It's fairly common practice for cable carriers to blame their often bi-annual TV rate increases on the high costs their incur from broadcasters. Time Warner Cable appears poised to take this traditional tactic to a new level. The company, which is busy alerting customers in a number of markets that they'll soon pay more for cable TV services, is launching a new website that takes aim at broadcasters, and asks customers to vote on whether Time Warner Cable should "roll over or get tough" when it comes to broadcaster hikes. The website, which will allow users to vote later today, has this to say:An insider at Time Warner Cable tells Broadband Reports that company CEO Glenn Britt has also sent an alert to all company employees, asking them to get their families engaged in Time Warner Cable's new campaign.

"I know you often get the brunt of customer anger when programming disputes affect them and what they watch on TV, so I wanted you to hear about this program from me," says Britt in an e-mail to employees. "I encourage you to visit the site and voice your opinion. I also encourage you to share with family, friends and customers that, with their help, we believe we can convince the networks to be reasonable," says the CEO. "We're fighting for our customers," insists Britt.

In a prepared statement to the press, Britt meanwhile proclaims "we’re not trying to attack programmers," but that the company "needs to find a better way to resolve these issues. By better way, Britt apparently means directing customer ire at broadcasters, and getting customer approval for tougher negotiations. "If we get tough, they may lose their favorite shows until we reach a reasonable agreement," warns Britt. Time Warner Cable still won't offer the NFL network because they believe the price is too high.

Of course it's a little bit ironic that the same profitable company that wanted to sock its customers with 2,000% markups for bandwidth earlier this year is suddenly concerned with pricing fairness. While it's true that broadcasters charge hefty amounts for access to content (especially for sports programming), it's quite often over blown by cable carriers for effect. In more competitive markets, operators would be competing on price, and would be forced to eat the majority of those hikes -- instead of having the luxury of passing a large part or all of them on to consumers. They could have it much worse.

TV's still a very profitable business for all involved, and it's rather unlikely Mr. Britt will be huddled in soup kitchens this holiday season. The choice he's given his consumers is also somewhat of a false one. Whether you support tougher negotiations or Time Warner Cable rolling over to broadcaster demands, it's highly unlikely that you'll see much of a difference in your final bill. Should Time Warner Cable see better rates from negotiations, you can be fairly sure those savings won't be passed on to you.

Update: the "voting" aspect of the company's new website is now live, and it isn't much for democratic process. Clicking on the "get tough" option gets you a pat on the back from Time Warner Cable, while clicking on the "roll over" link informs you that you should have clicked on "get tough." In other words, it's a PR and negotiation stunt with no actual consumer choice involved.

Update 2: Time Warner Cable tells us the inability to vote for anything other than what Time Warner Cable would like users to vote for should be fixed shortly.