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Half Of Insight's Customers Switched To Comcast
Unwound partnership results in territory split

Last week reports suggested half of Insight's cable broadband customers could find their way into the hands of Comcast. We asked Insight CEO Michael Willner about the report and were told "we don't comment on speculative stories in the press." Well, today said "speculation" is official: to dissolve an ownership partnership born when Comcast acquired AT&T Broadband, Comcast will directly acquire a significant number of Insight customers in Illinois and Indiana.

Comcast will acquire more than 1.2 million customers (684,000 basic video customers, 296,000 digital video customers and 300,000 broadband customers). "Comcast already has significant properties in Indiana and Illinois, so it makes sense for them to assume control over the systems in these states," says Willner. "Insight will operate a very efficient cluster in Kentucky, where it will continue to be the largest operator in the state, and in neighboring southern Indiana and in Columbus, Ohio."

You can find reaction from impacted Insight broadband customers in our Insight forum. Says one: "Hmm lets see, slower speeds, newsgroup server with 2GB download quota per month per email account, and invisible caps? The future is looking wonderful."
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AnonProxy
Premium Member
join:2001-05-12

AnonProxy

Premium Member

RA!

Gooooo COMCAST!
jdmatl
join:2000-04-27
Deerfield Beach, FL

jdmatl

Member

Get ready for higher cable prices Insight Customers

Kiss whatever you had goodbye! The Comcastic machine is absorbing all systems like the "Borg" did. Resistance is futile as is resistance to higher cable prices with worse service and slower broadband speeds.

Remember it is COMCASTIC!!! And tune to Comcast Channel1 for overpriced Video-on-Demand.

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6

Premium Member

Re: Get ready for higher cable prices Insight Customers

said by jdmatl:

The Comcastic machine is absorbing all systems like the "Borg" did.
How do you think Comcast got to be the way they are today?

»www.businessweek.com/199 ··· 7046.htm

Did anyone ever doubt that [John] Malone, variously called the King of Cable and Darth Vader, would come back in glory? Certainly not L.J. Davis, author of The Billionaire Shell Game, a highly critical account of how the cable industry over-promised new technology in order to curry favor with Wall Street and, in Malone's case, to find a buyer for Tele-Communications. Davis, a contributing editor to Harper's magazine, figures that Malone has been angling for a billion- dollar payday almost since the moment he took the reins of TCI in 1973 as a 32-year-old engineer who had befriended founder Bob Magness. Unwilling to pay taxes, he leveraged the company to the hilt to buy up any available system even if it meant losing millions. As for the TV viewer, says Davis, Malone couldn't care less: Better service and more channels meant higher costs, and if he spent more on existing subscribers, he would have to slow his march to build America's largest cable empire. ''The trick,'' Davis writes, ''was to never give the public what it wanted.''

It is their corporate culture...
caco
Premium Member
join:2005-03-10
Whittier, AK

caco

Premium Member

Re: Get ready for higher cable prices Insight Customers

said by John Galt6:
said by jdmatl:

The Comcastic machine is absorbing all systems like the "Borg" did.
How do you think Comcast got to be the way they are today?

»www.businessweek.com/199 ··· 7046.htm

Did anyone ever doubt that [John] Malone, variously called the King of Cable and Darth Vader, would come back in glory? Certainly not L.J. Davis, author of The Billionaire Shell Game, a highly critical account of how the cable industry over-promised new technology in order to curry favor with Wall Street and, in Malone's case, to find a buyer for Tele-Communications. Davis, a contributing editor to Harper's magazine, figures that Malone has been angling for a billion- dollar payday almost since the moment he took the reins of TCI in 1973 as a 32-year-old engineer who had befriended founder Bob Magness. Unwilling to pay taxes, he leveraged the company to the hilt to buy up any available system even if it meant losing millions. As for the TV viewer, says Davis, Malone couldn't care less: Better service and more channels meant higher costs, and if he spent more on existing subscribers, he would have to slow his march to build America's largest cable empire. ''The trick,'' Davis writes, ''was to never give the public what it wanted.''

