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Time Warner: Triple Play Hot, Quadruple Play Not
7.4 million broadband customers, 2.6 million VoIP

Time Warner Cable today released their third quarter earnings, which note the cable company added 224,000 cable broadband customers, bringing their total served to 7.4 million. The company also added 275,000 VoIP customers, bringing that total to 2.6 million. The company added 128,000 digital video subscribers, but lost 83,000 basic video customers. The bulk (80%) of lost customers were in the Los Angeles market, which has been plagued with difficulty since the company acquired it from Adelphia.

Meanwhile, the company called interest in their Pivot wireless joint-venture with Sprint "tepid" (see our recent report). Cable executives aren't particularly sold on the "quadruple play," (broadband, TV, VoIP, wireless) though Sprint has suggested the cable industry hasn't been pushing the service very hard. While the majority of customers still bundle just two services (usually TV & broadband) Time Warner Cable set a record for new "triple play" subscriber additions with 220,000.
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69742511 (banned)
join:2003-08-09
Costa Mesa, CA

69742511 (banned)

Member

Time Warner recently...

acquired my area (central Orange County) from Comcast 9 months ago. And we still have issues...

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Time Warner recently...

Friends of mine here in Santa Clarita (coworkers) have had HD issues since it went from Comcast to TW. I've stayed clear of both TW and AT&T Uverse TV service until they get better.

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

djrobx

Premium Member

Re: Time Warner recently...

There were major issues with the HD early on after the switch, but it's been fine for a long time now.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Time Warner recently...

One of my coworkers near Valencia towncenter still has issues on her HD.

DotMac4
Shill H8r
Premium Member
join:2007-10-26
Huntington Beach, CA

2 edits

DotMac4

Premium Member

Triple play is only hot for now...

Because they're pushing aggressive promotional pricing ($30/service). I'd be more interested in their retention when those customers' bills jump 20%-30% when their promotions expire.

C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium Member
join:2001-10-03
Tempe, AZ

C0deZer0

Premium Member

Re: Triple play is only hot for now...

said by DotMac4:

Because they're pushing aggressive promotional pricing ($30/service). I'd be more interested in their retention when those customers' bills jump 200%-300% when their promotions expire.
Fixed for you.

DotMac4
Shill H8r
Premium Member
join:2007-10-26
Huntington Beach, CA

DotMac4

Premium Member

Re: Triple play is only hot for now...

LOL, that's Comcast's price schedule.

C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium Member
join:2001-10-03
Tempe, AZ

C0deZer0

Premium Member

Re: Triple play is only hot for now...

Cable rates... they hike up faster than a delinquent's credit card interest rates.
Techie714
join:2005-08-02
Anaheim, CA

Techie714

Member

Happy in Orange County

I have been with TWC for about a year now & so far I have been very happy. In fact just last month they called me & said I was paying TO MUCH for service and lowered my bill to a permanent rate. I pay about $85.00 a month for the following services.

Basic/Digital cable
HD Programming
HSI Standard (5Megs down/456kbps up)
HBO

I use Via Talk as my phone provider 299.99 for a whole YEAR!
One happy camper!
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Happy in Orange County

I'm in MidOhio and called and they gave:

RoadRunner Standard $29.55
RoadRunner Turbo Ad-on: $6.95
Digital Phone: $28
Expanded Cable: $28

$93 with taxes

I don't see how people say that cable is high and their promotions are a rip. You just have to tell them to repackage or tell them you're paying too much. They'll lower the pricing either like you said permanent rate or for a set amount of years.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

1 recommendation

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Happy in Orange County

said by hottboiinnc4:

I'm in MidOhio and called and they gave:

RoadRunner Standard $29.55
RoadRunner Turbo Ad-on: $6.95
Digital Phone: $28
Expanded Cable: $28

$93 with taxes

I don't see how people say that cable is high and their promotions are a rip. You just have to tell them to repackage or tell them you're paying too much. They'll lower the pricing either like you said permanent rate or for a set amount of years.
I think this varies by market. When I canceled yesterday, the lady went on and on how I've been a wonderful customer for years and would I like to bundle this and bundle that. When my friend called, they cut his bill by 50%, but only for 6 months. After that his was full price again.

Why should I have to spend MORE money to drop the price of my cable bill? I was paying $83/month for Basic/Expanded (channels 1-77), HBO and an HD DVR. I don't need Road Runner, I don't need Digital Phone .... I just want a cheaper television bill.

RR user
@rr.com

RR user to hottboiinnc4

Anon

to hottboiinnc4
Good God!

I pay TW about $185/mo for my triple play. It was in the $170's about 2 years ago when I added digital phone to the mix.

