits.

So on 3, everyone stop tuning to ESPN, go read a book instead. Ready... 1...2....3 !!

Oh, not ESPN? Must be AMC who is one of the biggest bullies against providers these days. Sorry, we wont talk about them until their carriage fees are $4 a month.

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958 to rit56

Premium Member

to rit56
said by rit56:

Does anyone here think it will ever get to the point where people truly leave in large numbers? Second question will regulation return?

Please start the regulation soon before these cable companies simply make us all broke!

To bad we will have to get rid of the corrupt politicians first, before that can start!
brianiscool
join:2000-08-16
Tampa, FL

brianiscool

Member

$20

Did you know a $20 item back in 1920's is now worth $220.

Morfein
Lead Peon
Premium Member
join:2004-09-08
Brownsburg, IN

Morfein

Premium Member

Re: $20

I don't think you factored in depreciation....
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: $20

Not applicable when you're discussing inflation and the value of the dollar.

Morfein
Lead Peon
Premium Member
join:2004-09-08
Brownsburg, IN

Morfein

Premium Member

Re: $20

Because he said "item".... is why I made my little joke. /shrug
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: $20

Sorry, missed the sarcasm tag. Not all items depreciate in value anyway
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to openbox9

Premium Member

to openbox9
also the fact that CATV services and content prices are accelerating faster than inflation would cause them to on their own.
travisdh1
join:2007-10-20
Wooster, OH

travisdh1

Member

Dropped basic tv service.

I'm not sure which big-name cable provider the local outfit is associated with, but they bumped up their rates as well. We dropped the tv service like a hot potato, sadly they've got the next best thing to a monopoly on internet access in the area. (We get speeds up to 10mbps on DOCIS3, aren't we lucky?)

AnonPerson
join:2000-08-26
Lexington, KY

AnonPerson

Member

Mail spam

This price hike is really going to make me jump on all those spam offers that are constantly filling my mailbox trying to get me to sign up to TV package instead of only paying them for internet.

(This post was sarcastic, I'm not really going to sign up for TV)

cyberxxix
@vpnreactor.com

cyberxxix

Anon

a remote charge WTH

50 a month and the remote cost about 5 bucks people will find ways to cut back. don't companys think about that NO they don't.
they will lose customers and customers will cut back so they lose
whoyourdaddy
join:2013-02-20
Honey Brook, PA

whoyourdaddy

Member

Re: a remote charge WTH

seems like company's are charging for every thing now days soon the will start charging .50 cents a month for the cable wire ill bet u on that.

Selenia
Gentoo Convert
Premium Member
join:2006-09-22
Fort Smith, AR

Selenia

Premium Member

Re: a remote charge WTH

said by whoyourdaddy:

seems like company's are charging for every thing now days soon the will start charging .50 cents a month for the cable wire ill bet u on that.

Shhhh don't give them and their investors any ideas :S

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

1 recommendation

djrobx to cyberxxix

Premium Member

to cyberxxix
Cable companies have been charging for remotes for a long time.

My favorite is that if you decide NOT to accept the remote charge because you want to use your own universal remote, some cable companies will actually disable the IR receiver!
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Not competitive?

Nonsense.

Most households have a choice of 3 or 4 pay-tv options.

Its the content.
15444104 (banned)
join:2012-06-11

15444104 (banned)

Member

Re: Not competitive?

said by elray:

Nonsense.

Most households have a choice of 3 or 4 pay-tv options.

Perhaps they do in SoCal but not most of the rest of the country.

I agree Charter was basically going to raise my internet price by 50% in one bill, and I don't even use that much bandwidth....If they don't have other options soon I will be leaving them and getting basic ATT DSL at 30$/mo. I will NOT pay for speeds I won't use and don't want.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: Not competitive?

said by 15444104:

said by elray:

Nonsense.

Most households have a choice of 3 or 4 pay-tv options.

Perhaps they do in SoCal but not most of the rest of the country.

Where is it in this country, that a Time Warner Cable customer not have access to the two major satellite vendors, and possibly, TelcoTV?

Swindle
Shattered Dreams
join:2006-07-24
Tampa, FL

Swindle

Member

Re: Not competitive?

I'm wishing TW has the guts to put ESPN in a special Sports Tier.

Dryvlyne
Far Beyond Driven
Premium Member
join:2004-08-30
Newark, OH

Dryvlyne

Premium Member

Re: Not competitive?