It is their corporate culture...
"A word of caution: Davis' only direct communication with Malone was in a 1990 interview, and Davis' recent other TCI contacts have been limited to two technology execs. Thus, TCI officials say, the book is flawed and inaccurate in parts."

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

1 recommendation

John Galt6

Premium Member

Re: Get ready for higher cable prices Insight Customers

said by caco:

"A word of caution: Davis' only direct communication with Malone was in a 1990 interview, and Davis' recent other TCI contacts have been limited to two technology execs. Thus, TCI officials say, the book is flawed and inaccurate in parts."
Perhaps...but I actually *lived it* so I can confirm for a fact first-hand that is the way they handled themselves and built the business.

I got to meet John Malone in person when he came to personally testify at my trial...my Federal trial. They brought federal charges because I gave company information to the local franchise authority on the exact thing that the commented portion of my post indicated.

The judge said WTF? and dismissed the charges and followed up with a nice lecture on the abuse of the courts to the plaintiff.
Mordhem
Love it, Hate it.
join:2003-07-10
Baltimore, MD

Mordhem to jdmatl

Member

to jdmatl
said by jdmatl:

Kiss whatever you had goodbye! The Comcastic machine is absorbing all systems like the "Borg" did. Resistance is futile as is resistance to higher cable prices with worse service and slower broadband speeds.

Remember it is COMCASTIC!!! And tune to Comcast Channel1 for overpriced Video-on-Demand.
Ohh ya not like the phone company's don't over charge! Considering I have like 100% better service from when I was with the phone company, I would rather pay more for great service then pay over priced for a crappy service.

"Comcastic machine is absorbing all systems like the "Borg" did."
I think your thinking of MA Bell! They are like the T1000 Of Companys, I hope just like in the movie Comcast crushes the hell out of ma bell.

Death to the phone company!
GO COMCAST!!!!

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc

Re: Get ready for higher cable prices Insight Customers

Nice pile of crap you dropped in this thread. Very Comcastic! of you.

phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL

1 edit

phattieg

Member

Re: Get ready for higher cable prices Insight Customers

said by RadioDoc:

Nice pile of crap you dropped in this thread. Very Comcastic! of you.
You know, it's not a pile of crap when it's true. He simply stated that "the new AT&T" is eating up major Bell companies like PacMan eats dots and ghosts (and cherries, cake, etc...). But you know, I come to expect anal retentive remarks from your UID, and perhaps that is why the Ex is in front of the Mod part of your user info. As the saying goes, "opinions are like assholes, everyone has one".

EDIT: Lets recap, SBC bought Ameritech, SouthWestern Bell, Pacific Bell, SNET, AT&T, Cingular, THEN BellSouth, as well as a few others inbetween. All within 7 years. Then changed the name to AT&T. How much money did it cost to change AT&T to Cingular, then change it back? I have no clue, but it's rediculous that you'd say Comcast is any worse.

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc

Re: Get ready for higher cable prices Insight Customers

You lost all your credibility with the ex-mod snipe. Too bad you're unable to apply the posting standard you expect of others to yourself.

How many companies has Comcast eaten in the last seven years?

phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL

phattieg

Member

Re: Get ready for higher cable prices Insight Customers

said by RadioDoc:

You lost all your credibility with the ex-mod snipe. Too bad you're unable to apply the posting standard you expect of others to yourself.

