Time Warner Cable Raising Rates in February

[adam]

Time Warner Cable raising rates for area subscribers
Monday, December 28, 2009
By Michael Lamendola, Gazette Reporter, [url=http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/dec/28/Cable_1228/
]link to story[/url][/color]

CAPITAL REGION — Time Warner Cable will increase most cable service rates for customers in the Capital Region, effective February.

Rates will remain unchanged for basic broadcast cable service and for high-speed Internet and telephone services, said Jim Gordon, regional vice president, Northeast, for Time Warner Cable. Basic broadcast service will remain at $12 per month.
For others, the rate increase will average between $2 to $7 per month, depending on the programming package. For example, the premium All the Best package will increase to $178.95 per month, up from $171.95; the Surf & Talk package will increase to $108.95 per month, up from $104.95. Meanwhile, the charge for DVR with premium or All the Best service will increase to $10.95 per month, up from $8.95.

Time Warner notified customers about the rate increase through a mailer. Customers will see the rate increase reflected in their January statement unless they are in a price-lock guarantee or promotional program, Gordon said.

The rate increase reflects the cost of business and of programming, Gordon said. “We are making every effort to keep costs reasonable and we hope our programmers do the same,” he said. “Programming is one of largest aspects of the price and programing fees continue to climb.”

Time Warner now offers 102 high-definition channels and 90 “Start-Over” enabled channels, Gordon said. In 2009, customers requested more than 50 million video-on-demand services and eight million StartOver services, he said.
Come January Time Warner customers could see another change: No more Fox stations on cable.

Fox is threatening to pull its channels off the Time Warner system unless it gets an increase in programming fees, Gordon said. “Fox is seeking a 300 percent programming increase. We think that is untenable for our customers,” he said.

Fox’s parent company, News Corp., said it will pull its local Fox channel, which is WXXA, and FX, Speed and Fox Reality Channel when it contracts expires at midnight Thursday.

Time Warner has been conducting a campaign called “Roll Over or Get Tough” to garner public support for its stand against Fox’s request and to prepare people should Fox pull its channels.

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How can News Corp pull a channel that is owned by another company?

[shanedude]

I was told over the phone that wxxa is not affected. Asked the question when I called Sat to get my cablecard setup for use with my ati cablecard tuner. btw- it works with my tuning adapter

[Skaggs]

Get the picture? Cable to cost you more
Time Warner raises rates again, citing increased costs for programming

By LARRY RULISON, Times Union Business writer, Wednesday, December 30, 2009



ROTTERDAM -- Your neighbor lost his job, the housing market is in the tank, and the economic recovery is nowhere in sight.

And now to add insult to injury, as other household costs rise, your cable TV bill is going up next year too -- in some cases by nearly 10 percent.

Time Warner Cable sent a flier to local customers this month with the new prices. Except for the most basic package, all the rates are going up. The "basic with standard" TV package, which includes dozens of mainstay cable channels such as CNN, ESPN and Comedy Central in addition to local broadcast channels, will rise 9.7 percent to $61.95 a month from $56.45 currently.

The company's "All the Best" package that combines TV with Internet and phone service will go from $139.95 a month to $146.95 a month, an increase of 7 percent.

Time Warner Cable spokesman Jim Gordon said Tuesday that the company continues to add new programming, including high-definition channels that cost more. And this year, local Time Warner Cable customers downloaded 50 million movies and TV shows from its video-on-demand library of 7,000 titles. The company now offers 102 HD channels locally.

"The bottom line is, there is never a good time to raise rates," Gordon said. "But clearly people are finding value in the products we are offering. They love them."

Time Warner Cable Inc., based in New York City, had $13.3 billion in revenues through the end of September, a 4 percent increase over the same period last year. The company is announcing year-end results next month, but profits have been falling this year compared with 2008. The company has about 400,000 customers locally and 14.6 million across the country in New York, Ohio, California, Texas and the Carolinas. There are more than 1,000 local employees.

Time Warner Cable, which raised rates in February, is not the only cable company that has been raising rates. DirecTV, a satellite TV company, also announced new rates starting in February.

The increase by Time Warner Cable also comes as the company is in a nasty battle with News Corp. over programming fees for Fox and other TV channels. The battle could mean that some News Corp. channels go dark Friday.

"Fox is asking for unreasonable and excessive increases in their programming fees," Gordon said.

The good news is that the local Fox affiliate, WXXA Ch. 23, which broadcasts NFL games and "American Idol," is not part of that dispute.

"Time Warner Cable has a long-term programming deal with the owners of WXXA," Gordon said.

However, other News Corp. channels that are at risk locally include FX, which carries popular shows such as "Nip/Tuck" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," Fox Soccer Channel, Speed Channel and Fuel.

Gordon said if those channels are taken away from Time Warner Cable, the company will announce replacement programming.

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at [e-mail].

[Skaggs]

Apparently, Time Warner didn't listen to the results of their own poll, where repondents told them to "Get Tough" with programmers. Instead, they raise the rates for the consumer.

[shanedude]

I think you missed the point. The rates would have had to go up even more to compensate the networks who they are fighting with. Service providers increase their rates every year historically, but the rates were at risk of increasing even more without this showdown between the evil empires.

[maximumm]

good they made a deal with fox and now they don't have raise the rates anymore?