That would be great if all providers did that, but it won't happen because then they'll no longer be able to easily hide behind ESPN as an excuse for raising rates. I think it would be nice if the price of channels were itemized on everyone's bill so they could see just how much certain channels are contributing to their overall bill.

mikedz4
join:2003-04-14
Weirton, WV

mikedz4 to elray

Member

to elray
If you rent the apartment or house you can't just put up a satellite dish or even outside antenna without permission and sometimes paying a deposit to put the dish or antenna up.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: Not competitive?

said by mikedz4:

If you rent the apartment or house you can't just put up a satellite dish or even outside antenna without permission and sometimes paying a deposit to put the dish or antenna up.

Wrong.

Anywhere in the country, you can ask permission to place a satellite dish in an apartment or condo, and you don't have to ask, if you have your own private space, i.e. a balcony.

simlesa
Premium Member
join:2006-04-14
Astoria, NY

simlesa

Premium Member

Re: Not competitive?

No balcony in my apartment, and my landlord doesn't let me put a dish on the roof or outside wall.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: Not competitive?

Indeed, we too live in that same boat, void of satellite rights and TelcoTV options.

But that doesn't prove a lack of competition - our neighbors on all sides have access to four flavors of pay-tv.

If that was important to us, we would move, as we have in the past when utilities failed us. If your landlord isn't flexible enough, and you so desire satellite over cable, you might consider the same.

Your cable company is still competing with satellite, even if you can't obtain it - they aren't yet sophisticated enough (yet) to determine that or use it against you.
elray

elray to mikedz4

Member

to mikedz4
said by mikedz4:

If you rent the apartment or house you can't just put up a satellite dish or even outside antenna without permission and sometimes paying a deposit to put the dish or antenna up.

Yes, you can, so long as you have a private area, such as balcony, in which to place it.
54761437 (banned)
join:2013-01-18
Durham, NC

54761437 (banned) to elray

Member

to elray
It must be magical to be inside your head where economies are always perfectly competitive and cable MSOs never do anything wrong. Truly, the Kool-Aid you drink is a heady brew, indeed.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: Not competitive?

said by 54761437:

It must be magical to be inside your head where economies are always perfectly competitive and cable MSOs never do anything wrong. Truly, the Kool-Aid you drink is a heady brew, indeed.

Nope. Economies are never perfectly competitive, but even duopoly competition is usually better than government regulation.

MSOs have done plenty wrong, but they've done more right in the past ten years, and they deserve credit for it.

If you're upset about your pay-tv bill, that's the result of content costs, not cable profit margins; if you want to lobby for anti-trust action against content bundling, go ahead, its worth a try.
Chuck_IV
join:2003-11-18
Connecticut

Chuck_IV to elray

Member

to elray
said by elray:

said by 15444104:

said by elray:

Nonsense.

Most households have a choice of 3 or 4 pay-tv options.

Perhaps they do in SoCal but not most of the rest of the country.

Where is it in this country, that a Time Warner Cable customer not have access to the two major satellite vendors, and possibly, TelcoTV?

Many place. You easily ignore line of sight issue with Satellite. Up till last year when UVerse finally got to my area, most people on my area had ONE choice for TV... Charter because most did not have line of sight for either satellite provider and there wasn't anything else.

Dryvlyne
Far Beyond Driven
Premium Member
join:2004-08-30
Newark, OH

Dryvlyne to elray

Premium Member

to elray
While that's true when it comes to TV, I don't consider the major satellite vendors or my local telco competitive at all when it comes to Internet service. So unfortunately my family is pretty much stuck with TWC for Internet service at the very least which is around $60/mo as a standalone service.

Selenia
Gentoo Convert
Premium Member
join:2006-09-22
Fort Smith, AR

Selenia to 15444104

Premium Member

to 15444104
said by 15444104:

said by elray:

Nonsense.

Most households have a choice of 3 or 4 pay-tv options.

Perhaps they do in SoCal but not most of the rest of the country.

I agree Charter was basically going to raise my internet price by 50% in one bill, and I don't even use that much bandwidth....If they don't have other options soon I will be leaving them and getting basic ATT DSL at 30$/mo. I will NOT pay for speeds I won't use and don't want.