How many companies has Comcast eaten in the last seven years?
Key word, perhaps, was used. I could care less about your opinion of my credibility. My post clearly states the obvious, which is they are not alone. You can't call someone elses post a junk post if they are contributing, and not flaming. If the Mod's were tightwads around here, your post would have been deleted along with mine. If you want to flame, then get a new user id, because all I see you do is babble about negativity all the time, and hardly see a sensible post come from you. To be honest, you are probably the most arrogant "Mod" (Ex-Mod for that matter) on here, and your blatant flame of calling that users post "crap" should be a perfect reason for me, or anyone else, to come to that conclusion. At least with a new UID that has no ExMod behind it, you'll look like the other babble-butts on here. If you want to "flame" me back, then just PM me, and save the world your arrogance.

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

2 edits

RadioDoc

Re: Get ready for higher cable prices Insight Customers

I'll say it again, try applying your posting "standards" to yourself.

You can attempt to qualify your sniping with "perhaps" but anyone on message boards for more than 10 minutes knows what you're doing. The posting rules here do not prohibit commenting on a post's content. That's actually encouraged. You opened the personal attack door, not me. "Perhaps" your employment prevents you from walking away from posts which criticize your employer.

Still waiting for your actual, on-topic content.

phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL

phattieg

Member

Re: Get ready for higher cable prices Insight Customers

said by RadioDoc:

I'll say it again, try applying your posting "standards" to yourself.

You can attempt to qualify your sniping with "perhaps" but anyone on message boards for more than 10 minutes knows what you're doing. The posting rules here do not prohibit commenting on a post's content. That's actually encouraged. You opened the personal attack door, not me. "Perhaps" your employment prevents you from walking away from posts which criticize your employer.

Still waiting for your actual, on-topic content.
I could care less if you "flame" Comcast. It's NOT my job, and I DON'T get paid to sit in here and govern what others say. But if a stupid, or unfair comment is made, I will say something. You can criticize away, just make sure your comments have some justification. The post simply stated that Comcast isn't the only provider who is getting bigger than many people think they should be. Isn't the post also about how big the company is getting, or did I miss something that made it SPECIFICALLY about one part of the topic???

Chuckles0
Premium Member
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN

Chuckles0 to jdmatl

Premium Member

to jdmatl
said by jdmatl:

Remember it is COMCASTIC!!! And tune to Comcast Channel1 for overpriced Video-on-Demand.
Yeah that free stuff is killing my pocket book.
Mordhem
Love it, Hate it.
join:2003-07-10
Baltimore, MD

Mordhem

Member

Re: Get ready for higher cable prices Insight Customers

Hell Imagine what it would be like if MA Bell could buy comcast. You would have the normal in demand price then a service fee of 5$ then a broadcasting fee of 6$, then you would have a Reconcile Fee of 7$ then a receive fee of 10$ then like 10 more fees for things you never even heard of. I would rather a company charge me a price that is said on the phone then have a company charge me 10 covered up trump charges.

I am happy with Comcast, mainly because I know what it would be like if the phone company owned it.

Comcast my = Evil, but if so Ma Bell = Satan
reports242
join:2007-03-28
Chicago, IL

reports242 to jdmatl

Member

to jdmatl
ha! there is no better alternative. dsl sucks and every other cable tv company i've had besides comcast cost more. you may not like it, but the alternatives are worse.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

This was misleading...

After reading the article, I gotta say - this whole news post was misleading. It implied that Comcast swindled Insight and stole those customers away (ATT vs @Home style). Although I too hate Comcast, at least make it look like you're impartial.
wstwrdho
join:2007-03-15
Riverton, UT

wstwrdho

Member

Re: This was misleading...

I agree. Comcast already owned these subscribers by owning a big chunk of Insight. It sort of went TCI owned -> AT&T Broadband owned -> Comcast owned. Comcast is just putting their name on it.

Titus
Mr Gradenko
join:2004-06-26

Titus

Member

Let's see here ...

"Comcast will acquire more than 1.2 million customers [...]"

That's nearly the number of Comcast's capital hill lobby, isn't it?
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

Sammer

Member

Time Warner

How long before the other cable monster buys the rest of Insight?