Breakdown:

Digital Phone - $39.95
5Mb RR standard - $39.95
Digital Cable, HBO + 1 HD DVR - $105 (including taxes/fees)

I get great/reliable service. They are always right there to fix anything that goes wrong. The last few times I called in a problem, they were here at my doorstep within 24 hours to fix it, and at the price I pay they should be. The only thing I can really complain about is the price, and most of it seems to be buried in the cable portion of the bill. The price of the Digital Phone and RoadRunner has remained the same year after year.

I've been a TWC Video and Data customer for nearly 8 years now. I remember when I first signed up way back when TWC gave me every premium channel available with DVR and RoadRunner for $115 a month. After the year promotion they called me and told me they would like to extend my promotion yet another year, and I accepted it. But then after the two year mark, I canceled all but one premium after the extension ended. And over the past years, the bill slowly increases year after year.

It would be awesome if cable companies found ways to reward the longterm loyal customers, rather than entice people that pick up the service only to drop it a year later after the promo ends.

Part of the reason is in this area (Raleigh/Durham) Bellsouth/AT&T provides virtually no competition to TWC. I think that may be about to change though, as I have seen "U-verse" looking boxes popping up all over the place. I guess I have to wait until December when AT&T will announce Bellsouth deployment areas but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if this area will be on the list. Even though U-verse isn't perfect I welcome any and all competition that could eventually lower my TWC bill.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Happy in Orange County

In Ohio you just have to keep calling in and putting your services in a promotion. It takes 15 minutes . And I would assume that any market will bundle your services to keep you.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Happy in Orange County

said by hottboiinnc4:

In Ohio you just have to keep calling in and putting your services in a promotion. It takes 15 minutes . And I would assume that any market will bundle your services to keep you.
They must be adjusting for the cost of living, because I am only an hour from RR User and his prices are in line with mine. They offer a bundle for all 3 for $89, but once it's up, you're SOL and the price doubles to $189. Not only that, it's RR Lite and Digital Phone Unlimited Carolinas ...

»www.timewarnercable.com/ ··· fer.html

I had a $99 bundle several years ago and they absolutely would not renew it for me. I was paying $189/month for RR, Cable and Unlimited Phone after the deal was up.

I've had RR service for years, ever since it was offered here, up until March and I was extremely satisfied with it. The only reason I switched is because I get more speed (down and up) for less money with North State. With DirecTV, I get twice the channels, a TON more HD channels, including the actual Discovery channel in HD, (not that Discovery HD Theater BS) for half what I was paying for TW cable TV.

My neighbor just switched to North State for her Internet/Phone ... because once again, unless she upgraded her TV package (she has the $9.99 basic), they wouldn't discount her other services. She had to spend more money to "save" money ... it makes no sense.

It just doesn't make sense for me even if I did get your pricing. I'd be downgrading my internet connection, downgrading my TV, and adding a phone service I'd never use ... only to pay $10 more a month than I pay now?
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Happy in Orange County

TWC has a department that you can request to talk to; Retentions or talk to a supervisor or someone else about their bundles they can always be changed by someone else if the CSR won't do it.

TWC sometimes won't rebundle here either you just have to know what to tell them an when to call or just keep trying. Someone is bound to do it. But i don't see a reason for TWC to give a discount to a customer who is only spending $10 per month on maybe 18 channels. I probably wouldn't do that either. Doesn't make sense for them even when the bundles require a certain package of service to start off with for the bundled rate.

MrMoody
Free range slave
Premium Member
join:2002-09-03
Smithfield, NC
Netgear CM500
Asus RT-AC68

MrMoody to RR user

Premium Member

to RR user
said by RR user :

Part of the reason is in this area (Raleigh/Durham) Bellsouth/AT&T provides virtually no competition to TWC. I think that may be about to change though, as I have seen "U-verse" looking boxes popping up all over the place. I guess I have to wait until December when AT&T will announce Bellsouth deployment areas but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if this area will be on the list.
Not only are the boxes going up, they are advertising TV service on the local broadcast channels now. It's coming.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Happy in Orange County

It maybe coming but in "select areas" that even means streets and blocks of neighborhoods. Not everyone will have it and even if a box is close by. Remember You're World Delivered; when we say so- AT$T

anon2007
@rr.com

anon2007

Anon

No problems here

We have in our home office 15/2 Mbps, 5 static IP business class service for less than we used to pay with AT&T DSL elite 6Mbps/700Kbps static plan. So far no problems with internet.

We have 1 DVR, 3 HDTVs and 2 standard TVs that we can use all at the same time. Picture quality is superb and the service is rock solid, never had an outage in the 3 years we had the service.

Lastly we have 2 digital phone lines, again rock solid.