Hogwash. I have at least 4 here in small town America, where cable internet doesn't even reach(without the help of my 2.5 mile wireless backhaul link to a modem I have hosted across the lake I created to get Time Warner Cable internet back and ditch dreadful Verizon DSL, the whole town's only option). It's called crappy analog cable from Charter(all they offer here, no HSI or phone) or Satellite provider A, B, and C(maybe more). The Satellite providers compete with cable nationwide and with each other. Now, if you said there was no competition on affordable fixed-line broadband, I would agree with you. My town, only served by Verizon with 6 week service calls, a slow, lossy connection that goes down more than a $2 whore, and numerous billing errors that get referred to outsourced tech support, is a shining example of this(Why I spent a few grand on equipment to backhaul a TWC connection, which is serving me very well).

cut costs
@sigecom.net

cut costs

Anon

goodbye TW-Insight

Wow salesman came to the door and offerfed us HSI 15/1 for $14 less per month than TW for the first year. Sold. Bandwidth and quality are actually better than Insight. Just netflix and OTA for us.
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

Re: goodbye TW-Insight

You may want to read the recent outages and problems with WOW.
Body Count
join:2010-09-11
Columbus, OH
Netgear CM1000
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter ER-4
Ubiquiti U6-Pro

Body Count

Member

Re: goodbye TW-Insight

said by TBBroadband:

You may want to read the recent outages and problems with WOW.

While it is true that WOW had a few outages, they seem to have got their crap together and fixed the major part of it because it's not happening anymore.

Anonymou5e
@rr.com

Anonymou5e

Anon

It's Sports and greedy broadcasters

ESPN, FOX, CBS, etc. are a large part of this. Professional teams keep jacking up salaries, and those costs are recouped via television rights, and guess who pays for that? You the customer pays for it.

Each time you see a Flacco or a Tebow, or a LeBron get these mega-deals those costs are being shifted to the fans ultimately. Sure some is made up in increased ad revenues but a large part of it comes from television rights.

Outside of sports, all of the broadcasters are feeling pinched, they know they are losing subscribers to services such as Hulu and Netflix and thus they are trying to milk out as much as they can. Just look at the hissy fit Viacom had about TWC offering alternative viewing methods (aka iPad) that they didn't get to monetize.

motoracer
join:2003-09-15
united state

1 recommendation

motoracer

Member

Already Expensive

TWC is already ridiculously expensive. Everybody that I know has terrible things to say about TWC TV anyway.

Thanks, but no thanks TWC.

banditws6
Shrinking Time and Distance
Premium Member
join:2001-08-18
Frisco, TX

banditws6

Premium Member

Typical ESPN

As someone who isn't that interested in sports, the primarily ESPN-driven seasonal rate hikes were really annoying to me. Like others here have stated, non-sports fans are typically among the first to cut the cord and that's exactly what I did over two years ago: went with an OTA/Netflix solution. But content producers and publishers -- particularly those in the sports business -- know that fans need their fix. They aren't afraid to ask for more money from transmitters like TWC and the other cable cos. This is not likely to change anytime soon.
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

Programing costs

If it was truly programming costs, then why aren't companies like TWC locking in their contracts with Disney-ABC or CBS with longer terms at current rates???? Smaller companies can go much longer before increasing rates but yet these large companies just can't do it. Why? Maybe because others are more greedy and are up front???

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Poor Grandma

My grandma spends most of her time in bed and she lives on a fixed income.

TV is her only fun in life. I put a nice Samsung 26" HDTV next to her bed, complete with DVR.
54761437 (banned)
join:2013-01-18
Durham, NC

1 edit

54761437 (banned)

Member

F*ck yeah, America!

Click for full size
Check out the little notice they gave me. THEY'RE CHARGING FOR THE ON-SCREEN CHANNEL GUIDE.

You've gotta be shitting me, Time Warner. This is where we part ways, my cloak and dagger friends.

Dryvlyne
Far Beyond Driven
Premium Member
join:2004-08-30
Newark, OH

Dryvlyne

Premium Member

Re: F*ck yeah, America!

Wow, that's just low. We haven't received that notice yet, but thanks for sharing. My wife and I have been talking for awhile about cutting at least TV service with TWC... I think this too may be what finally tips the scales. I'm tired of getting bent over by these bastards!

Gas Hog
@verizon.net

Gas Hog

Anon

Here is an idea...

They cable co's. need to find a way to charge 5 cents for each and every button press on the remote. That would end useless channel surfing.

simlesa
Premium Member
join:2006-04-14
Astoria, NY

simlesa

Premium Member

Downsizing

I'm planning to return my DVR box next week and replace it with regular HD box. That should offset the increase. Ideally, I'll just replace both with a Tivo and Cablecard.