Loker
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND

1 recommendation

Loker

Premium Member

Re: Time Warner

said by Sammer:

How long before the other cable monster buys the rest of Insight?
Comcast is not really 'buying' half of insight....it is more like a divorce....they are splitting insight down the middle and Comcast is taking the half it already owns....
wstwrdho
join:2007-03-15
Riverton, UT

wstwrdho

Member

Re: Time Warner

Your right.

My question is how did Malone and the RBOC's get in the middle of this. I don't see the conspiracy piece.
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

Sammer

Member

Re: Time Warner

Malone sold TCI to AT&T. Later AT&T sold AT&T Broadband (formerly TCI) to Comcast.
wstwrdho
join:2007-03-15
Riverton, UT

wstwrdho

Member

Re: Time Warner

Yep, he did but I don't think Malones a part of this deal. I don't think Rogers leans on Malone or the RBOCS for business direction. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Malone had retained some ownership in both companies. So I could be wrong.
DraconSlayer
join:2004-03-03
Schiller Park, IL

DraconSlayer

Member

Re: Time Warner

FEED the pig even more, like it isn't fat enough... and yes give it more power.... 1 word for that MONOPOLY....
iamcool2
join:2006-05-12
Carmel, IN

iamcool2

Member

bummer

GLIMMER
join:2004-01-17
Fisher, IL

GLIMMER

Member

Re: bummer

atleast we can enjoy 10/1 till the end of the summer..

odreian615
join:2006-01-18
Chicago, IL

odreian615

Member

Comcast and ATT will rule the world

I DO NOT welcome my new overlords
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

Sammer

Member

Re: Comcast and ATT will rule the world

Depends where you live. Verizon and Time Warner Cable aren't going away. Duopoly coming soon to your neighborhood unless you live in a sparsely populated area.
Rick5
Premium Member
join:2001-02-06

Rick5

Premium Member

I wonder why

Insight didn't buy them out and retain these customers?

As a former Insight customer for many years while living in Cols. Ohio, I was always impressed with the company, their products and service. They always seemed to me to be on the forefront of rolling out the latest and greatest service, whatever that may be.

As a businessman myself however very acquainted with working with growth companies and competing very aggressively in the marketplace I've often felt that the company left a lot of opportunities on the table during the last 10 years when so much was happening in this industry.

They somehow struck me as being too content to just operate as a mom and pop cable company with little to no ambition to grow into the kinds of enterprise that they could have. And meanwhile, the giants of the industry today, namely Time Warner and Comcast, have just run them over and continue to do so today.

I think that there is a certain mindset here at work. Most of my career before becoming a semi retired computer geek was in management in the Financial services sector and specifically, the banking industry and there has long been a very aggressive competitive mindset that just caused me to always operate from a position of you had to get bigger, grow stronger, and simply do things better than the next guy in order to survive and then make it in that industry. 10 years with what is now CitiGroup during their primary building phase certainly taught me how that goes.

Sorry to say, but my view in years past of this industry hasn't included that, but has rather been one of them being too content in just being who they were and not aspiring to more.

My interest and love of this industry and namely all things computer and broadband related has had me sitting on the sidelines looking at them from a customer viewpoint in the past, but yet I couldn't help but to somehow apply the aggressive company building mentality I'd been so used to for years and say to myself, WHY..isn't this company making a BIG move on what is SURE to be something so big?

Instead, it's others who are and have done it. Namely Comcast..and Time Warner. But still, even with them, it's as if they just learned their real potential only in the last couple of years. And before that, were just too busy thinking small and being just a "cable company".

But, to not seem too harsh on them, I also think there's a lot of benefit to being a private company, as they are now, and out of the public company rat race mentality.
And, there's certainly nothing wrong with being a "mom and pop" company either. But you can't let that consume you these days either though, and stop growing.
Because sooner or later you're going to get eaten up being just that.

Anyways..just my .02cents worth. As a former customer and outsider. I do think that this company is one that is very good, but that could be more than it is today.