I don't mind if TW decide to adjust their prices according to inflation my service is excellent and worth every cent I pay. What would be the alternative, uwish?
MyDogHsFleas
Premium Member
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX

MyDogHsFleas

Premium Member

VoIP?

AFAIK Time Warner Cable Digital phone is not VoIP.
reelbigfish
join:2002-06-06
Boston, MA

reelbigfish

Member

Re: VoIP?

It is not VoIP that goes over the internet but it sure is VoIP as it uses IP to transmit voice packets. Albeit, it does go over the TimeWarner network with QoS, but it is still VoIP.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

depends on where...

If your in the middle of Ohio or somewhere waiting for U-Verse's deathstar to get to you.. sure Time Warner's triple play starts to look good... If your in the middle of NYC with Verizon and Cablevision making your service look like AOL dialup... then, no... not so good.

Anon 5
@rr.com

Anon 5

Anon

WHAT ?

See the article below... 53% loss of profits is NOT hot...!

Nov 7, 4:44 PM EST

Time Warner Profit Falls 53 Percent

By SETH SUTEL
AP Business Writer
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Weak results from AOL tempered an otherwise strong quarter at Time Warner Inc., the company reported Wednesday, as gains from cable TV and the latest Harry Potter movie helped the media conglomerate meet Wall Street expectations.

The company, which also owns HBO, Warner Bros., CNN and Time magazine, earned $1.09 billion in the three months ended in September, down 53 percent from the same period a year ago, when results were lifted by investment gains and tax benefits. Per-share earnings fell to 29 cents from 57 cents.

Revenue rose 9 percent to $11.68 billion from $10.75 billion.

Excluding one-time gains and discontinued operations, earnings rose to 24 cents per share, in line with estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, from 19 cents a year ago.

Time Warner's shares slipped 53 cents, or 2.9 percent, to close at $17.80 Wednesday, amid an overall decline in the market. The day's trading low of $17.73 brought the stock close to the lower end of their 52-week trading range of $17.60 to $23.15. Shares have been off 7 percent over the past year, versus a 10 percent gain in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

Investors are hopeful that incoming Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes, who takes over Jan. 1, will move aggressively to boost the company's stock price, which is stuck at about the same level it was at five years ago. The company announced Bewkes' long-anticipated appointment on Monday, succeeding Dick Parsons, who is staying on as chairman.

Bewkes deflected questions from analysts on a conference call about his specific plans, particularly on a much-speculated possibility that Time Warner would reduce its 84 percent stake in its largest business unit, Time Warner Cable.

Bewkes, whose name is pronounced BYEW-kess, did convey urgency about adapting the company's traditional media operations to the rapid changes being wrought by technology on the ways that people consume media.

"This company has to move fast," Bewkes said. "We need to adapt all our products, how we offer them. ... All of that requires a lot of trial and error."

Speaking later in the day at an investor conference, Bewkes said of the possibility of spinning off the cable unit or other financial engineering: "Every option is on the table."

Time Warner's adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization, a measure of profitability, rose 15 percent to $3.2 billion.

The largest gain came from Time Warner Cable, which posted 28 percent higher profit as it absorbed new subscribers from bankrupt Adelphia Communications and signed up more customers for premium services including digital phone and high-speed Internet.

Time Warner Cable also lost 83,000 basic video customers, mostly in newly acquired systems in Dallas and Los Angeles, an amount that was higher than analysts had been expecting.

The cable unit, which reports results separately, said demand had been "tepid" for a bundled package of cell phone and cable service, and the company was slowing down the marketing of that service because of back-office integration problems.

At the parent company, Time Warner's earnings from movie production, which are often volatile because of hits and misses at the box office, jumped 71 percent on the latest "Harry Potter" movie, as well as "Rush Hour 3" and "Oceans 13."

AOL reported a 23 percent drop in profit, as higher advertising revenue wasn't enough to offset more declines in subscription sales.

Advertising revenue rose just 13 percent in the quarter, a decline from the 16 percent increase in the second quarter and 46 percent growth in the same period a year ago.

Time Warner said in its quarterly regulatory filing, also disclosed Wednesday, that it expects online advertising growth to slow further in the fourth quarter because of price competition for display advertising and lower search advertising results. That pressure is expected to continue in the first quarter of next year.

AOL lost another 851,000 subscribers, ending the quarter with 10.1 million U.S. Internet access customers, as it revamps its business plan toward selling advertising.

In its latest attempt to build online advertising business, AOL said Wednesday it would acquire Quigo, a company that matches online ads to the content of Web pages, for an undisclosed amount.

Time Warner maintained its full-year earnings expectations of $1.07 per share, including 12 cents per diluted share related to after-tax gains, such as the sale of AOL's Internet access business in Germany.