RIRWIN1983
join:2005-08-30
Columbus, OH

RIRWIN1983

Member

Re: I wonder why

Rick, do you think the columbus,oh market will get bought by twc after all of this, since we are using "their" road runner, for HSI. Since as im shure your familiar with, TWC is the "major" player here, with insight covering areas were TWC isent at, and ofd course WOW is everywhere do to being the former americast from ameritech.

Jim Kirk
Premium Member
join:2005-12-09
49985

Jim Kirk

Premium Member

Re: I wonder why

I live in the Insight service area in Columbus (though I have DirecTV & DSL). Considering there is no overlap between TWC & Insight, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that TWC is buying the Columbus market from Insight. I'd expect for it to happen before the end of the year.
Rick5
Premium Member
join:2001-02-06

Rick5 to RIRWIN1983

Premium Member

to RIRWIN1983
I really wouldn't expect Insight in Columbus to sell out to TW unless for whatever reason, they decided to sell the whole company. I wouldn't be surprised if they receive an offer from time to time to do just that as these major players look to expand.

It wasn't all that long ago however that insight went private. They used to be a publicly traded company but management and I believe an investment group wound up taking them private. And so, I guess if the offer was right they might be agreeable to sell but there's nothing to indicate right now that is the case.

BTW..it's my understanding that the reason they use the RR name and branding is because TW was there first with cable broadband and built the name..spending a lot of money in the process. Insight felt it was worthwhile to ride off that success and paid TW for the rights to use the name also. Apparently Insight continues to feel it's worth it to them to continue to do this. Personally though, I'd have to question the value of it.

Anyways..hi to everyone back in Cols..and Go bucks.

RIRWIN1983
join:2005-08-30
Columbus, OH

RIRWIN1983

Member

Re: I wonder why

as we had previously discussed elsewhere rick (re:the rr name) i think if insight offered diffrent tiers of hsiv they could maybe beg more people to signup. and BTW anyone that has the HDDVR in the columbus market, but dont have the hd pack, call in and ask for the HD Track, i had a tech out the outher day and he noticed that we dident have that it was part of having the hddvr, and cost 0.00 and called in and had it added.
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

1 recommendation

Sammer to Rick5

Member

to Rick5
IMHO it's probably because the the Carlyle Group wants to sell off the rest of Insight for a fat profit.
Rick5
Premium Member
join:2001-02-06

Rick5

Premium Member

Re: I wonder why

said by Sammer:

IMHO it's probably because the the Carlyle Group wants to sell off the rest of Insight for a fat profit.
You might be right. I guess everyone has a price and based on recent cable co's deals like Adelphia to TW/Comcast, that price is pretty enticing right now.

But, companies like Insight also have a lot of opportunity for growth ahead to increase revenues as well. Not only is there a lot of homes they pass that they don't yet serve, but many people still don't subscribe to more than one service with them.
If they could do a better job selling to those who don't yet take their service where their lines pass the homes anyway..in addition to getting more people on triple play phone..cable..HSI packages..the price that companies are paying today might still be quite low.

I think if I was insight management, I'd first maximize that before considering selling the company as a whole.
AJICQ499087
join:2001-12-01
Louisville, KY

AJICQ499087

Member

Re: I wonder why

Will Insight sell the Kentucky, southern Indiana and Ohio markets to Time Warner or someone else soon?

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska

Premium Member

digital guide...

Maybe now that comcast will take over, they can get rid of that horrible digital guide! I have a friend who has insightbb down in Illinois and their guide looks horrible! Makes the comcast guide look ten times better..

•••
indy0365
join:2001-08-25
Franklin, IN

indy0365

Member

there goes my 10/1 for 40 $

there goes my stanard 10 meg/ 1 meg for 40$ mostly uncapped unless you uploaded a lot then insight might send a warning letter

plus pckage was 15 meg/ 1.5 for 80$